GENEVA (17 March 2023) - The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) will hold its upcoming session from 20 to 31 March, during which it will review Zambia, Argentina, Germany and Costa Rica and adopt its visit report on Iraq.

The session will begin with a public meeting, including a space of tribute to victims of enforced disappearance, featuring the testimony of a victim of enforced disappearance in the context of an illegal international adoption.

Zambia, Argentina, Germany and Costa Rica are among the 70 States parties to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. They are required to undergo regular reviews by the Committee of 10 independent international experts on how they are implementing the Convention as well as the Committee's previous recommendations.

The Committee, which has received respective country reports and other submissions from non-governmental organizations, will discuss a range of issues with the four State delegations through public dialogues on the following dates at Geneva time:

Zambia
20 March 15:00-18:00
21 March 10:00-13:00

Argentina
21 March 15:00-18:00

Germany
22 March 10:00-13:00

Costa Rica
22 March 15:00-18:00
23 March 15:00-18:00

The above public dialogues will be held in the First Floor Conference Room, Palais Wilson, Geneva. All public meetings are open to the accredited press and livecast on UN Web TV. More information about the session, including reports submitted by the States and the full schedule of meetings, is available on the session webpage.

In addition to country reviews, the Committee will discuss and adopt, in private meetings, a report following its 12-day visit to Iraq in November.

After the session, the Committee will hold a press conference in Geneva on 4 April at 2 pm to present its findings on the above four country reviews and the report on Iraq.