UNITED
NATIONS
Economic and Soc
ial Distr.
Council
GENERAL
EICN.4 12000/64
21 December 1999
Original: ENGLISH
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-sixth session
Item 11(b) of the provisional agenda
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING QUESTIONS OF
DISAPPEARANCES AND SUMMARY EXECUTIONS
Report of the Working Group on Enforced
or Involuntary Disappearances
E
GE.99-I6472 (E)
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CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
Executive summary 5
Introduction 1 - 8 7
ACTIVITIES OF THE WORKING GROUP IN 1999 9-23 8
A. Meetings and missions 9 - 13 8
B. Communications 14 - 18 8
C. Methods of work 19 - 23 9
II. COUNTRIES IN WHICH THERE WERE NEW CASES OF
DISAPPEARANCES OR CLARIFICATIONS 24-95 10
Algeria 24-26 10
Belarus 27 10
Brazil 28 11
Cambodia 29 11
China 30-31 11
Colombia 32-39 11
Democratic Republic of the Congo 40 - 41 13
Ethiopia 42 13
Guatemala 43 - 49 13
Honduras 50 14
India 51 -56 15
Indonesia 57 16
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 58 - 59 16
Iraq 60 16
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CONTENTS ( continued)
Paragraphs Page
Jordan 61 17
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 62 17
Mexico 63 - 71 17
Morocco 72 - 74 18
Nepal 75-78 19
Pakistan 79-81 19
Philippines 82 - 83 20
Sri Lanka 84 - 86 20
Sudan 87 - 88 20
Tunisia 89 21
Turkey 90-92 21
Uzbekistan 93 - 95 21
III. COUNTRIES FROM WHICH THE WORKING GROUP
RECEIVED COMMENTS FROM GOVERNMENTS OR
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 96-130 22
Angola 96 22
Argentina 97 - 105 22
Burundi 106 24
Cameroon 107 24
Egypt 108-109 24
El Salvador 110-111 24
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CONTENTS ( continued)
Paragraphs Page
Eritrea 112 25
Kuwait 113 - 114 25
Malaysia 115-116 25
Peru 117-124 26
Uruguay 125 - 130 27
IV. COUNTRIES FROM WHICH THE WORKING GROUP
RECEIVED NO iNFORMATION OR COMMENTS 131-132 28
V. COUNTRIES IN WHICH ALL REPORTED CASES OF
DISAPPEARANCE HAVE BEEN CLARIFIED 133 29
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 134- 143 29
VII. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT AND SEPARATE OPINION
OF TWO MEMBERS OF THE WORKTh1G GROUP 144- 145 31
Annex : Decisions on individual cases taken by the Working Group
during 1999
33
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Executive summary
The report submitted by the Working Group corresponding to 1999 again indicates
further developments of two basic features of the situation of enforced or involuntary
disappearances in the world.'
First was the continuation of the practice of disappearances in a number of countries.
During last year, the Working Group received information on 300 new cases of disappearances
which occurred in 23 countries; 115 of these cases occurred in 1999. At the moment, the
Working Group has 46,054 outstanding cases on its registers. During 1999, 125 cases were
transmitted by the Working Group to the Governments of 19 countries by way of its urgent
action procedure. (The highest number of cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances in
1999 occurred in Indonesia (50) and Colombia (27); the Working Group transmitted to the
Government of Algeria 146 cases of disappearance, one of which occurred in 1999).
Second, the process of clarification of cases, especially cases which were transmitted
more than 10 years ago, is becoming slower. In spite of satisfactory cooperation with the
Working Group from a great number of countries, the fact remains that the attitude of most
Governments towards investigating and to clarifying the outstanding cases has not improved. In
the period under review (1999), out of 69 countries with unclarified cases, the Governments of
34 countries have not communicated at all with the Working Group.
In its report, the Working Group has recommended to the Commission on Human Rights
that it should call upon all the States with outstanding cases to adopt proper measures to improve
the process of clarification of cases.
The report also points out that impunity continues to be one of the main causes of
disappearances and also the major obstacle in the process of clarification. The Working Group
reiterates that the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
obliges all States to declare all acts of enforced disappearance offences in their domestic criminal
law, to promptly and thoroughly investigate all allegations of enforced disappearance and to
bring the perpetrators to justice.
1 Since its creation in 1980, the Working Group has submitted a report annually to the
Commission on Human Rights, starting at the Commission's thirty-seventh session. The
document symbols of the previous 17 reports are as follows: E/CN.4/1435 and Add.1;
E/CN.4/1492 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1983/14; E/CN.4/1984/21 and Add.1 and 2; E/CN.4/1985/15
and Add.1; E/CN.4/1986/18 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1987/15 and Corr.1 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1988/19
and Add.1; E/CN.4/1989/18 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1990/13; E/CN.4/1991/20 and Add.1;
E/CN.4/1992/18 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1993/25 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1994/26 and Corr.1 and 2 and
Add. 1; E/CN.4/1995/36; E/CN.4/1996/38; E/CN.4/1997/34; E/CN.4/1998/43; and
E/CN.4/1999/62 and Add.1 and Add.2. The relevant resolutions of the Commission adopted at
its last session are resolutions 1999/16, 1999/27, 1999/33, 1999/34 and 1999/41.
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As a result of the current limitations in its resources and staff, together with the need to
reduce the length of its report, the Working Group has not included some important sections
contained in its previous reports, such as those referring to the implementation of the
Declaration, as well as general comments on its articles and observations on the draft
international convention on the prevention and punishment of enforced disappearances. Also, it
has not been possible to include concluding observations in the country chapters.
In its report, the Working Group expresses again its serious concern about its ability in
the future, with the present limited financial resources and seriously limited staff, to carry out the
various mandates assigned to it by the Commission.
The report includes the separate opinion of two members of the Working Group,
Mr. Diego GarcIa-Sayán and Mr. Manfred Nowak, who strongly objected to the fact that the
report had been limited to 32 pages as requested by the General Assembly.
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Introduction
1. The present report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is
submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/3 8, entitled “Question of
enforced disappearances”.
2. In addition to its original mandate, which is to act as a channel of communication
between the families of disappeared persons and the Governments concerned, with a view to
ensuring that sufficiently documented and clearly identified individual cases are investigated and
the whereabouts of the disappeared persons clarified, the Working Group has been entrusted by
the Commission with various other tasks. In particular, the Working Group is to monitor States'
compliance with their obligations deriving from the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons
from Enforced Disappearance (hereafter referred to as the Declaration).
3. The number of countries with outstanding cases of alleged disappearance was 69 in 1999.
During the period under review, the Working Group received 300 new cases of disappearance
in 23 countries, 115 of which allegedly occurred in 1999. The total number of cases transmitted
by the Working Group to Governments since the Group's inception stands at 49,070. The total
number of cases being kept under active consideration, as they have not yet been clarified, now
stands at 46,054.
4. As in previous years, the Working Group has continued to apply the urgent action
procedure in cases that allegedly occurred within the three months preceding the receipt of a
complaint. This year the Working Group sent urgent action appeals in respect of 125 cases to
the Governments of 19 countries (see para. 14).
5. The Working Group regrets that out of the 69 countries with unclarified cases, the
Governments of 34 countries have not communicated at all with the Group during the period
under review.
6. As in the past, the present report reflects only communications or cases examined before
the last day of the third annual session of the Working Group, which was 3 December 1999.
Urgent action cases which may have to be dealt with between that date and the end of the year,
as well as communications received from Governments and processed after 3 December 1999,
will be reflected in the Working Group's next report.
7. Owing to serious limitations in its resources and inadequate staff, together with the
requested reduction of pages of this report, the Working Group has not been able to include in
the present report some very important sections, such as the implementation of the Declaration
on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, including general comments on
its provisions, as well as observations on the draft international convention on the prevention and
punishment of enforced disappearances. Also, it has not been possible to include observations in
the country chapters.
8. The Working Group has faced very serious shortages in the staff servicing its mandates,
rendering it almost impossible for the Group to complete all aspects of its mandates in an
adequate manner. Therefore, the Working Group expresses serious concern about its ability in
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the future, with the present limited financial and human resources, to carry out the various
mandates assigned to it by the Commission on Human Rights. Here, the Working Group
expresses its deep appreciation of the work of the staff which was carried out in spite of the
difficulties referred to above.
I. ACTIVITIES OF THE WORKING GROUP IN 1999
A. Meetings and missions
9. The Working Group held three sessions in 1999. The fifty-seventh session was held in
New York from 10 to 14 May, and the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth sessions were held in Geneva
from 30 August to 3 September and from 24 November to 3 December, respectively. During
these sessions, the Working Group met with official representatives of the Governments of
Angola, Argentina, Guatemala, Kuwait, Mexico and Nepal.
10. In addition, the Working Group met with representatives of human rights organizations,
associations of relatives of missing persons and families or witnesses directly concerned with
reports of enforced disappearances.
11. By letter dated 19 November 1997, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
invited the Working Group to visit that country. The Working Group accepted the invitation and
a mutually convenient date is being sought.
12. As reported last year, to date the Working Group has received no reply from the
Government of Iraq to its letter dated 21 July 1995 requesting a visit.
13. The Working Group represented by one of its members, Mr. Manfred Nowak, undertook
a mission to Sri Lanka from 25 to 29 October 1999. His report, as adopted by the Working
Group, is contained in addendum 1 to the present report.
B. Communications
14. During the period under review, the Working Group transmitted 300 new cases of
enforced or involuntary disappearance to the Governments of Algeria (146), Belarus, Brazil,
China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Indonesia,
Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jordan, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Of these, 125
were sent under the urgent action procedure.
15. Of the newly reported cases, 115 allegedly occurred in 1999 and relate to Algeria,
Belarus, Brazil, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Honduras,
Indonesia (50), Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jordan, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
the Sudan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
16. During the same period, the Working Group clarified 70 cases concerning Brazil, China,
Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia,
Lebanon, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tunisia and Turkey.
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17. As in previous years, the Working Group received reports and expressions of concern
from non-governmental organizations, associations of relatives of disappeared persons, and from
individuals about the safety of persons actively engaged in the search for missing persons, in
reporting cases of disappearance or in the investigation of cases. In some countries, the mere
fact of reporting a disappearance entailed a serious risk to the life or security of the person
making the report or to his or her family members. In addition, individuals, relatives of missing
persons and members of human rights organizations were frequently harassed and threatened
with death for reporting cases of human rights violations or investigating such cases.
18. Taking into account the ever-increasing number of United Nations field operations with
human rights components and field offices of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the
Working Group has continued this year to address itself to these offices in an effort to take
advantage of their unique position on the ground in order to improve its information flow with
regard to disappearances.
C. Methods of work
19. During its fifty-eighth session, at the request of several non-governmental organizations,
the Working Group met with their representatives to discuss and possibly review its methods of
work. A number of representatives underlined the importance of the work carried out by the
Working Group in seeking the whereabouts of disappeared persons and, in particular, the
effectiveness of its urgent action procedure. However, they expressed concern about the
decision taken by the Working Group in 1997 to discontinue consideration of cases where it
considers that it can no longer play any useful role in trying to elucidate them, in particular if the
source is no longer in existence, or in cases in which the families no longer have an interest in
pursuing the matter. In this connection, a number of representatives pointed out that in many
cases, the reasons why a source or family members might not respond to a query from the
Working Group, or might not wish to pursue an investigation, might not be voluntary and that
threats and intimidation might be involved. In such cases, they were of the view that the
Working Group, before considering a case clarified, should make every effort to investigate the
reasons behind the action or non-action of the source or the family concerned.
20. With regard to compensation in cases where a person reported to have disappeared is
found to have been killed, many representatives were of the view that it was part of the
humanitarian mandate of the Working Group not only to ensure that the family was informed
and compensated, but also to reveal the place of burial to the family.
21. Many representatives of non-governmental organizations, including the Asian Federation
against Involuntary Disappearances, Amnesty International, the Latin American Federation of
Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, and the International. Federation of Human
Rights Leagues, asked for better communication between the source and the Working Group on
action taken by the Group in individual cases, especially under the urgent action procedure.
22. At its fifty-ninth session, the Working Group decided to review its methods of work at its
sixtieth session to be held in April 2000, taking into account the concerns expressed by the
non-governmental organizations.
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23. In accordance with the directive received by the Working Group to reduce the length of
the annual report, the following new format has been adopted for the present report:
Category A : countries in which there were new cases of disappearance or clarifications.
Category B : countries on which the Working Group received comments from
Governments and non-governmental organizations.
Category C : countries from which the Working Group received no information or
comments.
II. COUNTRIES Th1 WHICH THERE WERE NEW CASES OF
DISAPPEARANCES OR CLARIFICATIONS
Algeria
24. The Working Group transmitted 146 newly reported cases, one of which occurred
in 1999. During the same period, the Working Group did not clarify any case.
25. The Working Group received information from non-governmental organizations
concerning non-compliance by the Government of Algeria with provisions of the Declaration on
the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
26. The Government of Algeria also provided information on 214 cases. There were two
kinds of response: the missing persons had been neither questioned nor arrested; investigations
to locate the missing persons were continuing. The Government reiterated its willingness to
cooperate with the Working Group and the other extra-conventional mechanisms of the
Commission on Human Rights. The Government advised the Working Group that offices had
been established throughout the country since August 1998 to receive complaints from families,
gather information on cases of enforced disappearances and respond when the investigations
were completed. The National Human Rights Monitoring Unit and the Ombudsman could be
approached directly by the families. They could also contact the judicial authorities.
Belarus
27. One case was transmitted to the Government under the urgent action procedure. It
concerns a former Minister for Internal Affairs who was very active in the presidential campaign
of an opposition leader. No information was received from the Government concerning this
case.
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Brazil
28. Four new cases were transmitted to the Government. Three of them concerned three
persons who were reportedly arrested when they were leaving a carnival party. The cases were
subsequently clarified on the basis of information provided by the source and transmitted to the
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. According to the
information received, these persons were shot in the head at point-blank range with a
high-calibre pistol similar to those used by the military police.
Cambodia
29. During the period under review, information was received from non-governmental
organizations concerning non-compliance by the Government of Cambodia with provisions of
the Declaration. Scores of people, possibly as many as 200, were arrested in this context. It was
said that the authorities acknowledged only 22 arrests and claimed that 19 of those persons had
been released. It was said that at least 20 people, and possibly more, were killed in the
two weeks following the crackdown on opposition protests. It was feared that the
unacknowledged prisoners may be among the dead. Cambodian authorities have reportedly
denied that any of those killed were peaceful demonstrators.
China
30. Seven new cases were transmitted by the Working Group to the Government. One was
sent under the urgent action procedure. Four cases concerned persons who were detained
on 2 November 1998 in Huangzhou, Zhejian Province, by the security forces. They were
reportedly detained because of their apparent involvement with Mr. Wang Youcal, a political
dissident. The whereabouts of two other persons are unknown since 4 May 1998, when prison
and police officers opened fire on prisoners staging a demonstration in Drapchi Prison.
31. The Government submitted information on 15 outstanding cases. The Working Group
clarified nine cases on the basis of information previously received from the Government to
which no objection was received from the source. The missing persons were found in prisons or
in a re-education camp. In one case, the missing person had plotted to create an illegal
organization, mounting illegal activities in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere and was assigned to
three years' re-education.
Colombia
32. The Working Group transmitted 27 newly reported cases to the Government. During the
same period, the Group clarified nine cases, five of them on the basis of information provided by
the Government on which the sources did not make any observations during the six-month
period. In one case, the missing person was found living at liberty. In two other cases, the
corpses of these persons were found. Two other persons were handed over to a commission of
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Doradal, Department of Antioquia.
Four other cases were clarified on the basis of the information provided by the source in the
sense that these persons, members of a human rights organization, were released by their captors.
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33. The newly reported cases transmitted in 1999 occurred mainly in the communities of
El Arenal, Villa Hermosa and Caño Seco, Department of Choco, Urabá region; on the river Sinu,
Department of Córdoba, and in Barrancabermeja, Department of Santander. Most of the
abductions and detentions leading to disappearances were carried out by members of
paramilitary groups whose actions were believed to have been undertaken in complicity with, or
to be supervised by members of the security forces, very often in areas of heavy military
presence. In one case, the police was allegedly responsible for the disappearance.
34. During the period under review, the Government made reference to 72 outstanding cases.
Most of the communications contained details of legal proceedings carried out by various
authorities dealing with the cases or requests for additional information. The Government of
Colombia also reported that it had submitted to Congress a bill which defined the crime of
enforced disappearance and established severe penalties.
35. The Working Group was informed that enforced or involuntary disappearances continued
to occur and were the work mainly of paramilitary groups apparently operating in various parts
of the country with the acquiescence of the security forces. It is alleged that the situation obtains
in spite of the fact that in 1989 the Government of Colombia suspended the legal basis for the
establishment of those groups and issued specific instructions to the armed forces to break them
up. The Working Group was informed that in February 1999, the Public Prosecutor's Office
complained that the security forces had served only 200 detention orders on members of
paramilitary organizations. Special mention was made of the disappearance of eight people in
May 1998 during the attack on Puerto Alvira, Marpiripán municipality, Department of Meta, by
the paramilitary organization United Self-Defence Group of Colombia. It was reported that
although the authorities had received several warnings that an attack on Puerto Alvira was
imminent, they took no action to prevent it or to protect the inhabitants of the port.
36. The Working Group has received reports of other cases in which the security forces did
not protect the civilian population or repel attacks against it by paramilitary groups. One such
case involved internally displaced persons (from the southern department of BolIvar, in the
Magdalena Medio region), who decided to return home after receiving government guarantees
that they would be protected in the event of an attack by paramilitary groups. However, they
were apparently again attacked in October 1998 and the special armed forces unit deployed to
guarantee their security did not provide them with effective protection.
37. It was also reported that the cases of 25 people who had disappeared in Barrancabermeja
in May 1998 after an attack by a paramilitary group remained unsolved. Apparently, evidence of
complicity in the attack by members of the security forces is beginning to emerge.
38. The Working Group learned that in October 1998, Congress gave preliminary approval to
a bill that would incorporate the crimes of enforced disappearance, massacre and genocide in the
Penal Code. In June 1999, the Working Group received information that the bill incorporating
the crime of enforced disappearance in Colombian domestic legislation would be the subject of a
third debate.
39. Lastly, reference was also made to acts of intimidation, harassment and reprisal against
members of non-governmental human rights organizations. The Working Group was informed
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of the murders of Eduardo Umaña Mendoza and Jaime Garzón and of the death threats made by
paramilitary groups against members of the Trujillo Association of Relatives of Victims and the
Intercongregational Commission for Justice and Peace, which were obliged to shut down their
offices in Trujillo on 19 February 1999. It was alleged that the Government provided no
guarantees of protection to those non-governmental organizations and took no special measures
to protect the lives of their members.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
40. Five new cases of disappearance were transmitted by the Working Group to the
Government. All occurred in 1999 and were sent under the urgent action procedure. Two cases
were subsequently clarified given that the source advised the Working Group that these persons,
members of a human rights non-governmental organization, had been released.
41. The Working Group received allegations about the arrest and abduction of citizens for
varying periods of time without charge or notification to their families. It was said that some
persons had disappeared after being arrested by the Forces armées congolaises on suspicion of
links with the Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie. Many victims were said to be from
the Gombe, Binza, Ma Compagne, Ozone and Pigeon districts of Kinshasa. The governmental
forces were also accused of being responsible for a series of abductions in the eastern region of
the country, many of the victims said to be Hutu civilians.
Ethiopia
42. The Working Group transmitted a newly reported case of disappearance to the
Government, which allegedly occurred in 1999 and was sent under the urgent action procedure.
The case concerns an Eritrean citizen who was detained in the context of a denounced policy of
forced repatriation to Eritrea.
Guatemala
43. The Government provided information on 16 individual cases. Eight cases were
subsequently clarified by the Working Group. In six cases the missing persons were found
living at liberty and held interviews with government officers. The deaths of the two other
missing persons were verified through the corresponding death certificates and the Citizen's
Registry in the Supreme Electoral Court.
44. The Working Group received allegations that the phenomenon of impunity continued to
be considered the biggest obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights in Guatemala. It was
indicated that little progress had been made in bringing to trial those responsible for enforced or
involuntary disappearances committed in the past. Most cases had not been solved. Reference
was made to the inefficiency of the investigations carried out by the Public Prosecutor's Office
and to the defective functioning of the judicial system and the security forces.
45. With regard to article 19 of the Declaration, the Working Group was informed that no
measures had been adopted providing redress or compensation for the families of the victims of
enforced or involuntary disappearances.
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46. Special concern was expressed about the fact that the causes and the circumstances of
and responsibility for the murder in April 1998 of Monseñor Juan José Gerardi, the Coordinator
of the Guatemalan Archdiocesan Human Rights Office, had not been established. It was
indicated that Monseñor Gerardi had been beaten to death two days after presiding over the
public presentation of the report entitled “Recovery of Historical Memory”. The report collates
and summarizes testimony collected throughout the country over a three-year period on cases of
enforced or involuntary disappearance and of extrajudicial execution. The Working Group was
also informed of the murder in May 1998 of Public Prosecutor Silvia Jeréz Romero de Herrera,
who was investigating the disappearance of guerrilla leader EfraIn Bámaca. It was mentioned
that members of the security forces, or persons acting with their consent or acquiescence, might
have been responsible.
47. The Working Group continued to receive reports of acts of harassment and intimidation
and threats against members of non-governmental human rights organizations working to
ascertain the fate or whereabouts of the thousands of victims of enforced disappearances. It
learned that members of the Association of Relatives of Detained/Disappeared Persons in
Guatemala (FAMDEGUA) had received death threats in July 1999 and been subjected to
surveillance and various acts of hostility. It was also informed that on 14 February 1999
members of the Guatemalan Team of Forensic Anthropology were attacked and threatened by
army soldiers while excavating unmarked graves in Huehuetenango. The team's work was part
of the process of exhumation of the bodies of victims of enforced disappearance carried out by
FAMIDEGUA and other Guatemalan human rights organizations with a view to handing the
mortal remains discovered over to the families for proper burial. There are said to be about 500
unmarked burial grounds in Guatemala.
48. It was alleged that there had been no follow-up to the work of the Commission for
Historical Clarification in Guatemala and that the Commission's recommendations had not been
implemented. It was said that the work had cost Guatemala and the international community
effort, money and time and that there was no point in the recommendations being simply
shelved. It was said that there had been no official reaction to some of the Commission's main
recommendations, among them the establishment of a special body to trace disappeared persons
and to ascertain the fate of all the victims of enforced disappearance during the armed conflict,
many of them children.
49. It was also alleged that the Peace Agreement's provisions on measures to preserve the
memory of the victims, on full redress and on compensatory measures had not been met.
Honduras
50. The Working Group transmitted a newly reported case of disappearance to the
Government. It was subsequently clarified on the basis of the information provided by the
source that the missing person had been found alive. The Working Group transmitted also a
prompt intervention cable in favour of members of the Committee of Relatives of Detainees and
Disappeared Persons who had reportedly been subjected to acts of harassment and intimidation.
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India
51. The Working Group transmitted six newly reported cases to the Government, four of
which occurred in 1998, one in 1996 and one in 1997. Four persons allegedly disappeared after
having been arrested in Srinagar and one in Kashmir. During the same period, the Working
Group clarified five cases on the basis of information previously received from the Government,
on which no objection was received from the source. In three cases, the persons concerned were
found living at liberty.
52. During the period under review, information concerning developments in India having an
influence on the phenomenon of disappearance and the implementation of the Declaration on the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was received from non-governmental
organizations. Allegations were also received of reports that police throughout the country do
not often file required arrest reports. It was said that when family members seek information on
detained relatives, all knowledge of the missing person is denied, in breach of article 10 of the
Declaration relating to the provision of accurate information to the family members of a person
deprived of liberty.
53. Particular concern was expressed with regard to the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities
Act (TADA) which continues to be applied despite the announcement by the Government in
May 1995 that its validity would not be extended. Impunity is said to prevail in Manipur. The
Assam and Manipur Special Powers Act of 1958 reportedly confers on the armed forces broadly
defined virtual immunity from prosecution.
54. It was said that the Protection of Human Rights Act of 1993 prevents the Indian National
Human Rights Commission (NHRC) from inquiring into incidents older than one year. It has no
power to investigate directly violations of human rights, no jurisdiction over violations
committed by the armed and the security forces, no power to prosecute violators and no power to
compensate victims. Allegations were also received according to which more than 2,000 persons
are being held in long-term unacknowledged detention in interrogation centres and transit camps
in the north-east of the country and in Jammu and Kashmir.
55. The Government of India pointed out that the allegations referred to above do not reflect
the actual situation prevailing in India and contain sweeping generalizations which have no
foundation in fact. As a democracy, India has an extensive range of institutions which ensure the
protection of human rights. TADA had been allowed to lapse as a conscious decision on the part
of the Government after significant public debate in the country. Since then, to the
Government's knowledge, no one has been charged with offences under this Act. Only 1,022
persons continue to be detained under the Act at present. NHRC has powers under article 12 of
the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 to inquire suo moto as well as on the basis of petitions
submitted by victims. It can also utilize the services of any officer of the Central or state
Governments as required for investigations. While it is true that article 19 of the Act provides
for a separate procedure with regard to complaints of violation by members of the armed forces,
this is merely an alternative procedure and does not provide any immunity. It is also incorrect to
allege that laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act provide security forces with
immunity from prosecution. No law passed by the legislature can violate human rights
guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
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56. Regarding the situation in the State of Manipur, since the late 1970s, the Government
reports that there has been cross-border terrorism carried out by militant elements and insurgents.
These militants have been responsible for random killings, extortion, looting, abductions, etc.
The Government has an obligation to uphold democracy, the rule of law and the human rights of
its citizens and it is convinced that measures to combat terrorism must be carried out but only in
accordance with human rights and national law standards. Violators of human rights at all levels
are identified and punished in India.
Indonesia
57. The Working Group transmitted 50 newly reported cases of disappearance, all of which
occurred in 1999 and mostly in East Timor and in Aceh. The cases were sent under the urgent
action procedure. During the same period, the Working Group clarified a case on the basis of
information previously received from the Government on which no objection was received from
the source. The response pointed out that this person had been found imprisoned at the Bacau
police station awaiting trial on charges of rebellion. Another case was clarified on the basis of
the information provided by the source according to which the missing person had been released
after being held in incommunicado military detention. The Government of Indonesia also
submitted information on 27 other cases.
Iran (Islamic Republic of )
58. The Working Group transmitted four newly reported cases to the Government. Three
cases were transmitted under the urgent action procedure.
59. The Working Group received allegations that relatives are not informed of the detention
of their family members, in breach of article 10 of the Declaration. That was reportedly the case
of several students detained during the demonstrations that took place in Tehran on 8 July 1999.
It was alleged that in the following days, students, journalists and academics were taken from
their homes without any arrest warrant and without any explanation or notice to their relatives. It
was said that these actions placed the detainees outside the protection of the law. It was also
reported that other detentions without a legal warrant took place in Mashhad and Rasht. Some of
the detained persons were reportedly linked to the People's Moj ahedin Organization of Iran.
Ir q
60. The Working Group transmitted to the Government of Iraq one new case. It was
transmitted by the urgent action procedure. It concerns an Iraqi national who was allegedly
abducted in Amman by the Iraqi Intelligence Services. He had reportedly travelled to Jordan to
escape persecution in Iraq. In conformity with its methods of work, the case was also
transmitted by the Working Group to the Government of Jordan. No response has been received
so far from the Government of Iraq concerning this case.
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Jordan
61. The Working Group transmitted to the Government the same case transmitted to the
Government of Iraq (see para. 60 above). No response had been received so far from the
Government of Jordan.
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
62. One new case of disappearance was transmitted by the Working Group to the
Government. It concerns a Lebanese citizen who was abducted in Tripoli on 31 August 1978
while he was accompanying a famous Shiite Muslim scholar visiting Libya.
Mexico
63. The Working Group transmitted six newly reported cases of disappearance to the
Government, one of which occurred in 1999. All the cases were sent under the urgent action
procedure. During the same period, the Working Group clarified 16 cases on the basis of
information previously provided by the Government on which the sources had not made
observations within the six-month period. The Working Group also decided to discontinue
consideration of one case, since the brother of the missing person reiterated, on behalf of his
relatives, his desire not to pursue the issue any further.
64. The newly reported cases occurred in Mexico, Federal District; in Villahermosa, State of
Tabasco; in El Calvario community, Sabanilla municipality, State of Chiapas; and in the
communities of Coyuca de BenItez and El Achotal, municipality of Atoyac de Alvarez, State of
Guerrero. Members of the security forces were mentioned as responsible in one case; soldiers of
the Mexican Army in three cases, and members of paramilitary groups, acting with the
acquiescence of members of the security forces, in two cases. Specifically mentioned were the
60th Battalion of the army and the paramilitary group Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice). Victims
were peasants, the president of a coalition of municipal councils; a member of the Partido de la
Revolución Democrática (Democratic Revolution Party) and two members of the Peasant
Organization of the Sierra del Sur (OCSS).
65. Representatives of the Mexican National Commission on Human Rights met with the
Working Group at its fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth sessions and reiterated their desire to
continue cooperating with the Group. They reported that between April and July 1999, a total of
46 working missions had been carried out by the National Commission to 20 states of the
Federation. Two investigators had taken part in each visit, which generally lasted for a period of
approximately five days.
66. The Working Group clarified 16 cases on which the sources had not made observations
within the six-month period. In four cases, it was reported that the persons concerned had been
found living at liberty; in one case, the person concerned had been found in detention at the
Social Readaptation Centre of Chilpancingo; in four cases, the mortal remains of the missing
persons had been found.
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67. Concern was expressed by several non-governmental organizations that the draft
legislation on enforced disappearances drawn up by the Mexican National Human Rights
Commission in May 1998 had still not been discussed by the Congress.
68. Special reference was made to the fact that the efforts of the National Human Rights
Commission to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of hundreds of people who had disappeared
during the 1970s and early 1980s had been fruitless in most cases. It was further pointed out that
a fresh wave of disappearances had occurred between 1994 and 1997.
69. The Working Group was informed that a number of people who had temporarily
disappeared in previous years and subsequently been located said that they had been subjected to
torture and ill-treatment for long periods by their captors, who wanted them to confess or provide
information. It was pointed out that the recent cases of enforced or involuntary disappearance
had occurred in the context of government-run law and order, counter-insurgency or anti-drug
trafficking operations.
70. Other allegations received refer to the existence in Mexico of a widespread culture of
impunity, exacerbated by recourse to the system of military justice to investigate and prosecute
members of the armed forces involved in human rights violations, by the alleged lack of
independence of and the corruption in the ordinary judicial system and by acts of hostility,
intimidation and reprisal committed by state and federal authorities against members of
non-governmental organizations and opposition political parties.
71. It was also stated that the families of victims of enforced disappearances cannot obtain
amparo from the judiciary, the judges allegedly not only refusing to investigate charges or
prosecute those supposedly responsible, but refusing even to start the corresponding judicial
investigations.
Morocco
72. The Working Group transmitted two cases to the Government, one of which reportedly
occurred in 1997.
73. The Government of Morocco provided the Working Group with information on four
cases, stating that the persons concerned had died. The Moroccan Conseil consultatif des droits
de l'homme had clarified those cases. The Government promised to send the Working Group
the corresponding death certificates.
74. The Working Group received allegations that the Government had taken no further steps
to investigate the disappearances of more than 200 Moroccans and Saharawis who disappeared
between 1984 and 1991, in breach of article 9 of the Declaration. It was said that the relatives of
those disappeared had not received any kind of compensation, in violation of article 19 of the
Declaration. It was further reported that a royal amnesty continued to protect those responsible
for enforced or involuntary disappearances from legal prosecution. The failure on the part of the
authorities to carry out serious investigations and to institute legal proceedings was also
denounced.
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Nepal
75. The Working Group transmitted six newly reported cases, five of which occurred
in 1999, to the Government. All the cases were sent under the urgent action procedure. The
victims were the Chairman of the Gorkha District Bar Association, a member of the Forum for
the Protection of Human Rights, a member of the Nepal Bar Association, and three persons who
were reportedly re-arrested on the premises of the Parsa District Court immediately after the
Court ordered their release. In all the cases the police was mentioned as the responsible force.
The Working Group clarified two cases on the basis of the information provided by the
Government referring that these two persons had been released on bail on 15 February 1999.
76. Non-governmental organizations informed the Working Group that police operations
initiated on 26 May 1998 had led to an alarming deterioration in the country's human rights
situation and to cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances. The operations were allegedly
against members of the so-called Maoist Communist Party of Nepal, which had reportedly
declared a “people's war” in February 1996.
77. A representative of the Government of Nepal met with the Working Group at its
fifty-ninth session. He stated that strict instructions had been issued to police personnel not to
take any action with a bias against anybody in the course of controlling terrorist activities.
Police personnel had not resorted to acts of enforced disappearance or torture. None of the
disappeared persons considered by the Working Group seems to have been arrested by the
police. He added that people involved in terrorist activities have opted to go underground
fearing the initiation of legal actions against them. The legal struggle against terrorism cannot
create situations wherein citizens could be deprived of the enjoyment of their constitutional
rights.
78. The Government of Nepal provided information on five outstanding cases announcing
that the authorities are making every possible effort in the search of the disappeared persons.
Pakistan*
79. The Working Group transmitted to the Government three newly reported cases of
disappearance, which occurred in December 1998 and were sent under the urgent action
procedure. They concern three members of the Muhajir Quami Movement in Karachi who were
arrested by law enforcement officers and taken to unknown destination.
80. With regard to these cases, the Government informed the Working Group that the
authorities are investigating the facts of the matter and that if the allegations prove to be well
founded, those responsible will be brought to justice.
* Mr. Agha Hilaly did not participate in the decisions relating to this subsection of the report.
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81. The Working Group received allegations that, in breach of article 10 of the Declaration,
disappeared persons continued to be unaccounted for because of the lack of investigation into
the cases by the authorities. It was also alleged that authorities are usually unable to bring
perpetrators of enforced disappearances to justice, as provided for in article 14 of the
Declaration.
Philippines
82. The Working Group transmitted three newly reported cases; one occurred in 1999.
During the same period, the Working Group clarified two cases on the basis of information
provided by the source and one on the basis of information provided by the Government on
which no observations were received from the source within a period of six months.
83. The three newly reported cases transmitted in 1999 concern two persons who were
detained by army officers in Nasugbu, Batangas, on suspicion of being members of the so-called
Communist New Peoples Army. They were interrogated and reportedly handed over to the
Mobile Force Company of the Philippine National Police (PNP) base in Palico. However, the
PNP denied any knowledge of the arrest. The other victim is a trade union organizer for the
Citizen's Campaign against Criminalization of Political Detainees who was reportedly detained
by members of the army in Bagong barrio, Caloocan City, Metro Manila.
Sri Lanka
84. The Working Group transmitted seven newly reported cases, two of which occurred
in 1999. All the cases were sent under the urgent action procedure. During the same period, the
Working Group clarified the two cases that reportedly occurred in 1999 on the basis of
information submitted by the source according to which the persons concerned were released
after 39 days of unacknowledged detention in the People's Liberation Organization of
Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) camp at Kovilkulam Junction.
85. Five of the newly reported cases concerned displaced persons residing at the
Veppankulam camp in Vavuniya district who were abducted by members of an armed Tamil
group opposed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, allegedly acting with the acquiescence
of the security forces. Local investigations have so far given no indication as to their
whereabouts.
86. At the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka, a member of the Working Group,
Mr. Manfred Nowak, and the Working Group's Acting Secretary visited Sri Lanka from 25
to 29 October 1999. The report on the visit is contained in addendum ito the present report.
Sudan
87. The Working Group transmitted three newly reported cases. The cases occurred in 1999
and were sent under the urgent action procedure.
88. The Government provided information on two cases, stating that one of the persons
concerned was currently leading a normal life as a bishop and that the other missing person had
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been released from prison in April 1997. The Working Group was unable to clarify the first of
the cases in view of the discrepancy in the occupation of the person referred to by the source and
the Government and to the fact that the Government had provided three different dates of his
release. With regard to the second case, no information was provided on the current
whereabouts of the missing person.
Tunisia
89. The Working Group transmitted one new case under the urgent action procedure. It
concerns a woman who allegedly disappeared in December 1998 following her release from her
place of detention in Mannouba prison in Tunis. The case was subsequently clarified on the
basis of the information provided by the Government that this person was still serving her
sentence in the same prison. The source did not reply to the Government's information within
the six-months period.
Turkey
90. The Working Group transmitted eight newly reported cases, which reportedly occurred
in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Two cases which occurred in 1999 were sent under the urgent action
procedure. Two cases concern persons who were detained at Habur while intending to cross the
border to Iraq. Another case concerns a person who allegedly disappeared after having been
arrested because of irregularities in his passport at Ipsala Border Control Post. Three cases
occurred in the city of Diyarbakir, one in GUngoren district in Istanbul and one in Izmit. One
case concerns a prisoner who, according to the prison guards, ran away when he was taken to the
hospital for a medical operation.
91. The Government submitted information on 10 outstanding cases. One case was
subsequently clarified by the Working Group on the basis of that information, given that the
source made no observations within the six-month period. According to the information
provided by the Government, the missing person was kept at Amasya prison. Another four cases
were clarified given that the sources did not formulate observations to the responses from the
Government during the six-month period.
92. With regard to three other cases, the Government reported that the investigations
carried out by the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Izmir had determined that there was no
evidence that these persons had been detained by the police. With reference to another case,
the missing person had asylum status in Greece since 1984 and probably had illegally
entered and left Turkish territory on false travel documents. With regard to another case the
missing person is on the wanted list of the police for several offences and has been a fugitive
since 28 February 1994.
Uzbeki stan
93. The Working Group transmitted seven new cases, one of them under the urgent action
procedure. The cases occurred in February and March of 1999 following a series of bombing in
Tashkent. According to information received these persons were arrested at night by masked
members of the security forces because of their ties to the banned political opposition parties
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Birlik (Unity) and Erk. The missing persons are an acclaimed novelist; the brother of a leader of
Erk; the editor of the Erk party newspaper; the deputy chair of the party; a private trader and a
former mathematics professor. Another case occurred in July 1999 in Tashkent and concerns a
member of the unregistered Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan (NOPCHU)
and the Birlik opposition movement.
94. The Working Group was informed that relatives of people arrested are more reluctant
than in the past to speak with human rights activists for fear of further repression.
95. The Government of Uzbekistan provided information on nine cases. The information
was not considered sufficient for the Working Group to clarify them. It also stated that since
independence, Uzbekistan had achieved impressive results in the field of human rights. The
Institute of the Ombudsman in the Parliament of Uzbekistan, the National Centre for Human
Rights and other human rights institutions were established during this time.
III. COUNTRIES FROM WHICH THE WORKING GROUP
RECEIVED COMMENTS FROM GOVERNMENTS OR
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Angola
96. Representatives of the Government met with the Working Group at its fifty-eighth
session and reported that their country had been at war for 30 years and continued at war.
Concerning the four outstanding cases, they stated that a long time had elapsed since the
disappearances and that thousands of citizens had disappeared during the war.
Argentina
97. During the period under review, no new cases of disappearance were transmitted by the
Working Group to the Government of Argentina.
98. The vast majority of the 3,453 reported cases of disappearance in Argentina occurred
between 1975 and 1978 under the military dictatorship, in the context of its so-called war against
subversion.
99. As in the past, a number of non-governmental organizations have continued to address
themselves to the Working Group with regard to their ongoing quest to have the fate of the
persons who disappeared in Argentina brought to light. The Working Group received reports of
a campaign of harassment, intimidation and threats against members of non-governmental
organizations. The campaign was said to be related to the start of various legal proceedings in
Europe against former members of the Argentine armed forces. In this context, the Working
Group was informed that Esteban Cuya, a Peruvian citizen and member of the German Coalition
against Impunity, was attacked on 17 November 1998 in Buenos Aires. The attackers apparently
robbed him of various documents belonging to German citizens in Argentina.
100. The Working Group also learned that the Government refused to cooperate with the
judicial authorities of Germany, Spain and Italy in the proceedings referred to above for reasons
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of sovereignty, independence and exclusive jurisdiction. With regard to article 20, paragraph 3,
of the Declaration, the Group was informed that those responsible for the abduction of children
of disappeared persons and children born to mothers in captivity had been neither tried nor
sentenced. The Working Group was further informed that no progress had been made in the trial
for abduction of minors begun in 1996 in the Federal Administrative Court, where those
involved had pleaded that the civilian courts did not have jurisdiction and had invoked the statute
of limitations. It would also seem that no progress was made in the proceedings for illegal
deprivation of liberty brought in 1998 against members of the armed forces who had previously
been pardoned, which included cases of enforced disappearances of various women and children.
101. It was finally alleged that the rights to truth and justice of the families of the disappeared
persons and victims of human rights violations continue to be ignored.
102. A representative of the Government of Argentina met with the Working Group at its
fifty-ninth session and made reference to two notes verbales transmitted by the Government in
response to the allegations of non-compliance with provisions of the Declaration made by
non-governmental organizations. The Government reported that on 9 December 1998, in the
context of the efforts to trace and return minor children of disappeared persons, the Congress of
the Nation passed a law whereby the Historic Reparation Fund for Tracing and Returning
Children Abducted and/or born in captivity was created within the legislature. It also reported
that nine persons have been prosecuted for the crime of abduction of minors during the period of
the former de facto Government (1976-1983). Those currently being prosecuted include
Jorge Videla, first President of the de facto regime, Reynaldo B. Bignone, last de facto President,
and Emilio Massera, first Chief of the Navy during the de facto Government. Mr. Videla, at
present under house arrest, is linked to 10 cases of appropriation of minors and Mr. Massera is
being prosecuted as the indirect perpetrator of all the thefts of children that took place in the
infamous Navy Engineering School (the ESMA).
103. Investigations into the case of Esteban Cuya Yuyale are continuing. The judicial
authorities have ordered the production of an identikit picture and a check of the photographic
archives of known criminals to enable Mr. Cuya Yuyale to identify his aggressors; this was
carried out at the offices of the Federal Police and investigations are continuing.
104. With regard to cases now pending before the German, Italian and Spanish courts in
connection with the forced disappearance of nationals of those countries in Argentinean, the
Working Group was reminded that those incidents took place in Argentina. Responding to
requests from foreign courts on these cases would diminish the authority of the Argentina courts
which have been and are taking the necessary action; it would also be against the universal
principle of non bis in idem . Argentina, as a collective entity, has shaped a legislative and
judicial solution that has restored peace within the country.
105. Regarding the extraordinary appeal lodged by Carmen Aguiar de Lapacó in an attempt to
ascertain what had happened to her daughter, Alejandra Lapacó, missing since 17 March 1977,
there is no reason to conclude that the “right to truth”, a matter of substance, has been denied
when only the procedural means chosen to secure it have been rejected. The Government sent a
copy of the Amicable Settlement Agreement signed in Buenos Aires between the Government
and Mrs. Aguiar de Lapacó on 15 November 1999. Lastly, the Government of Argentina
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advised that on 19 December 1998 the National Congress passed a law awarding a monthly grant
of US$ 25,000 to the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo Association to subsidize the costs of
locating, identifying and returning abducted children and children born in captivity. The
payments began in January 1999 and will continue for two years.
Burundi
106. During the period under review, information concerning developments in Burundi having
influence on the phenomenon of disappearances and the implementation of the Declaration on
the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was received from
non-governmental organizations. It was alleged that many cases of enforced disappearance
continue to occur following arrests by soldiers resulting from ethnic and political rivalries. It
was said that when family members seek information from the police on detained relatives, all
knowledge of the missing person is denied in breach of article 10 of the Declaration relating to
the provision of accurate information on the detention of persons deprived of liberty to their
family members.
C ameroon
107. In response to a request by the Working Group, the Government provided the court
judgement concerning a person who was reportedly charged with making false claims and with
the use of a false birth certificate. The Government also provided information on the six
outstanding cases.
Egypt
108. The Working Group retransmitted seven cases to the Government, updated with new
information from the sources. The Government submitted information regarding one
outstanding case.
109. Non-governmental organizations pointed out that the Government of Egypt is failing to
fulfil its obligations under article 13 of the Declaration to conduct thorough and impartial
investigations into all cases of enforced disappearance for as long as the fate of the victim
remains unclarified, particularly in the cases in which the victims were detained by members of
the State Security Investigation.
El Salvador
110. The Working Group was informed of the successful efforts by a Salvadoran
non-governmental organization, the Asociación Pro-Bñsqueda de Niños y Niñas Salvadoreños,
which has been able to find 98 missing children and reunited them with their families, which are
currently in 10 different countries.
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111. The Working Group was also informed that the crime of the enforced disappearance of
persons had been included in the Salvadoran Penal Code, in articles 364 to 366, under the
chapter entitled “Crimes against humanity”. The amendment to the penal law had been carried
out within the framework of the Agreement on Human Rights of San José and the Peace
Agreement, signed in 1991 and 1992, respectively, between the Government of El Salvador and
the Farabundo MartI National Liberation Front (FIVIILN).
Eritrea
112. The Government transmitted information on 21 outstanding cases and requested further
information on 13 cases. According to the Government, most of the missing persons are of
Ethiopian nationality and were arrested in front of the Ethiopian Embassy in Asmara on
23 August 1998, when the Chargé d'affaires of Ethiopia requested the intervention of the
Eritrean police because some Ethiopian demonstrators were trying to enter the embassy
compound. They subsequently left Eritrea and the International Committee of the Red Cross
registered them when they crossed the border.
Kuwait
113. The Working Group retransmitted to the Government one case, updated with new
information from the source.
114. The Government stated that the case occurred when the situation in Kuwait was not fully
under the control of the legitimate authorities and reiterated its willingness to cooperate in the
manner the Working Group deemed appropriate. The family requested the Working Group to
continue its efforts to clarify the case. The Government later indicated that a committee
composed of senior officials representing the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the Ministry of the Interior and the Department of Public Prosecutions had been established with
a view to resolving this case. This committee reportedly had held two meetings to examine all
possible ways and means of bringing the case to a satisfactory conclusion and was continuing its
investigations into the case. The Government further stated that this case had also received the
attention of the National Assembly's Commission for the Defence of Human Rights. Finally, the
Government expressed its wish to invite a member of the family of the missing person to visit
Kuwait in order to resolve this outstanding case. The family advised the Working Group that on
20 August 1999 it had received the invitation from the Government to pay a visit to the country.
However, the invitation was not considered sufficient by the relatives nor was it a solution to the
case.
Malaysia
115. The Government informed the Working Group that investigations were continuing
regarding the outstanding case of disappearance, which concerns a permanent resident of
Malaysia who is neither an asylum-seeker nor an illegal immigrant.
116. The Government of Malaysia also informed the Working Group that the allegations
transmitted to it by several non-governmental organizations during 1998 were not true. Malaysia
does not distinguish between the country and the region of origin of migrants. The only
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distinction made is between legal and illegal migrants. All aliens entering Malaysia should have
valid travel documents. Malaysia has not used the Internal Security Act, 1960 to restrict the
rights of assembly, free speech, open communications or personal freedoms. The Act, which
includes provision for preventive detention, has only been invoked to prevent subversion and
organized violence against persons and property in specified areas of the country.
Peru*
117. The Government of Peru provided the Working Group with replies on three individual
cases. In one case, the court of Padre Abad had decided to put an end to the judicial
investigation, given that the responsibility of members of the security forces could not be
established. In the two other cases, a new examination of the register of detainees showed that
the missing persons were never arrested or detained by the security forces. However,
investigations were continuing into these three cases.
118. The Working Group was informed that the Peruvian Congress had approved legislation
in February 1998 incorporating the crime of enforced disappearance in the Penal Code.
Enforced disappearance was included in the section on crimes against humanity and would be
punishable by a sentence of 15 years in prison. Those accused of the crime would be tried in
civilian courts.
119. The Working Group was informed by several non-governmental organizations that
thousands of cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances and other grave human rights
violations perpetrated by the security forces between 1980 and 1995 continued to go unpunished.
It was said that judicial investigations continued to be blocked by the 1995 Amnesty Act and its
Articles of Interpretation, which granted members of the armed and security forces immunity
from prosecution.
120. The Working Group also received allegations that the government authorities continued
to ignore judgements handed down by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and
recommendations by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to pay financial
compensation or grant other measures of redress to the victims of enforced disappearances or
their families. In this regard, mention was made of the disappearance in 1991 of Ernesto Castillo
Páez, whose family had still not received the corresponding indemnity. The Working Group also
learned that in 1999 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights had taken up several cases
concerning Peru and determined, in proceedings carried out with all judicial guarantees and
respect for due process and attended by Peruvian judges and lawyers, that the human rights of a
number of people had been violated in Peru.
121. The Working Group was also informed that on 7 July 1999 Congress decided to approve
the withdrawal of Peru from the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights with
immediate effect. That decision is alleged to constitute a grave backward step in the promotion
and protection of human rights in Peru, leaving Peruvians without the possibility of turning to
supranational bodies. It is particularly serious given the alleged lack of independence of the
* Mr. Diego GarcIa-Sayán did not participate in the decisions relating to this subsection of the
report.
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judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office and the existence ofjudicial proceedings that
systematically disregard minimum international standards of due process. Peru had recognized
the Inter-American Court's jurisdiction unconditionally in 1991, without reservations and for an
indeterminate period, and by doing so had granted Peruvian citizens the benefit of access to
independent international judicial proceedings in cases where their rights had been violated and
it had not been possible to obtain suitable redress through the national courts.
122. It was also alleged that the Peruvian Government and Congress's decision to remove the
country from the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court robbed article 205 of the
1993 Constitution of all meaning. That article guarantees the right of citizens of Peru to apply to
international tribunals and organizations for redress once internal remedies have been exhausted.
Peruvian citizens no longer can have recourse to any international court. This decision was one
of a series of legislative and governmental measures that have undermined the rule of law and
the protection of human rights. Those measures include: the suspension of the Constitution for
nine months in 1992; the enactment of the Amnesty Act and its Articles of Interpretation
in 1995; the measures aimed at limiting the independence of the judiciary and the Public
Prosecutor's Office adopted in 1996 and of the National Magistrature, adopted in 1998, and
Congress's removal from office of three Constitutional Court judges in 1997, leaving the Court
unable to carry out its main duties.
123. Although the Working Group has received no reports of enforced or involuntary
disappearances since 1995, it has continued to receive allegations concerning the lack of
independence of the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office, failings in the rule of law, the
non-observance ofjudicial guarantees and the rules of due process, the judgement of civilians by
military tribunals and the competence of those tribunals to hear cases of human rights violations
committed by members of the armed forces. It has also been alleged that even in the few cases
in which a judicial authority was willing to investigate cases of enforced or involuntary
disappearances, it was unable to do so because of lack of cooperation from the members of the
armed forces or because of threats made against prosecutors, the victims' lawyers and witnesses.
Those threats and acts of harassment and intimidation contravene article 13, paragraph 3, of the
Declaration. They have included acts of administrative and fiscal harassment.
124. With regard to articles 16, paragraph 2, and 17 of the Declaration, it has been stated that
the Amnesty Act of 1995 and its Articles of Interpretation provide for total impunity,
undermining the right to justice, truth and social and financial redress for the relatives of victims
of enforced or involuntary disappearances committed in the campaign against the organizations
calling themselves the Communist Party of Peru, Shining Path and the Tñpac Amaru
Revolutionary Movement. Particular concern was also expressed about the high number of cases
of enforced or involuntary disappearance submitted to the Working Group and still outstanding.
Uruguay
125. The Government of Uruguay informed the Working Group that it had no new
information to convey to it.
126. The Working Group was informed by several non-governmental organizations that
members of the armed and security forces accused of having committed enforced or involuntary
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disappearances and other grave human rights violations in previous decades had not been
brought to court. On the contrary, some had been promoted to important positions in their
institutions. It was also alleged that no serious or independent investigation had been made of
cases of enforced disappearance.
127. The Working Group was informed that the Immunity from Prosecution Act (Act
No. 15848 of 1986), ratified by national referendum in 1989, remained in effect. Enacted during
the first Government of President Julio Maria Sanguinetti in December 1986, the Act exempts
the members of the armed and security forces from penal sanction for violations of human rights
committed up to 1 March 1985, if those violations were committed for political reasons or on
orders from a superior.
128. Although article 4 of the Immunity from Prosecution Act stipulates that the executive
must inquire into the fate and whereabouts of disappeared persons, that provision has allegedly
not been fulfilled. It is said that in practice two military prosecutors were asked to conduct an
inquiry, but they themselves had been accused of committing human rights violations. The
Working Group was told that their inquiry simply concluded that no evidence or proof had been
found of involvement by members of the armed forces in enforced disappearances or other
human rights violations.
129. It has also been alleged that senior armed forces officers continued publicly to justify the
commission of crimes of enforced or involuntary disappearance as acts of war against
subversion, political enemies and dissidents who had to be eliminated. The Working Group was
informed that the officers making those statements had not been subjected to any form of
punishment. It was also alleged that Uruguay had never acknowledged its own State
responsibility in the crimes and cases of enforced disappearance that Uruguayan military officers
had committed or been party to in some way in neighbouring countries. It was also stated that
unlike other countries, Uruguay had never set up a truth commission or carried out any public or
official inquiry into human rights violations committed in the past. Contrary to the provisions of
Uruguayan legislation, the State had not applied the decision of the Administrative Court of
25 March 1999 and continued to treat the Immunity from Prosecution Act as a government
decree.
130. Furthermore, the Working Group was informed that no inquiry has been launched into
statements by Uruguayan Senator Rafael Michelini that there are corpses at the Battalion 13
barracks. The corpses are said to be the remains of victims of enforced disappearance.
IV. COUNTRIES FROM WHICH THE WORKING GROUP RECEIVED
NO INFORMATION OR COMMENTS
131. During the period under review, no new cases of disappearances were transmitted by the
Working Group to the Governments of the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Chad, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Greece, Guinea, Haiti, Israel, Lao People's Democratic Republic,
Lebanon, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Paraguay, the Russian Federation,
Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Uganda,
Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen. No new cases were transmitted to the Palestinian Authority.
E/CN.4/2000/64
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132. During the period under review, no new information was received from these
Governments, or from the Palestinian Authority, with regard to the outstanding cases. The
Working Group is therefore unable to report on the fate and whereabouts of the persons
concerned.
V. COUNTRIES Th1 WHICH ALL REPORTED CASES OF DISAPPEARANCE
HAVE BEEN CLARIFIED
South Africa
133. During the period under review, the Working Group clarified the one outstanding case of
disappearance on the basis of the information provided by the Government. The source made no
observations to the response by the Government within the six-month period.
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
134. The Working Group draws to the attention of all Governments that the full
implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance is crucial for the prevention and the termination of this human rights violation. In
particular, the Working Group wishes to stress the importance of measures aimed at reducing
periods of administrative detention to an indispensable minimum, at establishing accessible and
up-to-date registers of detainees, and at guaranteeing access and appropriate information to
relatives, lawyers and doctors of persons deprived of their liberty.
135. Bearing in mind that the effectiveness of its mandate depends on the cooperation received
from Governments, especially of those countries in which enforced disappearance is an ongoing
phenomenon, the Working Group appreciates the mechanisms of communication and dialogue
that exist with almost all the Governments of the countries concerned, many of which have sent
high-level representatives to its sessions.
136. The Working Group wishes to emphasize that it is essential to its activities to continue to
receive cooperation from non-governmental organizations concerned with the problem of
disappearances. Their activities deserve full support considering that they are a key ingredient
for the clarification of cases. The Working Group expresses its appreciation for the cooperation
and support it has received from these organizations. At the same time, it notes with deep
concern that in some countries these organizations suffer harassment and persecution which
prevent them from fulfilling their duties. The Working Group calls upon the concerned
Governments to take all measures to guarantee complete protection to these organizations and
their members.
137. One of the major achievements of the United Nations human rights programme has been
the establishment of thematic mechanisms by the Commission on Human Rights to deal with the
essential task of receiving complaints, investigating gross violations of human rights and
reporting on their findings publicly. These mechanisms are accessible to everybody and have
demonstrated in practice, for the past 19 years, that they can perform an effective role in the
protection of human rights throughout the world, especially with regard to persistent and
E/CN.4/2000/64
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extensive violations such as enforced disappearances. The non-governmental organizations
acknowledge that these mechanisms have certainly acted as a deterrent to a greater increase of
this particular international crime.
138. As is well known, the Working Group was the first of these mechanisms to be created
and had to play a pioneering role as a channel of communication between victims, families and
non-governmental organizations on the one hand, and Governments on the other. Since its
establishment in 1980, the Working Group has transmitted more than 49,000 cases to
Governments; in many of the 69 countries concerned, new cases have been reported. Although
some 3,000 cases have been clarified, more than 46,000 cases are still outstanding.
139. It is crucial for the countries that have a large backlog of outstanding cases to make
consistent and effective efforts to identify the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared. At the
same time, in agreement with the relatives of the disappeared persons, mechanisms are being
explored for the clarification of cases, including acknowledgement of the responsibility of the
State and the award of appropriate compensation. The Working Group renews its offer of
cooperation to the parties concerned.
140. The Working Group stresses once again that impunity is one of the main causes -
probably the root cause - of enforced disappearance, and at the same time one of the major
obstacles to clarifying past cases. It is very important that all States comply with the
Declaration, which obliges them to make all acts of enforced disappearance offences under
domestic criminal law, to promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate any allegation of
enforced disappearance and to bring the perpetrators to justice. In addition, the Working Group
strongly urges all States to comply with article 18, which establishes that perpetrators of
enforced disappearance shall not benefit from any special amnesty law or similar measures that
might have the effect of exempting them from criminal proceedings or sanctions.
141. In some countries, the Working Group was unable to achieve progress in clarifying cases
because of the lack of appropriate cooperation on the part of the Government. The Governments
of Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and Tajikistan have never
replied to any requests for information from the Working Group. It recommends once again that
the Commission on Human Rights appeal to these countries to cooperate with the Group.
142. It is crucial that, in accordance with the Declaration, Governments take effective
legislative, administrative and judicial measures aimed at preventing the occurrence of
disappearances in the future. Although article 4 of the Declaration is very clear and applies to all
States, i.e. not only to those in which enforced disappearances actually take place, in very few
States have the criminal laws been amended in order to ensure that acts of enforced
disappearance as such are offences punishable by appropriate penalties. The enactment and
effective implementation of such legal measures would be a major step forward towards
preventing acts of enforced disappearance.
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143. The Working Group wishes to express once again its sincere appreciation to the
secretariat for its dedication in the pursuance of the difficult tasks it has to undertake. The Group
avails itself of this opportunity to appeal again to the Commission to meet the needs of the
secretariat by allocating the appropriate resources, considering that the number of secretariat
staff has been dramatically reduced during the last years from nine Professional and four General
Service staff members to one Professional and one secretary working on a part-time basis.
VII. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT AND SEPARATE OPINION OF
TWO MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP
144. At the last meeting of its fifty-ninth session, on 3 December 1999, the present report was
adopted by the members of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances:
Ivan Tosevski (Chairman-Rapporteur) (the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia)
Agha Hilaly (Pakistan)
Diego GarcIa-Sayán (Peru)
Manfred Nowak (Austria)
(Jonas K.D. Foli (Ghana) was not present at the fifty-ninth session).
145. Diego GarcIa-Sayán and Manfred Nowak wish to express the following separate opinion
to be added to the Working Group's report:
“We strongly object to the fact that the present report had been reduced to the
general limit of 32 pages requested by the General Assembly in its resolutions 37/4 C
of 22 November 1982 and 47/202 B of 22 December 1992.
“While we fully understand the desire of the Member States and the Secretariat of
the United Nations to save funds by reducing the number and the size of its documents, it
has been always recognized that this general 32-page limit cannot be applied to thematic
mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights, the annual reports of which should
adequately reflect the situation of gross and systematic human rights violations on a
country-by-country basis throughout the world. That is why many of the thematic
working groups and special rapporteurs in the past have requested and been granted
waivers by the Secretariat in this respect. At the same time, the Working Group on
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances during the last years made considerable efforts
to streamline its annual reports and in fact reduced them from 172 pages in 1993 to
roughly 100 pages in 1998 (the 1999 report of 70 pages is an exception as it has remained
incomplete).
“During the present year, the secretariat again has prepared a draft report which,
together with the necessary annexes and graphs, would have amounted to some 100
pages. Since the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 8 November 1999 explicitly
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requested the Chairman of the Working Group not to exceed the 32-page limit, the Group
decided to comply with this request by restructuring the report and drastically reducing
its contents. The general part of the report does not contain comments on the draft
convention on disappearances or on the implementation of the Declaration, including
general comments on its provisions. The country-specific part has been restructured so
as to report only on countries in which new cases were reported and/or new information
was received. Even this information was reduced to an extent which made it difficult for
the reader to understand the situation in the respective countries.
“The United Nations Declaration stipulates in article 17 that ‘Acts constituting
enforced disappearance shall be considered a continuing offence as long as the
perpetrators continue to conceal the facts and the whereabouts of persons who have
disappeared and these facts remain unclarified'. That is why it is important that the
Working Group in its annual reports continue to put equal emphasis on ‘new' and ‘old'
cases as long as they have not been clarified. The present report neither adequately
reflects the situation of enforced disappearances throughout the world nor the efforts of
the members of the Working Group, of its secretariat, of Governments and non-
governmental organizations to clarify the fate and whereabouts of almost 50,000
disappeared persons in more than 70 countries of the world.
“We express our hope that the General Assembly, through a request by the
Commission on Human Rights, will clarify the page limit for future annual reports of the
thematic mechanisms of the Commission.”
E/CN.4/2000/64
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Annex
DECISIONS ON INDIVIDUAL CASES TAKEN BY THE WORKING GROUP DURING
1999
Country
Cases
which
allegedly
occurred in
1999
Cases transmitted to the
Government during 1999
Clarifications by:
Discontinued
cases
Urgent
actions
Normal
actions
Government
Non-
governmental
sources
Algeria 1 - 146
Belarus 1 1 - - -
Brazil 3 3 1 - 3
China 1 1 6 9 -
Colombia 27 27 - 5 4
Democratic Republic 5 5 - - 2
of the Congo
Ethiopia 1 1 - - -
Guatemala - - - 8 -
Honduras 1 1 - - 1
India - - 6 5 -
Indonesia 50 50 - 1 1
Iran (Islamic 3 3 1 - -
Republic of)
Jordan 1 1 - - -
Lebanon - - 1 -
Libyan Arab - 1 - -
Jamahiriya
Mexico 1 6 - 16 -
Morocco - - 2 - -
Nepal 5 6 - 2 -
Pakistan - 3 - - -
Philippines 1 3 - 1 2
South Africa - - - 1 -
SriLanka 2 7 - - 2
Sudan 3 3 - -
Tunisia - 1 - 1
Turkey 2 2 6 5
Uzbekistan 7 1 6 -
