UNB, Dhaka :
Two United Nations expert groups on enforced disappearances on Friday called on States worldwide to prevent and eradicate enforced disappearances.
They also called upon Sates to prevent and eliminate the short-term enforced disappearances, and to ensure that relatives of persons deprived of their liberty are informed accurately and promptly of their detention.
Speaking ahead of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances also expressed their concern at allegations of intimidation and reprisals against victims of enforced disappearances and those who report their cases. “There is no time limit, no matter how short, for an enforced disappearance to occur. Every minute counts when a person is put outside the protection of the law. And when a person is disappeared, every anguished minute spent by his or her relatives without news of that person is a minute too long,” the statement received here from Geneva read. Reports and complaints have been received of people being briefly detained by State authorities, who then refuse to acknowledge their
detention, nor allow them to make contact with their family members or their counsel, depriving them temporarily of any kind of legal protection.
“As we commemorate the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we encourage all victims and their relatives to continue engaging with the UN human rights mechanisms and to make use of the avenues available against any form of intimidation and reprisal,” the statement said.
The groups also reiterated their call to all States to ratify or accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as a fundamental first step towards the prevention, and the ultimate termination, of the inadmissible practice of enforced disappearances.
Two United Nations expert groups on enforced disappearances on Friday called on States worldwide to prevent and eradicate enforced disappearances.
They also called upon Sates to prevent and eliminate the short-term enforced disappearances, and to ensure that relatives of persons deprived of their liberty are informed accurately and promptly of their detention.
Speaking ahead of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances also expressed their concern at allegations of intimidation and reprisals against victims of enforced disappearances and those who report their cases. “There is no time limit, no matter how short, for an enforced disappearance to occur. Every minute counts when a person is put outside the protection of the law. And when a person is disappeared, every anguished minute spent by his or her relatives without news of that person is a minute too long,” the statement received here from Geneva read. Reports and complaints have been received of people being briefly detained by State authorities, who then refuse to acknowledge their
detention, nor allow them to make contact with their family members or their counsel, depriving them temporarily of any kind of legal protection.
“As we commemorate the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we encourage all victims and their relatives to continue engaging with the UN human rights mechanisms and to make use of the avenues available against any form of intimidation and reprisal,” the statement said.
The groups also reiterated their call to all States to ratify or accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as a fundamental first step towards the prevention, and the ultimate termination, of the inadmissible practice of enforced disappearances.
