UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
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Kavitha Suthanthiraraj
May 23, 2008, 6:18:25 PM5/23/08
to Global Action to Prevent War
GAPW was present at an important meeting last evening at the UN
chaired by Juan Mendez. Yvonne Terlingen of Amnesty International,
also a good friend of GAPW, made the attached intervention in support
of full ratification of the UN Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The meeting was a moving testament to the need for further national
ratifications so that this Convention can enter into full force. At
the same time, there is a compelling and complementary need for
national legislation that can promote full disclosure and end
impunity.
While perhaps not a 'core' GAPW concern, this Convention bears the
promise of both greater transparency and an end to impunity for the
most severe forms of human rights abuse, both necessary to bringing
out the abolition of war.
We invite you to read the statement below and circulate widely
Statement on behalf of the International Coalition against Enforced
Disappearances at the Panel discussion on the ratification of the
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Conference Room 6, United Nations
The International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED)
brings together families of the disappeared and human rights NGOs who
have worked for decades against enforced disappearance and to make the
rights of victims a reality. We are encouraged by the efforts of the
Group of Friends of the Coalition, and especially would like to thank
the Argentinean Mission for organizing this important event. We hope
it will help the Convention soon entering into force.
The practice of enforced disappearance is far from eradicated. In 2007
alone the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Enforced and
Involuntary Disappearance transmitted 629 new cases of reported
enforced disappearances to governments for response. This is in
addition to the more than 40,000 active cases of disappearances – a
fraction of the total – that have not yet been clarified.
Disappearances occur in every region of the globe.
The Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance is an essential tool in ending this abhorrent practice
and ending impunity for one of the worst human rights violations. It
is one of the most forceful human rights conventions the UN has ever
adopted. Prompt ratification is, therefore, essential. The signature
by [73] and ratification by [4] states of the Convention are important
steps forward. Only [16] more ratifications are required for the
Convention to enter into force. We urge states to speed up the
ratification process so that this will happen before the end of this
year.
However, the Convention will only be effective when states take all
necessary steps to implement it at the national level, in particular
by adopting effective legislation. States should begin work now to
review their legislation so that they can be ready to implement the
Convention effectively immediately on ratification.
The Convention provides clear and practical guidance on
implementation. It requires that states review their laws to
criminalize enforced disappearance as defined in article 2, that they
ban secret detention; carry out independent investigations; search for
the disappeared; hold those responsible fully accountable; establish
the truth about enforced disappearance and ensure that victims and
families have the right to obtain reparation. These fundamental
elements define the obligations of states parties.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, to be created under the
Convention to monitor its implementation, also plays a complementary
role to states’ efforts to combat disappearances. The Committee will
be authorized to receive and to act on individual and interstate
communications (Arts. 31 and 32 of the Convention).
The Committee will be able to play an important role to protect
victims and their families from disappearances, by receiving requests
from relatives or anyone else with a legitimate interest that a
disappeared person be found and by taking urgent action. If serious
violations of the Convention are suspected, the Committee can conduct
a fact-finding visit after consultation with the State Party
concerned. With those powers, the Committee can save lives.
We, therefore, urge all states to recognize the competence of the
Committee under Articles 31 and 32 of the Convention to receive
individual and interstate communications when they ratify the
Convention. In doing so states parties will uphold the prospects of
justice for victims of enforced disappearance when all national
responses have failed them and impunity persists.
When the Convention enters into force, the hope for justice for the
many thousands who remain disappeared will come a step closer. Their
fate and the ongoing pain of their relatives should instill us with
even more determination to continue fighting to prevent these
appalling human rights violations in all parts of the world, to halt
them, and to end impunity. The Coalition urges the Group of Friends of
the Convention to lead by example and ratify the Convention without
delay.
Yvonne Terlingen
Head of Amnesty International Office at the UN, on behalf of the
International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances
Current members of the ICAED:
Amnesty International, Asian Federation Against Involuntary
Disappearances (AFAD), Civil Initiative We Remember Foundation -
Belarus, Collectif des Familles de Disparus en Algérie (CFDA), Euro-
Med Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED), Fédération
Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), Fédération Internationale
de l’ACAT (FIACAT), Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de
Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos (FEDEFAM), Human Rights Watch
(HRW), Aim for human rights, International Commission of Jurists
(ICJ), Russian Justice Initiative - Russia, Liga Guatemateca de
Hygiene Mental - Guatemala, Breaking the Walls of Silence - Namibia,
AFAPREDESA – Western Sahara, Lawyers for Human Rights – South Africa,
TRIAL - Switzerland, Disarmament and Non-Violence – Georgia,
Asociacíon Derechos Humanos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales en
Guatemala (DESCGUA) - Guatemala, National Society for Human Rights
(NSHR) – Namibia, Colegio de Abogados (Peru)
chaired by Juan Mendez. Yvonne Terlingen of Amnesty International,
also a good friend of GAPW, made the attached intervention in support
of full ratification of the UN Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The meeting was a moving testament to the need for further national
ratifications so that this Convention can enter into full force. At
the same time, there is a compelling and complementary need for
national legislation that can promote full disclosure and end
impunity.
While perhaps not a 'core' GAPW concern, this Convention bears the
promise of both greater transparency and an end to impunity for the
most severe forms of human rights abuse, both necessary to bringing
out the abolition of war.
We invite you to read the statement below and circulate widely
Statement on behalf of the International Coalition against Enforced
Disappearances at the Panel discussion on the ratification of the
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Conference Room 6, United Nations
The International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED)
brings together families of the disappeared and human rights NGOs who
have worked for decades against enforced disappearance and to make the
rights of victims a reality. We are encouraged by the efforts of the
Group of Friends of the Coalition, and especially would like to thank
the Argentinean Mission for organizing this important event. We hope
it will help the Convention soon entering into force.
The practice of enforced disappearance is far from eradicated. In 2007
alone the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Enforced and
Involuntary Disappearance transmitted 629 new cases of reported
enforced disappearances to governments for response. This is in
addition to the more than 40,000 active cases of disappearances – a
fraction of the total – that have not yet been clarified.
Disappearances occur in every region of the globe.
The Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance is an essential tool in ending this abhorrent practice
and ending impunity for one of the worst human rights violations. It
is one of the most forceful human rights conventions the UN has ever
adopted. Prompt ratification is, therefore, essential. The signature
by [73] and ratification by [4] states of the Convention are important
steps forward. Only [16] more ratifications are required for the
Convention to enter into force. We urge states to speed up the
ratification process so that this will happen before the end of this
year.
However, the Convention will only be effective when states take all
necessary steps to implement it at the national level, in particular
by adopting effective legislation. States should begin work now to
review their legislation so that they can be ready to implement the
Convention effectively immediately on ratification.
The Convention provides clear and practical guidance on
implementation. It requires that states review their laws to
criminalize enforced disappearance as defined in article 2, that they
ban secret detention; carry out independent investigations; search for
the disappeared; hold those responsible fully accountable; establish
the truth about enforced disappearance and ensure that victims and
families have the right to obtain reparation. These fundamental
elements define the obligations of states parties.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, to be created under the
Convention to monitor its implementation, also plays a complementary
role to states’ efforts to combat disappearances. The Committee will
be authorized to receive and to act on individual and interstate
communications (Arts. 31 and 32 of the Convention).
The Committee will be able to play an important role to protect
victims and their families from disappearances, by receiving requests
from relatives or anyone else with a legitimate interest that a
disappeared person be found and by taking urgent action. If serious
violations of the Convention are suspected, the Committee can conduct
a fact-finding visit after consultation with the State Party
concerned. With those powers, the Committee can save lives.
We, therefore, urge all states to recognize the competence of the
Committee under Articles 31 and 32 of the Convention to receive
individual and interstate communications when they ratify the
Convention. In doing so states parties will uphold the prospects of
justice for victims of enforced disappearance when all national
responses have failed them and impunity persists.
When the Convention enters into force, the hope for justice for the
many thousands who remain disappeared will come a step closer. Their
fate and the ongoing pain of their relatives should instill us with
even more determination to continue fighting to prevent these
appalling human rights violations in all parts of the world, to halt
them, and to end impunity. The Coalition urges the Group of Friends of
the Convention to lead by example and ratify the Convention without
delay.
Yvonne Terlingen
Head of Amnesty International Office at the UN, on behalf of the
International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances
Current members of the ICAED:
Amnesty International, Asian Federation Against Involuntary
Disappearances (AFAD), Civil Initiative We Remember Foundation -
Belarus, Collectif des Familles de Disparus en Algérie (CFDA), Euro-
Med Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED), Fédération
Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), Fédération Internationale
de l’ACAT (FIACAT), Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de
Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos (FEDEFAM), Human Rights Watch
(HRW), Aim for human rights, International Commission of Jurists
(ICJ), Russian Justice Initiative - Russia, Liga Guatemateca de
Hygiene Mental - Guatemala, Breaking the Walls of Silence - Namibia,
AFAPREDESA – Western Sahara, Lawyers for Human Rights – South Africa,
TRIAL - Switzerland, Disarmament and Non-Violence – Georgia,
Asociacíon Derechos Humanos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales en
Guatemala (DESCGUA) - Guatemala, National Society for Human Rights
(NSHR) – Namibia, Colegio de Abogados (Peru)
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