The Working Group was established by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1980 to assist the relatives of disappeared persons in ascertaining their fate and whereabouts. The panel also monitors the compliance of States with their obligations under the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Working Group is composed of five independent experts: Professor Stephen J. Toope (Chairperson-Rapporteur), Professor J. ‘Bayo Adekanye (Vice-Chairperson), Saied Rajaie Khorasani, Darko Gцttlicher, and Santiago Corcuera.
The Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) was established in 1980 by Commission on Human Rights resolution 20 (XXXVI) and its mandate was extended for 3 years in 2004 by Commission on Human Rights resolution 2004/40. The WGEID’s mandate is to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of their relatives who, having disappeared, are placed outside the protection of the law. The WGEID endeavours to establish a channel of communication between the families and the Governments concerned, to ensure that individual cases which families have brought to the Group’s attention are investigated with the objective of clarifying the whereabouts of disappeared persons. Clarification occurs when the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person is clearly established, irrespective of whether the person is alive or dead. The WGEID continues working on cases of disappearance until such time as they are clarified. The WGEID is made up of five independent experts.
As defined in the preamble of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992, enforced disappearances occur when persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government or by organized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law. Enforced disappearance when “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack” has been defined as a crime against humanity in article 7 (1) (i) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
AFAD is pleased to have contributed to making the adoption a reality.
Immediately after the birth of the Federation on June 4, 1998, AFAD
immediately joined the Latin American Federation of Associations of
Relatives of Disappeared Detainees (FEDEFAM) in the campaign for the
adoption of this future instrument, which was initially drafted on the
same year. After which, when the then UN Commission on Human Rights
approved a resolution creating an inter-sessional working group to draft a
legally binding normative instrument to protect all persons from enforced
or involuntary disappearances, AFAD, in cooperation with families of the
disappeared from other continents, actively participated in in all
sessions of the said working group headed by French Ambassador Bernard
Kessedjian. As a matter of fact, AFAD witnessed the historic adoption of
the final text which, families of the disappeared, considers a grand
victory.
In cooperation with FEDEFAM, the African Network Against Involuntary
Disappearances and HOM/Linking Solidarity, AFAD made a tour to eight
European capitals in November 2004 with the intention of convincing
European governments to support the future treaty. After which, a tour to
4 Asian capitals followed. Simultaneously, AFAD which spent significant
resources for training its members both on the substance of the Convention
and the skills of lobbying, conducted its own lobbying in their respective
capitals. Moreover, the AFAD Secretariat sent lobby letters to foreign
embassies in Manila as well as to the different Permanent Missions of the
members of the United Nations.
All these efforts, together with the efforts of a number of international
NGOs proved successful. The fact that the Convention was adopted without
a vote by the members of the newly-established UN Human Rights Council is
a concrete proof of the effectiveness of the international cooperation of
organizations of families of the disappeared world-wide and the
unflinching support of many international NGOs.
The adoption of the Convention has destroyed the myth that the issue of
enforced or involuntary disappearances is a past phenomena that occured
solely in Latin America. AFAD’s presence in the whole process of lobbying
has contributed to the projection of the Asian phenomenon of enforced or
involuntary disappearances.
What is a Forced Disappearance?
http://www.desaparecidos.org/fedefam/eng.html — как начались похищения
A forced disappearance consists of a kidnapping, carried out by agents of the State or organized groups of private individuals who act with State support or tolerance, in which the victim "disappears". Authorities neither accept responsibility for the deed, nor account for the whereabouts of the victim. Petitions of habeas corpus or "amparo"- legal mechanisms designated to safeguard the liberty and integrity of citizens-are ineffective, and the kidnappers remain anonymous.
The objective of forced disappearance is not simply the victim’s capture and subsequent maltreatment, which often occurs in the absence of legal guarantees. Because of the anonymity of the captors, and subsequent impunity, it also creates a state of uncertainty and terror both in the family of the victim and in society as a whole. Uncertainty exists because people do not know what to do or where to turn. From the first moment, relatives have doubts about the victim’s actual fate and the benefits of searching for their loved one. Terror is caused by the unknown yet undoubtedly terrible fate of the victim, and the realization that anyone can be subjected to a forced disappearance and any motive may be used to justify the disappearance. A forced disappearance violates a series of fundamental human rights, including: the right to liberty and security of the person, the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, the right to legal defense, and the right not to be subjected to torture. In addition, forced disappearance constitutes a grave threat to the right to life.
Forced disappearance paralyzes opposition activities by individuals as well as by society. The victim of forced disappearance is neither a simple political prisoner nor—as the abductors would like him/her to be considered—a dead person, although many times their corpses are later found.
1992 Декларация о защите всех лиц от насильственных исчезновений, утвержденная резолюцией 47/133 Генеральной Ассамблеи от 18 декабря 1992 года UN
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