GENEVA (8 April 2021) – The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) will hold its upcoming session from 12 April to 7 May, including to review country reports of Switzerland, Colombia and Mongolia.

The 20th session will begin on 12 April at 12:30 pm Geneva time, and will be addressed by a survivor of an enforced disappearance in 2018. The woman, joining from Mexico, will pay tribute to all victims of enforced disappearances and share her views about the impact of the Committee’s work in her case. The opening and the victim’s testimony will be webcast on UN web TV.

During the session, the Committee, which has received the respective country reports from Switzerland, Colombia and Mongolia, and submissions from non-governmental organisations, will discuss a range of issues with the respective State delegations.

Among the possible issues likely to be discussed: 

Switzerland (13-15 April): domestic legislation on enforced disappearances; wrongful removal of children; measures taken to respect the principle of non-refoulement in case of risk of enforced disappearance; training of relevant State officials on the prevention of and combat against enforced disappearances.

Colombia (19-20 April): harmonisation of domestic legislation with the International Convention, search & investigation mechanisms & reparation.

Mongolia (21-23 April): criminalization, investigation and prevention of enforced disappearance, including measures to ensure the respect of fundamental legal safeguards and keep accurate records of all persons deprived of liberty.

The above public dialogues will be held online and livecast. More information about the 20th session, including reports submitted by the State parties and schedule of the public dialogues, is now available on the session website.

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For more information and media requests in Geneva, please contact:
Vivian Kwok at +41 (0) 22 917 9362 / vkwok@ohchr.org or the UN Human Rights Office Media Section at +41 (0) 22 928 9855 / media@ohchr.org 

Background
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances monitors States parties’ adherence to the Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Committee is made up of 10 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties.

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