Committee on Enforced Disappearances holds fourth session from 8 to 19 April 2013

BACKGROUND RELEASE

4 April 2013

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, the Committee responsible for reviewing how States implement the provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, will hold its fourth session from 8 to 19 April 2013 at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva.

At the opening of the session on 8 April, the Committee will meet in public at 10 a.m. to hear a statement from a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, followed by an exchange of views, followed by the adoption of its agenda and a minute of silence in remembrance of victims of enforced disappearances.

The Committee will consider the report of Uruguay (CED/C/URY/1) on Tuesday 9 April 2013, in the afternoon, and on Wednesday 10 April 2013, in the morning. The report of France (CED/C/FRA/1) will be examined on Thursday 11 April 2013, in the afternoon, and on Friday 12 April 2013, in the morning.

In closed sessions, the Committee will continue to discuss in closed session the principles of non-refoulement, expulsion and extradition under article 16 of the Convention. During the session, the Committee will also meet with States, relevant UN bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions, and non-governmental organizations.

Further information on the Committee and the session can be found at this link.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances is the monitory body which oversees the implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which entered into force on 23 December 2010. Since the last session of the Committee Samoa ratified the Convention, thus bringing the number of State parties to 37. They are: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Germany, Honduras, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia, Spain, Tunisia, Uruguay and Zambia.

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance states that no one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance. The Convention contains a universally agreed definition of enforced disappearance as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law”. The main goals of the Convention are to hold States responsible for the protection of persons from enforced disappearances by defeating impunity, to prevent new cases of enforced disappearances and to guarantee the right to the truth and to obtain reparation of both the disappeared and their families.

The members of the Committee are Mohammed Al-Obaidi (Iraq), Mamadou Badio Camara (Senegal), Emmanuel Decaux (France), Alvaro Garcé Garcia Y Santos (Uruguay), Luciano Hazan (Argentina), Rainer Huhle (Germany), Suela Janina (Albania), Juan José Lopez Ortega (Spain), Enoch Mulembe (Zambia) and Kimio Yakushiji (Japan).


Programme of Work (public meetings)

Monday, 8 April

10 a.m. Opening of session
Statement from High Commissioner Navi Pillay or her representative, exchange of views, adoption of agenda

Tuesday, 9 April

3 p.m. Consideration of the report of Uruguay (CED/C/URY/1)

Wednesday, 10 April

10 a.m. Consideration of the report of Uruguay (continued)


Thursday, 11 April

3 p.m. Consideration of the report of France (CED/C/FRA/1)


Friday, 12 April

10 a.m. Consideration of the report of France (continued)

Wednesday, 17 April

5 p.m. Meeting with National Human Rights Institutions to discuss methodology of engagement


Friday, 19 April

4 p.m. Adoption of the report of the session
Closing of the session.

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For use of the information media; not an official record