Media advisories Special Procedures

UN experts on enforced disappearances to review almost 600 cases in 129th session

03 February 2023

GENEVA/SANTIAGO (3 February 2023) – The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will hold its 129th session from 6 to 10 February 2023 in Santiago de Chile to examine 586 cases from 22 countries.

The Working Group expresses gratitude to the Government of Chile for its willingness to host one of its regular sessions in the country and cooperation with the organisation.

The five independent experts will hold meetings with relatives of forcibly disappeared persons in a number of countries, State representatives, civil society groups and other stakeholders to exchange information on individual cases and structural issues and challenges related to enforced disappearances.

The experts will also examine allegations received regarding obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, such as regressive legislation and practices, or systemic failures in addressing cases of enforced disappearance, notably in the areas of truth and justice.

The Working Group will discuss internal matters and future activities, such as its upcoming country visits, including to Honduras at the end of March 2023, as well as its next reports to the Human Rights Council, including an upcoming study on new technologies and enforced disappearances.

The session of the Working Group in Santiago has a symbolic value as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the military coup in Chile (1973) next September. The UN experts will also pay official visits to some memorial sites in the country.

The decisions made by the Working Group during the 129th session will be reflected in its next post-sessional report.

The sessions of the Working Group are held in private.

The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is comprised of five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Ms. Aua Baldé (Guinea-Bissau); and the Vice-Chair is Ms. Gabriella Citroni (Italy); other members are Ms. Grażyna Baranowska (Poland), Mr. Luciano Hazan (Argentina) and Ms. Angkhana Neelapaijit (Thailand).

The Working Group was established by the then UN Commission on Human Rights in 1980 to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of disappeared relatives. It endeavours to establish a channel of communication between the families and the Governments concerned, to ensure that individual cases are investigated, with the objective of clarifying the whereabouts of persons who, having disappeared, are placed outside the protection of the law. It also provides assistance in the implementation by States of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

The Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

Learn how to submit a case to the Working Group.

Learn more about the work of the Working Group.

For more information and media requests, please contact Mr. Ugo Cedrangolo: ugo.cedrangolo1@un.org / hrc-wg-eid@un.org or in Santiago Mr. Felipe Iturrieta González, Felipe.iturrietagonzalez@un.org / +56 9 79993343

For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) and Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org).

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

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