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United Nations Human Rights Thematic Mechanism to Be Established with a Universal Mandate

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United Nations Human Rights Thematic Mechanism to Be Established with a Universal Mandate A/HRC/19/58/Rev.1 Advance Edited Version Distr.: General 2 March 2012 Original: English Human Rights Council Nineteenth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances* ** Summary The Working Group was the first United Nations human rights thematic mechanism to be established with a universal mandate. The original mandate derives from Commission on Human Rights resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980. This resolution followed General Assembly resolution 33/173 of 20 December 1978, in which the Assembly expressed concern at reports from various parts of the world relating to enforced disappearances and requested the Commission on Human Rights to consider the question of missing or disappeared persons. The mandate was most recently extended by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 16/16 of 24 March 2011. The total number of cases transmitted by the Working Group to Governments since its inception is 53,778. The number of cases under active consideration that have not yet been clarified, closed or discontinued stands at 42,759 in a total of 82 States. The Working Group has been able to clarify 448 cases over the past five years. The present report reflects communications and cases examined by the Working Group during its three sessions in 2011, covering the period 13 November 2010 to 11 November 2011. It includes, in annex I, sections on 95 States and territories; the Working Group’s latest general comment on the right to recognition as a person before the law in the context of enforced disappearance; and the Working Group’s revised methods of work. * The annexes to the present report are circulated as received, in the languages of submission only. ** Late submission. GE.12- A/HRC/19/58/Rev.1 Contents Paragraphs Page I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1–10 3 II. Activities of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances: 13 November 2010 to 11 November 2011 ............................................................. 11–42 4 A. Activities ......................................................................................................... 11–15 4 B. Meetings ......................................................................................................... 16 5 C. Communications ............................................................................................. 17–22 5 D. Country visits .................................................................................................. 23–31 6 E. Reports ............................................................................................................ 32 7 F. Statements and press releases ......................................................................... 33–38 7 G. Ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance ..................................................... 39–41 8 H. General comments .......................................................................................... 42 9 III. Information concerning enforced or involuntary disappearances in various States and territories reviewed by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances .................................................................................... 43–44 12 IV. Conclusions and recommendations ......................................................................... 45–67 12 Annexes I. Information concerning enforced or involuntary disappearances in various States and territories reviewed by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances ........................................................................................................ 1–643 16 II. Revised methods of work of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances ................................................................................................................................. 139 III. Decisions on individual cases taken by the Working Group during the reporting period ................ 146 IV. Statistical summary: cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances reported to the Working Group between 1980 and 2011.......................................................................................... 148 V. Graphs showing the development of enforced disappearances in countries with more than 100 transmitted cases during the period 1980–2011 ........................................................................ 152 2 A/HRC/19/58/Rev.1 I. Introduction 1. The Working Group was the first United Nations human rights thematic mechanism to be established with a universal mandate. The original mandate derives from Commission on Human Rights resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980. This resolution followed General Assembly resolution 33/173 of 20 December 1978, in which the Assembly expressed concern at reports from various parts of the world relating to enforced disappearances and requested the Commission on Human Rights to consider the question of missing or disappeared persons. The mandate was most recently extended by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 16/16 of 24 March 2011. 2. The primary task of the Working Group is to assist families in determining the fate or whereabouts of their family members who are reportedly disappeared. In this humanitarian capacity, the Working Group serves as a channel of communication between family members of victims of enforced disappearance and others connected to the disappeared person, and Governments. 3. Following the adoption of General Assembly resolution 47/133 on 18 December 1992 and of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Working Group was entrusted to monitor the progress of States in fulfilling their obligations derived from the Declaration. The Human Rights Council in its resolution 7/12 encouraged the Working Group to provide assistance in the implementation by States of the Declaration and of existing international rules. 4. Based on its experience of over 30 years, the Working Group has decided to amend the way in which its statistics are counted so that, in exceptional circumstances and for humanitarian reasons, cases may be included in the statistics of a different State from the one in which the enforced disappearance occurred. In addition, the Working Group has decided to deal with all enforced disappearances, regardless of the type of armed conflict that they occurred in. The revised methods of work, approved on 11 November 2011, are contained in annex II to the present report and will come into effect on 1 January 2012. 5. This report reflects communications and cases examined by the Working Group during its three sessions in 2011, covering the period from 13 November 2010 to 11 November 2011. 6. A summary of activities during the reporting period is presented in a table for each country, with a detailed text description of the areas of activity. Where there has been no information from the Government or the sources, notwithstanding the annual reminder sent by the Working Group concerning outstanding cases, only the table is provided and a reference is made to the previous report dealing with those cases. (Due to the fact that this year no waiver to the 10,700-word limit has been granted for the present report, the Working Group has decided to move all the sections on individual States to annex I.) However, this means that these sections, which contain relevant information on enforced disappearances around the world, will not be translated. While the Working Group calls upon the United Nations to reconsider the matter and, in the future, grant the waiver as it had been done in the past in view of the unique tool in the fight against enforced disappearances that this report constitutes for different stakeholders, it also encourages Governments and civil society actors to translate it into their national languages so as to provide wider access to the information contained therein. 7. The total number of cases transmitted by the Working Group to Governments since its inception is 53,778. The number of cases under active consideration that have not yet been clarified, closed or discontinued stands at 42,759 in a total of 82 States. The Working Group has been able to clarify 448 cases over the past five years. 3 A/HRC/19/58/Rev.1 8. The Working Group is concerned that many communications are not still translated in time, thus delaying their consideration by the Working Group and limiting its humanitarian mandate. 9. At the present time, the Working Group’s website remains inadequate. The majority of the content is in English only. The Working Group once again calls on the United Nations to provide adequate resources to make it up to date and more accessible. 10. The Working Group is grateful for the additional human resources given to it during part of the reporting period. However it notes that the cumulative effect of a lack of adequate staff during the past three years has led to a backlog of more than 650 cases, for which reason it wishes to emphasize that the additional support needs to be sustained in the future. II. Activities of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances: 13 November 2010 to 11 November 2011 A. Activities 11. During the period under review, the Working Group
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