On October 28 — November 2 We Remember Foundation President and ICAED Steering Committee member Irina Krasovskaya attended several events in Geneva, Switzerland, dedicated to the issue of the involuntary disappearances, including Steering committee meeting, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances side event and the ICAED special event.

During the Steering Committee working meeting issues related to the mandate of the Coalition and Charter alteration were discussed and new members were admitted, among them two organizations from Belarus: Charter`97 and Dmitry Zavadsky Foundation.

During its 98th session held in Geneva from 31 October to 9 November The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances studied cases, including urgent actions, concerning Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Georgia, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Laos, Libya, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

“The Working Group deals with cases of enforced disappearances wherever they occur,” the experts said at the end of the Group’s session, expressing their “deepest concern that after 20 years since the adoption of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, enforced disappearances continue to occur in many countries, often in a persistent manner.”

On 30 and 31 October 2012, the Working Group held an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Declaration. The event focused on the impact of enforced disappearances on women as well as on the role of women as actors of change. The second day of the event was devoted to an open dialogue between the Working Group and States concerning the challenges and best practices in implementation of the Declaration. ICAED members were invited to attend as experts in the field.

During its session, the group of independent experts focused on, among other issues, reparations, specific country situations, in particular regarding the obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Declaration, methods of work, past and potential country visits, as well as future activities. The members also adopted two general comments: one on women affected by enforced disappearances and the other on children and enforced disappearances.

The experts examined allegations submitted by credible sources regarding obstacles encountered in implementation of the Declaration. The Working Group also reviewed responses from various Governments to prompt intervention letters, urgent appeals and general allegations.

The expert panel held meetings with representatives of the Governments of Guatemala, Japan, Spain, Sri Lanka and Togo to exchange views on individual cases and on the issue of enforced disappearance in general. It also met with non-governmental organizations and family members of disappeared persons. Members of the Working Group also held informal bilateral meetings with States to exchange information with a view to enhancing cooperation. The ICAED submitted cases and general allegations to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

On October 31 in the Palace of Nations a side event of the ICAED took place where experts of the ICAED and the UN in the field of disappearances had a word and exchanged their relevant experience with each other.

The International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances was founded in 2007 with the goal to lobby ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. We Remember was one of the founding organizations. Since then We Remember is a member of the Steering Committee of the ICAED, along with Amnesty International (AI); Asian Federation Against involuntary Disappearances (AFAD); Collectif des Families De Disparus en Algerie (CFDA); FEDEFAM; FEMED; Federation Internationale de l’ACAT/ International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT); Federation Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH); Human Rights Watch (HRW); International Committee for Justice (ICJ). At the moment 46 organizations are ICAED members with the 4 organizations admitted on the resent session.

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