English  |  Français  |  Español
 
OMCT LogoOMCT logo
Make a donationRSSOMCT on FacebookOMCT on TwitterOMCT BlogHomeAbout OMCTActivitiesCATOMCT NetworkOMCT EuropeContactsMake a donation
  • Urgent campaigns
  • Assistance to victims
  • Human rights defenders
  • ESCR
  • Rights of the child
  • Violence against women
  • Monitoring protection mechanisms
 Save as PDF Print version
Urgent campaigns / Statements / 2010 / November

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 20th 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 20th 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

Properties

Date: November 29, 2010
Activity: Urgent campaigns
Type: Statements
Subjects: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances

Share this

Tweet

Languages

This page is available in:

English


You can also translate it on the fly:

Recently Viewed Articles

OMCT International Secretariat
PO Box 21, 8, rue du Vieux-Billard, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 809 4939
Fax: + 41 22 809 4929
E-mail:
OMCT Europe
Rue Franklin 111
1000 Brussels
Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
E-mail:
OMCT TUNIS
3, Rue Hassen Ibn Nooman
Cité Jardins | Tunis 1002
Tel: +216 71 791 114
Fax: +216 71 791 115
E-mail:
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Rss
  • Privacy Policy