Enforced disappearances: UN Committee to hold special online dialogue with Iraq

GENEVA (3 September 2020) - The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) will hold a special public dialogue with Iraq during its upcoming online session to discuss what the country is doing to address the issue of enforced disappearances. 

Iraq ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2010. Its initial report was examined by the Committee in 2015. The dialogue, due to be held on 14 and 15 September at 3:30 pm Geneva time, will focus on selected issues related to the measures adopted by the State to implement its obligations under the Convention. This will include the evolution of State’s strategies to prevent enforced disappearances, and to search for disappeared persons and investigate alleged enforced disappearances.

The overall CED session begins on 7 September at 4pm Geneva time, with a victim from Gambia addressing the opening. The session will last for three weeks until 25 September.

Among its activities, the Committee will also co-host a public webinar with the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances on the search and investigation of enforced disappearances. The year 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the Working Group, and the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention. The Committee and the Working Group will work together to strengthen advocacy and to support all those who are seeking the truth about the fate and whereabouts of disappeared persons.

The meeting schedule and details of the session, including information submitted by Iraq, are now available online. The public meetings will be webcast at this link. For media accreditation.

ENDS

For media inquiries, 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. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. 

Learn more with our animations on the Treaty Body system and on the Committee on Enforced Disappearances!

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