About States parties reports for CED

Under the Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearance, there is no system of periodic reports. Instead, the reporting process is as follows:

1. Examination of initial reports of States parties. Following the ratification of the Convention, all States have to submit a report within two years. The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of ‘concluding observations’.
2. Follow-up to the Committee’s recommendations. States parties then submit a follow-up report describing the measures taken to implement the recommendations of the Committee.
3. Examination of additional information submitted by States parties. The Committee may then request a State to provide additional information every time it considers it necessary. This information may be about how the recommendations are being implemented, about the evolution of enforced disappearances, or how they are fulfilling the rights contained in the Convention.

Throughout the process of examination of State parties’ reports, the participation of victims, civil society organizations, NHRIs and other stakeholders is highly encouraged. Their contribution can be made through written inputs and oral briefings to the Committee. To this end, State parties’ reports and information about the deadlines and requirements for contributions are shared on the session pages and in the Committee’s newsletters.

Examination of initial reports of States parties

Two years after they have ratified the Convention, all States parties must submit a report to the Committee on how they implement the rights enshrined in the Convention (article 29-1 of the Convention). The deadlines for submission of States parties’ reports can be consulted in the table of due reports.

The examination of such report has various steps:

1. The Committee adopts a List of issues (LOI) on the submitted report, thereby requesting the State party to complement or specify the information provided.
2. The State party must provide a written reply on these issues within a deadline determined by the Committee.
3. The Committee and the State concerned hold a public and webcast interactive dialogue during one of the Committee’s biannual sessions.

For States parties that, despite various reminders, have not submitted their initial report after five or more years of the deadline, the Committee adopts Lists of issues in the absence of a report. The reply of the State party to this List of issues will be considered as the State’s initial report, and an interactive dialogue between the Committee and the State party will be organized at the earliest possible session after the adoption of the list of issues.

In both cases (with a report and in the absence of a report), once the interactive dialogue has been held, the Committee addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of ‘concluding observations’. These concluding observations provide guidance to States parties about the measures they should adopt to implement their conventional obligations. They are also the starting point of the following steps of the procedure of examination of States reports under the Convention.

Follow-up to the Committee’s recommendations

In the concluding observations adopted on the State party’s initial report, the Committee selects three of its recommendations on which it requests the State party to provide follow-up information within a year. In this report, the State must describe the measures it has taken to implement these recommendations. Upon receipt of the State party’s Follow-up report and taking into account related information provided by victims, civil society organizations, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), UN field presences and mechanisms, and other relevant stakeholders, the Committee assesses the level of implementation of its recommendations by the State party. This assessment is reflected in the Committee’s report on follow-up to concluding observations.

Examination of additional information submitted by States parties

Contrary to other Committees, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) does not have a system of periodic reports. Instead, it can request the States parties to provide additional information on the implementation of the Convention (article 29-4 of the Convention).

The review of additional information is carried out with the aim to monitor the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and of the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and of the Convention by all States parties, but also to address any new situation linked to the prevention and eradication of enforced disappearances that may arise.

This procedure focusses on a limited number of issues selected by the Committee, and is applied with a variable frequency depending on the situation of each country. Upon examination of the State’s report under article 29(4), the Committee determines whether it will request additional information from the State party, and by what date. This decision is not final. It is made and can be changed in view of the level of implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and conventional obligations by the State party, and of the evolution of the situation related to enforced disappearances and of the Convention in that country.