COMMITTEE ON ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES TO HOLD SECOND SESSION FROM 26 TO 30 MARCH 2012

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, will hold its second session from 26 to 30 March 2012 at the Palais Wilson in Geneva.

At the opening of the session the Committee will meet in public to hear a statement from United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, followed by an exchange of views, and adopt its agenda. The Committee will also hold a minute of silence in remembrance of victims of enforced disappearances. During its session, the Committee will meet in private to discuss its rules of procedure and methods of work including forms for urgent appeals and individual complaints, reporting guidelines, ratification strategy and its draft report to the United Nations General Assembly. The Committee will hold two thematic discussions, on non-State actors and on women and children under the Convention, and will also discuss treaty-body strengthening.

A public meeting will be convened on Thursday, 29 March at 10 a.m, for the Committee to meet with States, United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations and National Human Rights Institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances is the monitory body which oversees the implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which entered into force on 23 December 2010. To date, 31 States parties have ratified it. They are: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Germany, Honduras, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Serbia, Spain, Tunisia, Uruguay and Zambia.

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance states that no one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance. The Convention contains a universally agreed definition of enforced disappearance as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law”. The main goal of the Convention is to help and oblige States to protect persons from enforced disappearances by defeating impunity, preventing new cases of enforced disappearances and defending the rights of both the disappeared and their families.

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).



Timetable for Second Session

The Committee’s provisional agenda can be found here.

Monday, 26 March

10 a.m. Opening of Session; Statement from High Commissioner Navi Pillay,
exchange of views, adoption of agenda. (public)

11.30 a.m. Matters related to the methods of work of the Committee (closed meeting)

2 p.m. Closed meeting

Tuesday, 27 March

10 a.m. Closed meeting

3 p.m. Closed meeting

Wednesday, 28 March

10 a.m. Closed meeting

3 p.m. Closed meeting

Thursday, 29 March

10 a.m. Item 8: Meeting with States (public)

11 a.m. Meeting with United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations and National Human Rights Institutions. (public)

12 p.m. Meeting with non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders. (public)

3 p.m. Closed meeting

Friday, 30 March

10 a.m. Closed meeting

4 p.m. Item 10: Public closing including adoption of programme of work of the third session


For use of the information media; not an official record

CED12/001E