Enforced disappearances: UN expert group to review 800 cases from 40 countries

GENEVA (6 May 2016) – The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will hold its 109th session in Geneva from 9 to 18 May to examine almost 800 cases from 40 different countries.

The Group’s five independent human rights experts will also meet relatives of those who have disappeared, State authorities from different countries and civil society representatives to exchange information on individual cases and the situation of this heinous crime.

The Working Group will discuss various thematic issues related to enforced disappearances, possible future visits, and adopt its annual report. The experts will discuss the reports on their visits to Sri Lanka and Turkey. It will also discuss the follow-up reports on past visits to Congo and Pakistan.

In addition the UN expert group will examine allegations received about obstacles to the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

The Working Group’s 109th session is held in private. A press statement will be issued at the end of the session, on Wednesday 18 May.

(*) 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. Houria Es-Slami (Morocco) and the Vice-Chair is Mr. Bernard Duhaime (Canada); other members are Mr. Tae-Ung Baik (Republic of Korea), Mr. Ariel Dulitzky (Argentina) and Mr. Henrikas Mickevicius (Lithuania).

The Working Group was established by the 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 United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspx

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.

Check the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance:  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/EnforcedDisappearance.aspx

For more information and media requests, please contact Mr. Ugo Cedrangolo (+41 9179286 / ucedrangolo@ohchr.org) or write wgeid@ohchr.org

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