Start project to improve national legislation on enforced disappearances

Aim for human rights is going to develop a legal monitoring tool on the implementation of the UN Convention for protection of all persons against enforced disappearances. The project starts with an international meeting of organisations and experts. This will be held from 12-15 October in Utrecht.

Enforced disappearance is a prevalent human rights violation that occurs when a person is kidnapped and held by or in accordance with the state, after which the state denies any involvement to family members of the victim. Disappeared persons are often tortured and extrajudicially executed. This crime has occurred in over 70 countries accross the world.

The tool that is being developed will support human rights defenders to check whether national legislation complies with human rights norms which have been laid down in the UN convention against disappearances. The resulting analysis can be used to convince states of the necessity to sign, ratify and implement to convention, in order to offer improved protection. In those countries that have already ratified and implemented the convention, the tool can serve to detect potential shortcomings and to monitor compliance to human rights norms.

The ultimate goal of the project is to decrease the number of enforced disappearances. This will be greatly aided by implementation of the convention, especially when preventative measures, such as criminalisation of disappearances and compulsory registration of prisoners, become effective parts of national legislation.

The first international meeting on the project will be held in the Fall. Participants of the meeting are organisations that are active in the field of disappearances - including families of victims -  from amongst others Central America, Africa, Asia, Russia and the Middle East. The tool is planned to be ready for testing mid-2010.

 

See the thematic page on disappearances