COMMITTEE ON ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES MEETS WITH MEMBER STATES, UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances held three consecutive public meetings this morning in which it met with United Nations Member States who were either party to the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearances or interested in it; followed by an interactive dialogue with United Nations bodies, intergovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions; and finally a meeting with non-governmental organizations and other civil society stakeholders.
Emmanuel Decaux, Committee Chairperson, said that the Convention was not something that should be seen in terms of the future: it should be up and running today. The Convention was a ‘risk insurance’ and it was hoped that once it was demonstrated how useful it was to all States, rapid ratification would follow.
In the interactive dialogue with Member States France, Morocco, Iraq and Uruguay took the floor. The States spoke about domestic measures taken to tackle enforced disappearances and asked how the Committee’s mandate differed from that of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, and how the Committee was preparing to receive country reports from States parties. Committee Experts took the floor to introduce themselves and speak about key issues that affected the Committee’s work.
Opening the interactive dialogue with intergovernmental organizations, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, Osman El Hajje, took the floor and spoke in detail about the mandate and workload of the Working Group, which included 40,000 unsolved cases of enforced disappearances. The United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights discussed how they could support the work of the Committee, while a dialogue was held on the notion of amicus curiae in litigation concerning enforced disappearances.
During the interactive dialogue with non-governmental and civil society organizations the Committee heard statements from Amnesty International, FIACAT, the Association for the Prevention of Torture and the World Association Against Torture. The organizations raised concerns about the low number of ratifications of the Convention, and asked about country visits, model laws, the publication of concluding observations and how to make the process of individual complaints more transparent in order to allow them to better contribute to cases. Experts answered those questions and spoke about how non-governmental and civil society organizations could best support the Committee, particularly by bringing individual complaints to its attention. The Chairperson emphasized that the Committee counted on non-governmental and civil society organizations to raise awareness of the Convention and to help disseminate its complex legalities in layman’s terms.
The Committee will next meet in public at 4 p.m. on Friday, 30 March to discuss the programme of work for its third session and to close the second session.
Opening Remarks by the Committee Chairperson
EMMANUEL DECAUX, Committee Chairperson, said that the Convention on Enforced Disappearances was a huge legal step forward, but was still a little-known and complex legal document. The Convention was not something that should be seen in terms of the future: it should be up and running today. The Convention was a ‘risk insurance’ and it was hoped that once it was demonstrated how useful it was to all States, rapid ratification would follow.
Interactive Dialogue between United Nations Member States and Committee Members
France welcomed the rapid establishment of the Committee and the achievements it had already made. The Committee on Enforced Disappearances stood apart from the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, which dealt with humanitarian situations, and that was something that France, together with Algeria and Morocco, sought to make clear in the Human Rights Council. The French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alaine Juppe, recently told the Human Rights Council that France’s objective was universal ratification of the Convention, and in 2010 it launched a campaign to meet that objective, which had seen success, although much remained to be done. The French Government was working to bed down the Convention in domestic law, and was committed to making its report available within the Convention’s deadline. Finally, the Government would participate in an academia-organized international conference on the main themes of the Convention, which would be held in Paris on 15 May 2012.
Morocco supported the statement of France and recalled that in 2009 the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances paid a historic visit to Morocco: close cooperation with the Working Group had continued ever since and Morocco said it would soon ratify the Convention on Enforced Disappearances. Morocco asked for clarification on the different mandates of the Working Group and the Committee, and how they would avoid overlap.
EMMANUEL DECAUX, Committee Chairperson, said that a meeting and a joint statement between the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances had strengthened their links. For example the Working Group was organizing a key meeting in Addis Ababa on the situation of women in relation to Enforced Disappearances, and the Committee would be represented at that. The Working Group and the Committee had also decided to simultaneously present their reports to the General Assembly in New York. Both bodies would work in a consistent manner with the same concept and definitions, and ensure they interpreted situations in the same way. The mandates were different: the Working Group had a more humanitarian-based mandate, while the Committee’s mandate was more legal, and limited to interaction with States parties. For now there was enough clearly delineated work for both bodies.
Iraq attached great importance to the fight against the pernicious crime of enforced disappearances, and to the punishment of perpetrators. Since the collapse of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq had worked hard to stipulate the guarantee of all human rights at a legislative and executive level, and had adopted many new laws and ratified most of the United Nations human rights treaties. Many Iraqis had been victims of enforced disappearance during the dictatorship, and thousands of persons were still missing, with no word of their fate. Many of those cases sadly involved children. The Government had used techniques such as DNA testing to identify victims, and currently had over 5,000 legal cases open. There was a cross-ministry support structure for the relatives of persons who had disappeared, compensation had been provided, and Iraq had opened its doors to inspection teams. The Government welcomed the expertise of the Committee in helping it to tackle enforced disappearances, particularly in formulating a definition.
Uruguay said it was proud to be one of the earliest supporters of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, and asked how the Committee was dealing with the treaty body strengthening process, and how they were prepared to start processing country reports, which would hopefully commence in November 2012.
Committee Experts took the floor to introduce themselves, and spoke about their pleasure in seeing so many Member States represented at today’s meeting. An Expert said that in accordance with the Convention, States parties were obliged to adapt their legislation, to pursue those responsible for committing crimes of enforced disappearance and to ensure that victims of those crimes received reparations. If those obligations were fulfilled then the Committee’s work would be facilitated. Another Expert spoke about the importance of mutual cooperation and assistance between different States, and with civil society. An Expert emphasized that enforced disappearance was a heinous crime that especially affected women, pregnant women and children, and asked State parties to particularly consider those vulnerable groups in country reports, as encouraged by High Commissioner Navi Pillay. Other Experts discussed ways to increase ratification, as enforced disappearance was a worldwide problem, but the Committee’s work could only be effective with the support of States parties.
Interactive Dialogue with Intergovernmental Organizations, United Nations Bodies and Specialized Agencies
OSMAN EL HAJJE, Chairperson of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, congratulated the Committee on all it had achieved so far, and on the number of ratifications the Convention had already received. From the outset the Working Group’s role was humanitarian, but following a 1992 General Assembly resolution the mandate was extended to encourage the implementation by States of the General Assembly Declaration on Enforced Disappearances, which focused on ascertaining the fate and whereabouts of victims of enforced disappearances. The Working Group was also mandated to an oversight and advisory role for Governments, for example to point out gaps in their legislation. The Working Group defined an enforced disappearance as when a person was arrested, detained or deprived of their liberty by State actors or by private individuals acting in the name of the State and when the Government had turned a blind eye to the abduction, and when there was a refusal to reveal the fate of the victim or to recognize that the person had been deprived of their liberty in an unlawful way and was no longer under the protection of the law. Mr. Hajje spoke about the Working Group’s methods of work and said that it accepted cases of victims of enforced disappearances, with particular attention paid to cases of vulnerable persons, namely women, children and the elderly. The Working Group currently had over 40,000 unsolved cases of enforced disappearances on its books, many of which dated back over a decade. The Working Group’s priority was to help families and find someone near and dear to them who had been victim of an enforced disappearance, who was often someone who provided for their daily needs, their breadwinner or parent. The Working Group hoped to meet regularly with the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and jointly organize seminars and awareness-raising on the Convention. It operated on a vast mandate and there was a huge amount of work to do.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it most regularly interacted with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, but it had supported other treaty bodies and was very happy to attend today’s meeting. Enforced disappearances was not an area UNICEF had traditionally focused on, but it did have a presence and child-protection specialists in over 150 countries around the world, and was ready to support the Committee in any way that might be helpful.
International Committee of the Red Cross said it had supported and promoted the Convention and its ratification, as well as its implementation, since its formulation. The International Committee of the Red Cross believed that the Convention was a formidable tool as a preventative measure, and could visit detention centres in order to combat enforced disappearances. The International Committee of the Red Cross was pleased to share its experiences and expertise which it had developed in the area of enforced disappearances, and looked forward to working closely with the Committee.
International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights said that as an international association of 70 national human rights institutions from all regions it celebrated the coming into force of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances. The International Coordinating Committee warmly welcomed the inclusion of national human rights institutions in the Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ rules of procedure, and encouraged the Committee to welcome their contributions – which could include independent and expert information on domestic situations – at all stages of its work. The International Coordinating Committee highlighted the Committee’s role in developing guidelines, including General Comments, for States and other stakeholders for effective implementation of the Convention at a domestic level.
EMMANUEL DECAUX, Committee Chairperson, said he took note of the comments on the contributions of national human rights institutions, and referred to issues including protection of victims, and asked about the role of amicus curiae (someone not party to a litigation, but who believed a court’s decision may affect his interest, and who files a report to help the case) in the work of organizations present. OSMAN EL HAJJE, Chairperson of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, said that amicus curiae was not currently part of its mandate but he would be interested to hear from non-governmental organizations on the issue. International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights said that national human rights institutions had for some years appeared before the European Court of Human Rights in the role of amicus curiae. Amnesty International commented that it hoped in future the International Criminal Court would be open to amicus curiae, and looked forward to hearing the Committee further discuss the matter.
Interactive Dialogue with Non-governmental and Civil Society Organizations
Amnesty International said that five years after the adoption of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, only 31 States were party to it, and it hoped the Committee would call on all States to ratify it. Amnesty International was concerned by the extremely low number of States, just 12, which recognized the authority of the Committee to receive complaints from victims under their jurisdiction. Concluding observations were an important advocacy tool for stake-holders, and it was important that they were published immediately after transmission to a State party. Any situation where the Committee received serious allegations of violations but was refused a country visit was another concern. Could the Committee consider making elements of individual communications more transparent, to allow third parties to make more effective interventions?
FIACAT, an international organization working for the abolition of the death penalty and torture, said it had long lobbied for the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, which was an essential step forward for civil society. As victims of enforced disappearance women and children were particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Could the Chairperson give more information on the thematic discussions, such as the one scheduled this afternoon on women victims of enforced disappearances – would it be held in public? FIACAT also flagged the importance of country visits.
Association for the Prevention of Torture, asked if the Chairperson could talk about the outcome of the private discussion held earlier this week on the development of model laws, and whether the Committee planned to develop model laws on enforced disappearances.
World Association Against Torture said they were open and willing to work with non-governmental organizations and in 2012 would work on a number of reports relating to individual complaints; they looked forward to receiving guidelines on that and to submitting individual complaints to the Committee in the near future.
EMMANUEL DECAUX, Committee Chairperson, emphasized that the Committee counted on non-governmental and civil society organizations to raise awareness of the Convention and to help disseminate its complex legalities in layman’s terms, and also valued their role as amicus curiae. Mr Decaux agreed that it was a good idea to publish concluding recommendations, and clarified that a refusal for a country visit did not tie the Committee’s hands, but rather strengthened its resolve. An Expert asked about the approach of amicus curiae in assisting transparency. The Chairperson said that given the Committee was still in initial and exploratory stages it would be better to hold thematic discussions in public further down the line, but reassured the floor that there would be public discussions and processes soon. There were other ways in which stakeholders could support the Committee by sharing information, particularly through reporting guidelines and possible provision of shadow reports. There was currently no model law which met the Convention’s stipulations, not even the draft law currently being considered in France, but the Committee had adopted the mode of the tortoise rather than the hound, and draft laws around the world were not models, but were important first steps. An Expert said that almost half a year had passed since the first session of the Committee, new cases of enforced disappearances have been observed, but the Committee had yet to receive any complaints, even from the 12 countries that had signed up to the complaints procedure. The Committee must ask why that was. Non-governmental organizations and civil society were the channels by which the Committee would usually receive individual complaints, which were one of the most important functions of the Committee.
For use of information media; not an official record
CED12/003E