WORKING GROUP ON ARBITRARY DETENTION OPENS THIRTY-SEVENTH SESSION

1 September 2003








The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention opened its thirty-seventh session today in Geneva.

The Working Group is composed of five independent experts appointed according to criteria governing equitable geographical distribution which apply in the United Nations. It is headed by Ms. Leïla Zerroügui (Algeria) as Vice-Chairperson and is composed of Soledad Villagra de Biedermann (Paraguay), Manuela Carmena Castrillo (Spain), Tamás Bán (Hungary), and Seyyed Mohammad Hashemi (Islamic Republic of Iran). The Working Group is going to appoint its Chairperson/Rapporteur during its present session.

The Group meets three times a year in Geneva. Cases are submitted to it by representatives of human rights organizations and families or witnesses directly concerned with reports of arbitrary detention. During the year 2002, the Working Group adopted 21 Opinions concerning 125 persons in 17 countries. In 92 cases, it considered the deprivation of liberty to be arbitrary. In the same period, the Working Group transmitted a total of 87 urgent appeals concerning 1,658 individuals to 47 Governments. Twenty-one concerned Governments informed the Working Group that they had taken measures to remedy the situation of the detainees.

The Working Group also formulated, in 2002, general recommendations on the issues of the use of detention as a means of combating terrorism; the recourse to detention as a means of protecting victims (“protective custody”) and the arbitrary character –on the ground of discrimination- of detention motivated by sexual orientation. In 2000 and 2001, the Pannel formulated general recommendations on human rights and State secrets; detention of conscientious objectors; extradition issues and on the question of imprisonment related to insolvency.

In May 2002 the Working Group undertook a visit to Australia in relation to the country’s administrative custody of unauthorized arrivals. In October 2002 it also visited Mexico. The reports on its visits have been submitted to the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2003/8 Add. 2 and 3 and E/CN.4/2003/G/22). In February 2003, the Working Group visited the Islamic Republic of Iran at the invitation of the Government of that country. The Working Group’s report on this visit (E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.2) will be submitted to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixtieth session.

The Working Group was established by the Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Its mandate was clarified and extended by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1997/50 to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants. The Working Group’ s initial three-year mandate has been consistently extended, most recently by Commission resolution 2003/31.



For more information, including previous reports of the Working Group, please consult Miguel de la Lama (+41 22 917 9289); see OHCHR Fact-Sheet N° 26, or visit the following Internet address:
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/mard.htm




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