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Enforced disappearances

Doc. 10243
30 June 2004

Motion for a resolution
presented by Mr Pourgourides and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

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            The Assembly,

1.         Deeply worried that enforced disappearances remain a continuing practice in many parts of the world;

2.         Gravely concerning that only very few perpetrators are being brought to justice, and that the level of impunity for the crime of enforced disappearance remains very high;

            Confirming that an enforced disappearance can be defined by the following constitutive elements: a deprivation of liberty in whatever form, refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealment of the fate and the whereabouts of the disappeared person, and the placing of the person outside the protection of the law;

            Well aware that disappearances cause unbearable harm to the direct victims as well as to their friends and families, and in solidarity with the struggle for truth and justice of the families of disappeared persons;

3.         Recognising that human dignity entails the right to know the truth about the fate of disappeared relatives;

4.         Considering that specificity and particular seriousness of enforced disappearances and aware of the gaps and limitations in the existing protection of persons from the, in particular the absence of legally binding international normative instruments for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearances applying for European, Asian and African countries;

5.         Convinced that international co-operation is essential if the atrocious practice of enforced disappearances is to be stopped;

6.         Welcoming the humanitarian efforts made since 1980 by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to discover the fate of reported disappeared;

7.         Taking into account the example of standard setting in international law of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons of 1994, and the Draft International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Forced Disappearance of 1998;

8.         Welcoming the confirmation of the crime of enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity in the mandate of the International Criminal Court;

9.         Referring to the provisions of the 1992 UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances;

10.        Recalling the commitment of the World Conference on Human Rights of 1993 to take effective legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures to prevent, terminate and punish acts of enforced disappearances;

11.        Referring to its own Resolution 828 (1984) on enforced disappearances in general and to its recent Resolution 1371 (2004) on disappeared persons in Belarus;

12.        Calling on all states to co-operate actively with the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, answer its requests for information and allow it to make on-the-spot visits on request, and to provide it with the resources needed for its proper functioning:

1. to support the preparation and adopted by the United Nations of a Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances;

2. to adapt their legal system in order to incriminate the act of enforced disappearance as a crime sui generis.

Signed [1]:
POURGOURIDES Christos, Cyprus, EPP/CD
BINDIG Rudolf, Germany, SOC
CILEVICS Boriss, Latvia, SOC
DREYFUS-SCHMIDT Michel, France, SOC
FRUNDA Gy�rgy, Romania, EPP/CD
GROSS Andreas, Switzerland, SOC
J��TTEENM�KI Anneli, Finland, LDR
JURGENS Erik, Netherlands, SOC
LEUTHEUSSER-SCHNARRENBERGER Sabine, Germany, LDR
MAGNUSSON G�ran, Sweden, SOC
McNAMARA Kevin, United Kingdom, SOC
NACHBAR Philippe, France, EPP/CD
ROTH Michael, Germany, SOC
SEVERIN Adrian, Romania, SOC
STEENBLOCK Rainder, Germany, SOC
TRITZ Marianne, Germany, SOC
VERMOT-MANGOLD Ruth-Gaby, Switzerland, SOC
ZAPFL-HELBLING Rosmarie, Switzerland, EPP/CD

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[1]

SOC EPP EDG LDR UEL NR

Socialist Group Group of the European People’s Party European Democratic Group Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group Group of the Unified European Left Not registered in a group