On March 7-9th We Remember founder Irina Krasovskaya attended special events on the issue of enforced disappearances in Geneva, Switzerland.
On March the 7th the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances presented its report, which resulted in a long and productive discussion among the interested parties. Jeremy Sarkin, Chair of the Working Group, reported that at the moment 53.337 cases of involuntary disappearances are registered by the group, 1814 of them are clarified during the last 5 years. He acknowledged that enforced disappearance is, unfortunately, an actual problem, especially in the countries where war and political conflicts are taking place.
On March the 8th the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED) Steering Committee regular working meeting took place. During the meeting new members were elected, the Charter of the Coalition was adjusted and the plan of actions for the coming year was approved. Also, the strategy in respect to the new Committee in the mandate of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances was discussed. The Committee will be elected by the UN General Assembly in May 2011 in New-York and will start its activity in October 2011 in Geneva.
On March the 9th the side event of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances took place in Palais des Nations. The event was dedicated to the problem of continuing impunity. Among the speakers of the event were: Jeremy Sarkin (Chair of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances), Judge Baltasar Garzón (Audencia National of Spain) and Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu ( Executive Director, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka). Over 140 representatives of organizations uniting victims of involuntary disappearances from all over the world attended the event.
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