Statement at the conclusion of the 108th session of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances

GENEVA (15 February 2016) – The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances concluded last Friday its 108th session, which took place in Rabat, Morocco, at the invitation of the Government.

“We would like to thank the Government of Morocco for the invitation to hold a session in Rabat and the National Council of Human Rights for facilitating its successful development”.

The Working Group examined under its urgent action procedure 208 reported cases of enforced disappearances that have occurred in the last few months – concerning Bahrain, Burundi, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait, Libya, Pakistan, South Sudan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.

“This high number of recent cases demonstrates that the issue of enforced disappearance is still a modern plague and that the resolve of States to eradicate it is insufficient and must be urgently reinforced”.

The group of independent experts also focused on specific country situations, including regarding the obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.*

“We are very concerned at the information we are receiving in relation to the deteriorating situation in Burundi, which facilitates the occurrence of enforced disappearance.  We appreciate in this respect the fact that we had the opportunity to meet a representative of the Government of Burundi during this session”. 

“The situation of enforced disappearances in Syria continues to be highly alarming. We took some demarches in the past regarding Syria, including asking the Security Council for a referral to the International Criminal Court. We will continue to look very closely into the situation in Syria and are discussing further demarches in this respect”.   

Other countries whose cases were examined during the session are: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, El Salvador, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Maldives, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Members also discussed their forthcoming and potential country visits, as well as future activities. In this respect, the Working Group discussed the draft reports on its last visits to Peru and Sri Lanka.

“We are very happy to announce the confirmation of the visit to Turkey, which will take place from 14 to 18 March 2016”.

During their session, the expert panel held meetings with representatives of the Governments of Burundi, Japan, Morocco, and Ukraine. The experts also met with family members of disappeared persons and non-governmental organizations.

At the margins of the session, the Working Group also held an expert consultation on enforced disappearances and non-state actors.

“We are very concerned about the increasingly worrisome phenomenon of abductions carried out by non-state actors, which may be tantamount to enforced disappearances. We are continuing to look into this issue very closely in order to determine if those situations may fall under our mandate and, if so, what actions should be taken”.  

The Working Group will hold its 109th session in May 2016, in Geneva.
(*) Check the Declaration:  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/EnforcedDisappearance.aspx

ENDS

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. In view of the Working Group’s humanitarian mandate, clarification occurs when the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person are clearly established. It continues to address cases of disappearances until they are resolved. It also provides assistance in the implementation by States of the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. For more information on the Working Group, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspx

How to submit cases to the Working Group?: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/issues/Disappearances/Communication_form_E.doc

Read the Working Group’s 2014 report to the UN Human Rights Council: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session27/Documents/A-HRC-27-49_en.doc

Read the Working Group’s post-sessional documents: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/Annual.aspx

For more information and media requests, please contact Mr. Ugo Cedrangolo (+41 22 9179286, ucedrangolo@ohchr.org or wgeid@ohchr.org)