OMCT welcomes the entering into force of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance
THE WORLD ORGANISATION
AGAINST TORTURE (OMCT)
STATEMENT
THE
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF ALL PERSONS FROM ENFORCED
DISAPPEARANCE WILL ENTER INTO FORCE IN DECEMBER
Geneva,
29 November
2010. The World Organisation Against
Torture (OMCT) welcomes the entering into force of the International Convention
for the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance and calls on all
States that have not yet signed and/or ratified it to do so as soon as possible.
On 23 November 2010,Iraq became the 20
th State to ratify the International Convention
for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which will enter
into force on 23 December 2010, 30 days after the 20
th accession or ratification. This
landmark treaty
recognizes
the right of all the persons affected by enforced disappearance to know the
truth about the circumstances of this crime, the progress and results of the
investigation and the fate of the disappeared person. The Convention also aims
to punish perpetrators and provide reparations
to victims and their families, which is vital for the instrument to be
effective.
[1]
In view of the widespread practice of enforced
disappearance, OMCT can only welcome the entering into force of the Convention,
marking an important development in the fight against this practice. OMCT has
documented over the years many cases of enforced disappearance across the world
and again recently in Algeria and India. Enforced disappearance not only infringes upon an entire range of human
rights, such as the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment and the
prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, but this practice also causes
the families indescribable anguish, fear and sorrow because they don’t know
what has happened to the disappeared person.
“Families of disappeared persons tell us how they
live a torture on a daily basis trying to imagine the fate of their loved ones.
This crime is certainly one of the most cruel practice, the perpetrators trying
to conceal their responsibility driving the families to endless despair” said
Eric Sottas, Secretary General of OMCT. “It took several decades since the
first denunciations to have enforced disappearance recognised as a specific
crime and to get an International Treaty establishing mechanisms to put an end
thereto. Unfortunately, we know that much relies now on the political will of
the authorities concerned to follow-up effectively on their commitments”.
OMCT therefore calls on all States that have not yet
done so to sign, ratify and fully implement the Convention. States have notably
to make enforced disappearance an offence under their national criminal law punishable by appropriate penalties
which take into account its extreme seriousness. OMCT also urges States to
recognise the competence of the new Committee against Enforced Disappearance to
consider individual complaints.
The
20 States that have ratified the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance are:
Albania,
Argentina,
Bolivia,
Burkina Faso,
Chile,
Cuba,
Ecuador,
France,
Germany,
Honduras,
Iraq,
Japan,
Kazakhstan,
Mali,
Mexico,
Nigeria,
Paraguay, Senegal,
Spain
and Uruguay.
Contact:
Eric Sottas, OMCT Secretary
General, Tel. +41 22 809 49 39
[1] See the website
of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),
www.ohchr.org