21/2/2003
Phenomenon of “the missing” in conflicts addressed by ICRC

An international conference of experts on the problem of “missing” persons was held in Geneva from February 19 to 21, 2003. The event, organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), brought together experts from about 90 countries in a bid to draw attention to the largely forgotten plight of thousands of families around the world who simply do not know what has happened to a loved one. It sought to revitalize efforts to find out what has happened to missing persons, and to provide practical guidelines for preventing disappearances in the first place. The conference opened up important paths for cooperation and discussion among states which aim to strengthen international humanitarian law at a time when it is subject to challenge.

"There is indeed a lacuna in international law that needs to be urgently filled," said Mr. Vieira de Mello, UN rights chief, informing the experts that the UN Commission on Human Rights had embarked on a useful exercise to elaborate a new, legally binding instrument that would guarantee better protection for current and potential victims of enforced disappearance. That proposed covenant would also provide a comprehensive and integral approach to address the problem.

"My hope, is that the instrument under discussion would be more than a series of negative obligations on States parties to defer from certain actions," he said, "but would also impose positive obligations to create the strong mechanisms needed to prevent deviation." Some of the issues currently being considered are straightforward, action-based measures that address this complex problem.

The High Commissioner said he was also encouraged by discussions on the need for stronger measures against impunity, cooperation between States, mechanisms against arbitrary detention, training of law enforcement personnel and the guarantee of the right to reparation. "Not that legal instruments provide us with instant solutions," he said. "But in the absence of norms, solutions are all the more evasive, haphazard and inhuman."