UN to Study More Than 350 Cases of Enforced Disappearances

UN Human Rights Experts to Study More Than 350 Cases of Enforced Disappearances

New York, July 4 2011 - The United Nations human rights experts tasked with helping families determine what happened to their relatives who have disappeared will this week review more than 350 cases of enforced disappearances around the world.

The five-member UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, set up in 1980, is mandated to assist the relatives of disappeared persons by ascertaining their fate and whereabouts, as well as act as a conduit between the families and the governments concerned.

During its current session, which began today and runs until Friday, the working group will hold meetings with government delegations, civil society representatives and relatives of disappeared persons to exchange views on both individual cases and the broader phenomenon of enforced disappearances.

This week the group expects to review more than 350 cases, including recently submitted in formation on previously accepted cases, and other communications concerning more than 40 countries.

The working group's chair-rapporteur is Jeremy Sarkin of South Africa, and the other members are: Ariel Dulitzky (Argentina), Jasminka Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Osman El-Hajjé (Lebanon) and Olivier de Frouville (France).

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

ENDS