OMCT welcomes the entering into force of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance

​THE WORLD ORGANISATIONAGAINST TORTURE (OMCT) STATEMENT THEINTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF ALL PERSONS FROM ENFORCEDDISAPPEARANCE WILL ENTER INTO FORCE IN DECEMBER Geneva,29 November 2010. The World Organisation AgainstTorture (OMCT) welcomes the entering into force of the International Conventionfor the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance and calls on allStates 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 Conventionfor the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which will enterinto force on 23 December 2010, 30 days after the 20th accession or ratification. Thislandmark treaty recognizesthe right of all the persons affected by enforced disappearance to know thetruth about the circumstances of this crime, the progress and results of theinvestigation and the fate of the disappeared person. The Convention also aimsto punish perpetrators and provide reparationsto victims and their families, which is vital for the instrument to beeffective.[1] In view of the widespread practice of enforceddisappearance, OMCT can only welcome the entering into force of the Convention,marking an important development in the fight against this practice. OMCT hasdocumented over the years many cases of enforced disappearance across the worldand again recently in Algeria and India. Enforced disappearance not only infringes upon an entire range of humanrights, such as the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment and theprohibition of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, but this practice also causesthe families indescribable anguish, fear and sorrow because they don’t knowwhat has happened to the disappeared person. “Families of disappeared persons tell us how theylive 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 tryingto conceal their responsibility driving the families to endless despair” saidEric Sottas, Secretary General of OMCT. “It took several decades since thefirst denunciations to have enforced disappearance recognised as a specificcrime and to get an International Treaty establishing mechanisms to put an endthereto. Unfortunately, we know that much relies now on the political will ofthe authorities concerned to follow-up effectively on their commitments”. OMCT therefore calls on all States that have not yetdone so to sign, ratify and fully implement the Convention. States have notablyto make enforced disappearance an offence under their national criminal law punishable by appropriate penaltieswhich take into account its extreme seriousness. OMCT also urges States torecognise the competence of the new Committee against Enforced Disappearance toconsider individual complaints. The20 States that have ratified the InternationalConvention 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,Spainand Uruguay. Contact: Eric Sottas, OMCT SecretaryGeneral, Tel. +41 22 809 49 39
[1] See the websiteof the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),www.ohchr.org