On June 29 members of the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted by consensus the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

The Human Rights Council also unanimously adopted a special resolution on the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances that recommends adoption of the Convention to the General Assembly and, once adopted, making it available for ratification by member states of the United Nations Organization.

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances affirms the right of any victim to know the truth about the circumstances of an enforced disappearance and the fate of the disappeared person. The Convention also affirms the right to seek, receive and impart information about enforced disappearances. The Convention states that no one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance. Enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity and shall attract the corresponding consequence. Each member state of the Human Rights Council shall make the offense of enforced disappearance punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account its extreme seriousness.

It is expected that in November 2006 the UN General Assembly will consider the issue of adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

“The adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances is a very important step towards preventing one of the most horrendous crimes against humanity,” said founder of Civil Initiative We Remember Irina Krasovskaya commenting the adoption of the Convention. “This is a step towards the truth and justice. This is but a first step. An effort of convincing members of the UN General Assembly of a prompt adoption of the Convention should be made now, and then UN member states should be convinced to ratify the Convention. Only after that it will become an effective instrument of preventing enforced disappearances and bringing those responsible to justice.”

On behalf of Civil Initiative We Remember its founders Itina Krasovskaya and Svetlana Zavadskaya express their appreciation to all those who signed the open letter to members of the UN Human Rights Council and therefore furthered the process of adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

The lobbying campaign in favor of adoption of internationally recognized legal standards and rules that would become an effective instrument of preventing forced disappearances was launched by the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared (FEDEFAM) more than thirty years ago. In 1998 the Asian Federation Against Disappearances (AFAD) joined the FEDEFAM campaign and Civil Initiative We Remember and a number of other non-governmental organizations entered into the movement in 2004. “The fact of the unanimous adoption of the Convention manifests that the joint effort of non-governmental organizations affiliating relatives of disappeared persons throughout the world bore fruit. The adoption of the Convention is our collective contribution to creating the world free of disappearances.”

CIWR.ORG press-service