UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances to review Gabon and Lithuania

GENEVA ( 31 August 2017) –   Gabon and Lithuania  are due to be reviewed  by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), which is meeting in Geneva from 4 to 15 September.   

The Committee, which is composed of 10 international independent human rights experts, monitors implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.  Gabon and Lithuania are among the current 57 States that have ratified the Convention and so are required to submit a report for review to the Committee.
The public sessions, which will be webcast at http://webtv.un.org will take place on the following dates and times:

Gabon: 15:00 - 18:00 on 4 September; 10:00 - 13:00 on 5 September
Lithuania: 15:00 to 18:00 on 5 September; 10:00 to 13:00 on 6 September

Location: Palais des Nations, room XVI, Committee members will discuss a range of issues relating to implementation of the Convention with the respective State delegations, and also hear from NGOs and national human rights institutions.

More information, including the reports by Gabon and Lithuania can be found here.

The CED will publish its findings, known as concluding observations, here on 15 September .

ENDS

Background

What is CED and why it matters?

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations intended to prevent enforced disappearance. The text was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2006 and came into force on 23 December 2010.  As of December 2016, 57 States have ratified the Convention.

The ratification of the Convention by a State expresses its political will to end enforced disappearance and to protect its own citizens from this heinous practice.

If the principles of the Convention are fully implemented, then the practice of enforced disappearance can be eradicated and people can be effectively protected from enforced disappearance all over the world.

This protection is essential for the citizens of those States who experienced the tragedy of disappearance in the past and/or continue to experience it in the present. The same protection is also fundamental for the citizens of those States who fortunately did not experience enforced disappearance in their recent history as a preventive measure as political regimes change and also democracy may turn in an oppressive regime.

The Convention  matters for people in every country as it defends the rights of the disappeared and their families, combats impunity and prevents new cases of enforced disappearance from occurring.