强迫失踪问题委员会第四届会议开幕（部分翻译）

2013年4月8日

强迫失踪问题委员会第四届会议于今天早上开幕，会议听取了人权高专办实地业务和技术合作司美洲、欧洲和中亚处主任贾尼·马卡泽尼和委员会主席埃马纽埃尔·德科的讲话，并通过了会议议程和工作方案。委员会还听取了来自缔约国、红十字国际委员会和非政府组织的发言。

马卡泽尼先生表示，即使在《保护所有人免遭强迫失踪国际公约》生效之前，强迫失踪问题也一直是人权高专办重点关注，并在实地任务中密切跟进的问题。不幸的是，仍然存在一些助长对过去和现在的强迫失踪罪行免除处罚的干扰性进程。马卡泽尼先生对委员会在加强条约机构的过程中的示范性支持表示感谢，并将之更新到联大关于该问题的政府间进程中。

委员会主席埃马纽埃尔·德科表示，与两年前公约生效时相同的紧迫感今天将大家聚到了一起。纵观当今世界便可得知，与二十世纪最黑暗的时刻相比，强迫失踪问题的严重性并未消减，而且世界各地都未得以幸免。 《公约》目前已有37个缔约国，联合国和包括非政府组织在内的全体国际社会都应该鼓励所有其他成员国批准该公约。除批准之外，评估过程也是各国应尽的积极义务，缔约国应在批准公约两年内提交报告。决不能允许一些国家在提交报告上的缓慢进度和另一些国家的耽搁延误影响到公约的正常进展。

委员会听取了来自比利时和乌拉圭代表的简短发言，并与红十字会国际委员会进行了对话，后者重点关注遗骸的法医学鉴定问题和如何更好促进对强迫失踪和失踪人员的不同概念的理解问题。委员会还听取了两个非政府组织关于工作方法和缔约国报告义务的发言。

委员会为纪念强迫失踪受害者而默哀一分钟。

委员会将于4月9日星期二下午3点再次举行公众会议，届时将开始审议乌拉圭的第一份报告（CED/C/URY/1）。委员会将于4月11日星期四下午3点开始审议法国的初始报告（CED/C/FRA/1）。

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Opening Statements

GIANNI MAGAZZENI, Chief of the Americas and Europe and Central Asia Branch of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that even before the entry into force of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, enforced disappearances themselves had been both of great concern to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and an issue closely followed up by field presences. Many societies had at different times in history experienced the scourge; in particular during the 1970s and 1980s a number of Latin American countries witnessed systematic patterns of enforced disappearances. Unfortunately, some disturbing developments favouring impunity for past crimes could still be seen in that and other regions, as well as contemporary cases of enforced disappearances. For example, field presences of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala, Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries continued to follow up on recent cases, by both monitoring and playing an advocacy role. Contemporary cases of enforced disappearances had been particularly acute in Mexico, where State responsibility had been diverted by attributing the origin of the vast majority of cases to organized-crime struggles. There had also been failure to make a clear distinction, or keep accurate records between enforced disappearances and analogous cases. The role of field presences of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country had been of great value in raising awareness of the Convention, as well as by promoting legislation against enforced disappearances.

Mr. Magazzeni thanked the Committee for its exemplary support for the treaty body strengthening process, and updated it on the General Assembly’s intergovernmental process on the strengthening of the treaty body system, including issues discussed at the latest round of informal consultations which took place in New York on 19 to 20 February 2013. The next informal consultations would take place from 11 to 17 April, Mr. Magazzeni said, noting that Committee members would meet with the co-facilitators of the inter-governmental process next week in Geneva. Mr. Magazzeni concluded by assuring the Committee of the commitment of the High Commissioner and her staff to
provide all necessary support needed for it to accomplish its important work.

EMMANUEL DECAUX, Chairperson of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, said that the same sense of urgency with which the Convention entered into force two years ago brought them here today. Enforced disappearances were not only a phenomenon which the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances aimed to answer, but also the Committee. The notion of continuing crime gave meaning to the mission, but beyond that legal qualification it was the human tragedy of forced disappearances that motivated and inspired them. Mr. Decaux recalled the words of author Pierre Vidal-Naquet in his book L’affaire Audin, which was about one of the first cases of enforced disappearance, which occurred during the Battle of Algiers in 1957: "I did not realize that this crime was a crime without a body, and that as the body would not have been found and the circumstances of his death specified, it would remain a gaping hole, as a permanent indictment. The concealment of the crime permitted the investigation to be kept alive". One just had to look at the world today to realise that enforced disappearances were far from being a phenomenon relegated to the darkest hours of the twentieth century, he continued. No continent was spared.

The Chairperson noted that recently the European Court of Human Rights made two important judgements on cases in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and in Russia and Chechnya, that referred indirectly to the Convention. A priority of the United Nations and the international community as a whole, including non-governmental organizations, should be to encourage all Member States to ratify the Convention, beyond the 37 States already signed up, Mr. Decaux said. He added that he was pleased the Committee had planned its first workshop in Africa (organized with the cooperation of the High Commissioner and The Organisation Francophonie).

Beyond ratification, the assessment process – where a State submitted a report within two years of ratifying the Convention – was a positive obligation for States. It was both an obligation of means as well as an obligation of outcomes. In that regard it must be
noted that only four of the 20 States concerned had so far upheld that obligation: Uruguay, France, Spain and Argentina – while Germany and others were currently preparing their reports. The public reviews of Uruguay and France scheduled for this session would hopefully demonstrate a good example and establish a training exercise for States, Mr. Decaux said. However, the slowness of some States and the delays of others to submit their reports must not be allowed to disrupt the proper development of the Convention. The effectiveness and advocacy of the Committee would be called into question if the inertia lasted beyond a couple of months. The requirement of accountability was the starting point for any type of monitoring. The Committee must invest in a dynamic, functioning mood and be flexible in setting aside a cumbersome system of periodic reports.

Furthermore, the Committee relied on non-governmental organizations to a great extent to flag priority situations and submit useful information. Mr. Decaux added that the Committee had been contacted directly by a number of non-governmental organizations that transmitted serious information. Also, the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances itself had informed the Committee that it had been alerted to one situation in a State party; the outcome of their joint efforts in working together would feature in the Annual Report.

In conclusion, Mr. Decaux said that the fourth session would be a test, vis a vis the parties concerned, and the Committee hoped to be flexible in terms of field visits. The Convention provided a set of legal certainties for States and guarantees for victims. States parties had everything to gain by ratifying the Convention in order to provide ‘risk assurance’ for the future and to draw upon the lessons of the past. He hoped that the session would be particularly productive, fruitful and exemplary, and allow the Committee to move forward.

Dialogue with States Parties

Belgium took the floor to say his country would soon prepare its country report, and to express his support for the work of the Committee. An Expert from the Belgium Ministry for Justice would visit Geneva on 11 and 12 April, and would seek to approach Committee members for initial informal conversations on how Belgium could best begin to prepare its report.

Uruguay said the Convention on Enforced Disappearances was very important, both for Uruguay and all of humanity. Uruguay had given it major priority and was glad to be presenting its report tomorrow. It hoped to be able to use the Committee’s recommendations to improve its record on dealing with enforced disappearances.

Meeting with United Nations Bodies, Specialized Agencies and Other
Inter-governmental Organizations

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said there had already been very effective collaboration between the Committee and ICRC. ICRC believed it was important to recall the links between enforced disappearances and missing persons, upon which ICRC was particularly active. It was also important to avoid any misunderstanding in tackling those two notions – of enforced disappearances and of missing persons – ICRC would always be very willing to participate in any campaign of sensitization in making those notions better understood. Secondly, from the viewpoint of ICRC, it was particularly important that States became party to the Convention. It contained three pillars: prevention, accountability and reparations, and ICRC was always willing to work with States to help them put their domestic framework in line with both the Convention and international humanitarian law. Finally, ICRC was equipped with advisory services not only in Geneva but also in the field; legal advisers were always willing to work with States in that regard. States were strongly advised to get in touch with ICRC either in Geneva or in the field in order to exchange information on that important issue.

EMMANUEL DECAUX, Chairperson of the Committee, thanked ICRC for their political and technical support, and for their wider support of the Convention. He praised a recent workshop on technical support held jointly by the Committee and ICRC, and hoped that their working relationship would continue.

A Committee member commented that a challenging area for many States was to develop a way of dealing with both isolated disappearances and systematic disappearances. It would be helpful for the Committee and ICRC to develop standards in that area, for instance on how human remains were identified.

The International Committee of the Red Cross replied that the field of forensic identification was absolutely a field where they could work together. States were developing various practices in the field of identification of remains; it was a key area. ICRC had to be particularly sensitive to the specifics of each case, but would be happy to further exchanges with the Committee.

Meeting with Non-Governmental Organizations

Geneva for Human Rights said the statement delivered this morning by the representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights showed that the people who wrote it did not really understand the work of the Committee. For example, this Committee did not have a problem with backlog, as it was dealing only with initial reports. The Committee’s challenge was in establishing a working dialogue with States parties. The treaty body conversations in Geneva were far too focused on finances and working methods, rather than the programme.

EMMANUEL DECAUX, Chairperson of the Committee, thanked the speaker, and said they did not want to have short monitoring cycles. There were 10 treaty bodies, and the
annual meeting of the Chairpersons of those treaty bodies was very helpful in discussing the distinctive features of each treaty body. To enhance the effectiveness of the Convention the Committee had to find its own proper dynamic, as well as keeping concerned parties appraised of new information as it occurred. For example, if a State made a relevant announcement during its Universal Periodic Review, the Committee needed to be informed of it. Information had to be synergised.

The Observatory for Human Rights and Peace spoke about the forthcoming report of Spain (to be reviewed in November 2013), which would pertain exclusively to enforced disappearances that had occurred after December 2010, which was the date in which the Convention entered into force. An estimated 1,500 alleged cases of enforced disappearances had taken place in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and the repressive Franco period afterwards, and it seemed they would not be dealt with in Spain’s report. The Committee should ask Spain a number of questions about those historic cases many of which constituted crimes against humanity. The Committee should also ask Spain about their obligations under the Convention to the right of the victim to know the truth, and the right of victims to reparation.

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