Question of enforced or involuntary disappearances.

1986/55. Question of enforced or involuntary disappearances[1]152

The Commission on Human Rights, Bearing in mind General Assembly resolution 33/173 of 20 December 1978, in which the Assembly requested the Commission on Human Rights to consider the question of disappeared persons with a view to making appropriate recommendations, and all other United Nations resolutions concerning missing or disappeared persons, Convinced of the need to continue the implementation of the provisions of General Assembly resolution 33/173 and of the other United Nations resolutions on the question of enforced or involuntary disappearances, Recalling its resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980, by which it decided to establish, for a period of one year, a working group consisting of five of its members to serve as experts in their individual capacity, to examine questions relevant to enforced or involuntary disappearances of persons, and its resolution 1985/20 of 11 March 1985, Recalling General Assembly resolution 40/147 of 13 December 1985, in which the Assembly welcomed the decision taken by the Commission on Human Rights to extend for one year the term oil the mandate of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and to consider at its forty-second session the possibility of extending to two years the term of the mandate of the Working Group, Profoundly concerned about the persistence of the practice of enforced or involuntary disappearances, Expressing its emotion at the anguish and sorrow of the families concerned, who should know the fate of their relatives, and condemning the practice of the harassment and ill-treatment of the relatives of disappeared persons, Having considered the report of the Working Group,[2]153

1. Expresses its appreciation to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances for the way in which it has done its work;

2. Decides to extend for two years, on an experimental basis, the Working Group's mandate, as laid down in Commission on Human Rights resolution 20 (XXXVI), in accordance with the recommendations of the Working Group, while maintaining the Working Group's annual reporting cycle, and to reconsider the question at its forty-fourth session;

3. Requests the Working Group to submit to the Commission, at its forty-third session, a report on its work, together with its conclusions and recommendations, and to bear in mind the obligation to discharge its mandate with discretion, so as, inter alia, to protect persons providing information or to limit the dissemination of information provided by Governments;

4. Requests the Working Group, in its efforts to help eliminate the practice of enforced or involuntary disappearances, to present to the Commission all appropriate information it deems necessary and all concrete suggestions and recommendations regarding the fulfilment of its task;

5. Reminds the Working Group of the need to observe, in its humanitarian task, United Nations standards and practices regarding the receipt of communications, their consideration, their transmittal to Governments and their evaluation;

6. Urges all Governments, in particular those which have not yet responded to communications transmitted to them by the Working Group, to co-operate with and assist the Working Group so that it may carry out its mandate effectively;

7. Renews its request to the Secretary-General to invite the Governments of countries in which there are numerous cases of disappearance to envisage the establishment of a national body for investigations into reports of disappeared persons and to answer expeditiously requests for information addressed to them by the Working Group in connection with the measures they have taken in application of General Assembly resolution 33/173 ;

8. Encourages the Governments concerned to consider with special attention the wish of the Working Group, when such a wish is expressed, to visit their country, thus enabling the Working Group to fulfil its mandate even more effectively;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the Working Group receives all necessary assistance, in particular the staff and resources it requires to perform its functions in an effective and expeditious manner, so as to reduce to the minimum any discontinuity in the activities of the Working Group;

10. Decides to consider this question at its forty-third session under a sub-item of the agenda entitled "Question of enforced or involuntary disappearances".

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[1]152 Adopted at the 56th meeting, on 13 March 1986, without a vote. See chap. X, para. 268. [2]153 E/CN.4/1968/18 and Add.1.