COMMITTEE ON ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES HOLDS MEETING WITH STATES PARTIES
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, the Committee responsible for reviewing how States implement the provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, today held a meeting with States parties to the Convention and with non-governmental organizations.
Emmanuel Decaux, Chairperson of the Committee which is holding its first session from 8 to 11 November, said that this was a very important session for the Committee. The conference of States parties to the Convention had elected the members of the Committee and diplomats in Geneva were familiar with the Convention. States parties were expected to present their initial reports within two years and he hoped that they would present their reports early as it was important for the Committee Experts to get down to work. At the moment, the Convention had 30 ratifications and 60 signatories, and he hoped that they would be up to 90 States parties soon. However, these 90 States made up less than half of the membership of the United Nations and their aim was to achieve universal ratification for the Convention. The Convention and the issue of enforced disappearances were relevant to all parts of the world. The Chairperson also underlined that the Committee could only deal with cases of enforced disappearances that had occurred since the Convention had come into force.
The members of the Committee are Mohammed Al-Obaidi (Iraq), Mamadou Badio Camara (Senegal), Emmanuel Decaux (France), Alvaro Garcé Garcia Y Santos (Uruguay), Luciano Hazan (Argentina), Rainer Huhle (Germany), Suela Janina (Albania), Juan José Lopez Ortega (Spain), Enoch Mulembe (Zambia) and Kimio Yakushiji (Japan).
After hearing the Committee Experts present themselves to the States parties, the floor was given to representatives of States parties who described national efforts to combat enforced disappearances, confirmed their commitment to stopping such crimes in their countries and at the international level, and promised to implement the obligations expected from them under the Convention.
Participating in the discussion were the following States parties: Argentina, Burkina Faso,
Spain, Japan and Chile.
The Committee also held a separate discussion with representatives of non-governmental organizations who said that the existence of the Committee was a new source of hope for thousands of relatives of disappeared persons. They hoped that the Committee would be guaranteed essential funding to ensure its work, and that it would establish close cooperation with the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances as well as with civil society.
The following non-governmental organizations took the floor: International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances, Amnesty International, World Sindhi Congress,
International Service for Human Rights, Fedéracion Latino-Americana de Organizaciones de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos (FEDEFAM) and the Institute for Media and Global Governance.
The Committee is meeting mostly in private during its first session to discuss its rules of procedure and methods of work. The Committee will meet in public on Friday, 11 November to conclude its session.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CED11/003E