Joint Statement by the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

Geneva, 11 November 2011

The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances met for the first time on Wednesday 8 November 2011.

The newly created Committee and the Working Group, which was established in 1980, met to establish methodologies for coordination and for an exchange of experiences and views.

The meeting was attended by the 5 members of the Working Group and the 10 of the Committee from all geographical regions of the world. This allowed a review of the global situation of enforced disappearances.

The new Committee, set up to enforce the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, took note of the experiences of the Working Group. The Working Group and the Committee decided to convene joint meetings in the future.