Aadel Collection
Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
. __
UNITED NATIONS ______
. Distr.
E C ON OMJC 1933/14
A ND . . . anuary r9c: 3
! :GLIsI i
SOCiAL COUNCIL . Original: Ei GLISH/SPMTISli
. H
‘ . . ‘ -
COJ.'liv [ ISSIOI. ON HUIEA EIGHTS .
OEirty—nt th session . : . . :
31 January to 11 harch l9! 3 . . , ., , . ,
Item 10(b) of the provisional agcnda .,, . , . , .
QUESTI0 OF T IC HtJKAIf RIGHTS OF ALL F TtSOiiS SDWI.CTOED . py
FORM OF DEOENTIO OR OEPRISO!J&rT, -II'I PARTICULfL e
QUESTI0i' OF 1B JRCD OR Ir:VOLUETARY DISAPP IARAKO2S
Repo of the UorkinE Groun o:c Enforced or
. . . Involuirt .ry Disatpearantes
GE.8 —1CJ 256
reports of enforced or
disappearances have been
A. Argentina
B. Bolivia
C. Cyprus..... .
0. El Salvador
E. Guatemala
F. Honduras
C. Indonesia
H. Mexico
I. Nicaragua
J. Philippines
transmitted by
. . . . . . .
..
Paragraphs
1—9
22—3 7
3 8—42
43—4 5
47—56
5 7—63
64—69
70—73
74 -8 1
82—86
91—95
130— 13 7
138—145
145
6
6
11
13
15
20
23
25
27
30
32
34
36
46
49
S t
E / CM. 4 / 1 983 / 14
page ii
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter .
Activities of the Working Group in 1982. ...
Instances in which more than twenty
involuntary
Page
1
3
10—2 1
the Working Group to a Government
22—95
I.
II.
It'.
Iv.
V.
VI .
ill'.
. 87—90
K. Uruguay
Information concerning enforced
or involuntary disappearances in
South Africa and Namibia .. . .. ..
Other reports of enforced or
involuntary disappearances dealt with in
various ways by the Working Group
Specific human rights denied by
enforced or involuntary disappearances
and the impact of disappearance on
health and faintly life
Conclusions
Adoption of the report
96—100
101—129
38
EICN.4/1933/14
page 1
. INTRODUCTION . .
1. This is the Jorking Group's third report. . Lt differs from its pr decessors
itt two res' ects. .It is the Group's opinion hat the. time has arrived to give the
‘stadstics of this endeavour: cases received, cases considered .39 admissible and
transmitted, answers /OEich solve the case and other responses. Furthermore, the
report is more compact because an atrempt has h en.,hi de to summarise the
situation and the representations received', rather rtkan' to set out at length the
texts of speeches and other comrnunications. , Referenc s. are, however, made
‘ throughout chanter's' II', III and P T to the two previous reports so that the
hackgroii d to the problem ,iit,,each country may be recollected.! !
2. The ohje t. of trapsIIitting cases to Governments'.is to obtain answers which
families of dtsapoeared pe;sons may be given and which they have the right to
know. Such answ rs'are being receii e . This is a.ciiange.'from the Working
Group's earlier experience At first, a numner of Governments were hesitant.
Nd :; ‘hot &ver., ‘wi,'th some •exception there seems. to exist a greater readiness,
rouhd the ; orld, to respond to the Group's invitations to assist. .
3. The Working. Group operates s,o,lely..on the ha i of reports received, It has
no inhere t inves, igatoryppwe s,.nor.resources.. 7bus the coverage varies from
co'untry tocount'rSr. The va,riaijon concerns not onlr the extent of infarmation
pr vided about the det.iii of a.case, hut also the extent to which the totality
of a pattern of d sappea eshas been made. known. Probably there remain
countries here disappearances have occurred but from which no report-s hCve been
received. ‘ : ‘ “ ‘ . . , . . . , .. .
rh Commission has properly insisted that all cases received should be
carefully examined. , Only thqse suitable for transmission: should' be forwarded to
Go ernments. A oeajbr effort has been made to select, from the vast number
originall received, those which can be suitably transmitted. There remains a
hackloz of cases which have been partially cleared. The process of selection
will continue since it is not in the interest of any of the parties involved that
atandar s .shonld...b.e relaxed-or-abandoned The..Group.in.t he..course of examining- .
these cases has determined that these principles must be maintained.
5. From certain countries, reports of disappearances still arrive.. this is
now a familiar phenomenon, and informed orzanizations lose no time in reporting
single cases which appear to fall within the deEinition. Elsewhere an
established pattern involving substantial numbers of people continues to be
renorteci. However in 1982 Governments have taken new or improved steps to
investigate and respond to these cases. It is encouraging to hear of national
institutions or other arrangements which have been set up to deal with this
problem.
!! E/CN.4/1435 ncJ Add.l; E/CN.4/l492 and Add.l
E/CN4/1983/14
Page 2
6. The older cases continue to. create difficulties. There is no lack of
dialogue hut there is a lack of results. The Working Group thinks it most
helpEul to maintain the dialogue. Although these older cases remain and tend to
cause trouble,, current cases tend to be solved or no new disappearances are
,‘reported,. the Group considers that patience may still ‘he a virtue, if it brings a
fairly swift reward. . . .
As' has been said, this report contains, summaries of the information given.
‘by Governments, non—governmental, and family organizations, rather than the
extensi'ye texts previously printed. In changing to these summaries the Working
Group hopes that there will he no misunderstanding. It thinks, that its: . . .
motivation and methods of work have been sufficiently evealed to and accepted by
all those with whom it has been in communication. The absence oE politidal ‘
‘ int rest ,,. the paramountcy of purely. humanitarian concern for the families of the
disappeared and.the. disappeared theniselves ‘has been stressed. OEe speeches' in
the Commission on Human. Rights, the Economic and Social Council and the United'
roe. Naifiioi sGeneralAssembly have confirmed this; the resolutions have emphasized it;
day—to—day work with all those concerned shows that: this is the only_acceptable
f o rm u 1 a. . .
s . .. U those whose representations have been summarised feel that justice has
not entirely been done to what was said the Group wishes to allay their fears.
The material presented to the Group reflects different points of view even if ‘
these relate to the same event or situation. The Working Group has made no
judgment. It has not even tried so to do. The summaries do not in any t av
‘indicate a conclusion which has been reached. An effort has simply been madeto
enable members of the Commission and others interested more quickly to grasp the
essence of whet has been said. ., . . . - .: ‘ ‘ . , .
9. ‘The' Working Group invites the Commission to study this report and to make
its comments. , . . . .
E/CN.4!1983/i4
Page 3
‘ (. ACTIVITIES OF THE WORKING GROUP QN NF0RCED OR
IMVOL!JNTARY OTSAPPEARANCES iroe 1982
10. The Commission on Fuman Rights in its resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February
1980 decided to establish for a period of one year a Working Group consisting of
five of its rnernhers, to serve as experts in their individual capacities, to
examine questions relevant to enforced or involuntary disapDearances or persons
and to present a report. In 1981 and 1982 the Commission extended, the mandate of
the Working roup. The first two reports of the Working Group are.contained -in
documents E/ N.4/l435 and Add.1 and E/CN. /l4O2 and AdCI.1. The,p esent report is
submitted in accordance with the Commissions most recent. resolytion, 49$2/24,
which was appr6 d by the Economic and Social Council in its decision 1982/131 of
7 May 1982. The membership of the Working Group is as fo1lotq : . . Viscojat ,
Colville of CuLrdss (United Xingdom) (Chairman, Rapnorteur.; Mr. Jnas tC.D. Foli
(Ghana); Mr. Agha Hiraly (Pakistan); Mr. Ivan Tosevski (Yugoslavia); nd Mr. Luis
A. Varela Quiros (Costa Rica). . .
- 11. This year the Working Group has held the following three sessions at the
United Nations Office at Geneya: seventh session, 24 to 28 May 1982;; eighth
sessibn, 27 september to V October 1982; and ninth, session, 6 tolD December
1982. T he Working Group ‘plans to hold, as in the past,..a sbort ine ting during
the thirty—ninth session of' the Commission on Human Rights to adopt an addendum
updating the present report. ‘ :
12. At the : iite of the extension df its mandate the Working Group had before it
considerable'infbrIIation which it had not been ahle to analyse and since then
a continuous flow of informattort on enforced or involuntary disappearances has
been re eived by the Group. Since the exten o of its mandate the Working Group
has reviewed individual, reports of ome 2,340 4isappearances. The Group has
transmitt& ‘reports on 1,733 disapoearnnces to the Governments of ,l countries
aiohg withit request to receive information., With regard to the other cases
reviewed -but no' ‘transmitted to the Governmdrtt, the Group decided to seek further
infoanat'ibn' from the source of the report, or found that the report did not
- appear--to--f-a-li -with-tn-the -mn-d- ter bf th wbtki goetau : Ih-- d-dittot-;-th --GrII 1
continued to press for answers to certain cases transmitted in earlier years.
13. ‘lTurin 1982 the Working Group continued to use the procedure adopted at its
first s ssion “in 1980 by which the Gr up ut'h'orized its Ch irman to transmit
urgent ‘reports of enforced or invd1 n ar rdisanpearances, received between
sessions of the Group and requiring imn edi'a'te action, to the Government of the
countty ‘concerned toge,the*with ‘a request tha the Government transmit to the
Group such information a it rttight wish. Of the 1,733 reports transmitted to
Govetnm nts Sentioned abo%, 400 were transmitted in accordance with this
procedure. As the present eport indicates in a number of these cases the Group
was informed by Governments and non—g6vernmental sources that the person reported
missing had heen released or was being held in officially recognized detention.
The Grotip also received statements From many sources, including one Government,
non—governmental org nizations' and reprIIsentatives of relatives nd persons
reported as missing which confirm thit prompt international expression of concern
can be effective in helping to clarify reports of recent disappearances.
EIC ?J.4 1 1983/ 14
Page 4
14. The principal source of the reports of enforced or involuntary
disappearances reviewed by the Working Group during 1982 were relatives, persons
closely connected with the disappeared persons or non—governmental organizations
acting on their•hehalf. Information was also received from inter—governmental
organizations, non—governmental organizations in consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council and humanitarian organizations. Certain Governments
have transmitted reports to the Working Group or called the Groups attention to
specific cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances. The Group has also
received information from individuals who reported uitnessing the arrestor
abduction of a missing person, from some who stated that they were detained with
missing persons in centres of detention and from others who were among the
disappeared for a period and who recounted what happened to them.
l5 . The Working Group has attempted to deal with all the reports of . .
disappearancas. on which specif.ic information .las available and it instructed the
Se retariat to seek additional information when sufficient details were not
,r received. As mentioned above, reports of an urgent nature which required .
immediate. action were transmitted to the Government concerned, even though on
occasion they did not necessarily contain all the factual elements desirable.
This yas done in the hope that rapid action would quickly clarify the cases. In
maty instances the details initially lacking were subsequently supplied in
follow—up correspondence. With regard to those reports not falling within the
immediate action category, the Group carefully reviewed the information
provided. it had in mind its objective of helping to clarify reports of .
disappearances, and it selected for transmission to the Government concerned.
only those. cases that contained material of a factual nature on which art
investi gation could be based. This would facilitate the most efficient use, of
. the investigating resources available in the country concer ned. It was hoped .
that in those situations success with the better documented cases would open up
avenues of. investigation for those which were rather less yell documented. i .
should be noted that the method of work adopted by the Working Group with regard :
to processing reports of disappearances may result in differences between the .
. . number of disappearance rep or't d theWorking rb'Up .4tthtegard to
cpun ry and the number which might be reported elsewhere.
16. As indicated above information has been received from a number of
Governments regarding.reparts transmitted by the Working Group. In accordance !
with the humanitarian nature of its' mandate the Working Group has then taken. .
steps to pass on that information to. the relatives of the reported missing
person. In so doing the Working Group drew attention to the Commission's
request in its resolutions 10 (xxxvii) and 1982/24 for discretion as to the use
of such information. . As the Working Group did in connexion with its previous
reports, summaries of the cases transmitted to Governments and copies of the
information provided by them are on fil with the Secretariat and available for.
consultation by members of the' Commission.
17. During its seventh, eighth and ninth sessions the Working Group met with
representatives of the following States: Argentina, Bolivia, Cyprus, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Iran, Morocco, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Zaire. . .
18. During its eighth and ninth sessions the Working Group met with
representatives of the following organizations or associations directly
concerned by reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances: Latin American
Federation of Associations of Relatives of Missing ‘ etainees (FEDEFAM) ; Centre
E / ON. 4/1983 / 14
Page 5
for Legal and Social Studies (Argentina); Christia,n Lega. Aid Office ( l
Salvador), Conunittee for Justice and peace (Guatema1a , El Salvajor ‘ ‘ommission
on Human Rights (noh—governn ertta1) ;' and Grandmothers o the Plaza de iayo
(Argentina). The Working Group also received written information from these and
From other organizations or associations directly concerned by reports of
enforced or involuntary disappearances. Those oxganizations spoke of the
serious and widespread nature of enforced or involuntary disappearances :ih i ch.
constituted a particularly odious and cruel farm of violation 6f human rights.
tt not only affected the missing person himself but brought su ffeTing and
anguish to his amily and relatives and even spread fear and terror through the
general nopuration. The Working Group was tald of the importai ce attached by .
the relatives and their or inizatioris to the role the Group could play in
bringing an end td disappearances nd in aiding the rel tives to leaTn the
whereabou s or fate of their faniily'rnembers. Many spoke of the large number pf
missing persons, and of Ehe repo.rt and testimonies presented: to Governments by
the Working Group but they pointed out that answers were either evasive or that
no answers were OEceived at ‘all. The Group was urged to make its paramount .
objective that of informir g amilies of the exact circumstances of their,
relative's disappearance. Specific suggestions were made re rding the Group's
methods of work with that objective in mind and it was suggested that in those
instances in which Governments r fused effectively to co—op r te wjth the
Working Crdt p and when info matioffi tend d to estaolish Government. .,:
responsibility, that the enti'r fiI shodld be made public and transferred to
the Commissio , bn Hdman Rights for aporopriate action. .
19 This year the Iloricing Group has not received any invitation for visits to
new countries. In January 1982 two members of the Group visited Mexico, as was,
reported to the Commissioti fri the'addendum to the Grou 's last report, and in
July 1982 two m mSerII made a trip to Cyprus. Responding to an invitation from: . ..
the Latin American Fed r tion o 'Organizations of Relatives of Missing Detainees
(F DEFAM), one membei of the Group attended, on the Group t s kehalf', the Third
Congress ‘of FEDEF/U1 at Lima, Peru (‘4 to S Novembe 1987) IInd eported to the
Working Group at its ninth ses ion on that Congress at which a draft onvention
on. enforced.. disa p.earances.. had been- adopted. . .Jhat. draft. .cpnvent.ion..was . I
transmitted to the Woricing Group
20. The Working Group has continued to' rec iv informatiob from s cialized
agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations, humanitarian organizations
and it has maintained contact with the Special Rapport ur on the situation of
human rights in Chile appointed pursuant to Commission on Human Rights
resolution 11 (xxxv), the Special Envoy on the situation of ,,human rights in
olivia appoint d ptirsuant to Cbmmission on Human Rights ‘resblution 34 ( XXXVII)
and the Special Representative on the situation of Human Rights in El Salvador
appointed pursuant to Commission on. Human Rights resolution 33 (xxxv i i).
21. The backlog of dases noted in the last report has contintIId to receive the
, Working Group's concern As is. s id in the introduction, st ndards of
admissihility have not been relaxed.' In response to the requSts of the group
for assistance the Secretariat his been able to make special efforts which have
substantially reduced the unprocessed cases, and this work wiLl continue.
E/C' q.4/1983/l4
Page 6
. . . II. IMSTA CES IN WRICH MORE THAN TqEMTY REPORTS OF ENFORCED OR
. . . INVOLUNTARY DISDAPPEARANCES HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED EY
. . . . THE WORKING GROUP TO A GOVERNMENT
A. Argentina
Information revi&qed and transmitted to the Government
22. The Working Group's previous activities in relation to Argentina appear in
its two earlier reports.!! Since the extension of its mandate the Working
Group has continued to receive and examine information concerning enforced or
involuntary disappearances in Argentina. In particular the Group has reviewed
some 850 cases of reported disappearances in Argentina and transmitted to the
Government of that country reports and relevant documents on 637 of those
disappearances along with the Group's request for information. With regardtd
the other, cases reviewed the Group decided to request From the relatives further
C,:information which might increase the chances of a successful investigation or it
found that the report did not appear to fall within the mandate of the Group.
23.' The reports transmitted to the Government cont ained for the most part
clear statenients as to the data, time and place of ‘the missing person's. arrest,
the authorities responsible and statements or indi ations that the arrest was,
witnessed. ‘ tf in some cases few or no details were provided on the actual ‘
arrest, other elements of investigation were made available such is information
that official searches for the missing person had been carried out in close
conn Etion with the, disappearance or that the person had been seen in custody.
Most of the rnissin persons were reported to have'been arrested at home, at
their place of work or at specified public locations. It was variously repcited
that the persdns m king the arrest wore military uniforms, identified the'nselves
as members of the security Eorces,V used military or police vehicles and had
occupied for a period the neighbourhood or place where the arrest took place; in
some cases the regular police . pp t d y d , p. irII. .ry ne... Information, was
also provided in many ‘cases that the missing person had ‘been seen in a
clandestine detentioft centre. In almost all cases habeas corpus petitions and ,
,.— appeals to government authorities were reportedly mad ; in some, criminal
/., .tomnlaints for unlawful detention were reported. ,
. 1/ E/CN.4./l435, paras. 47—78, and, annexes IX, X, XI, XII ‘and E/CN.4/l!92,
pans. 33—52 and annexes IV, V, VII. ‘ ‘ ‘ .
2/ The forces most often reported as responsible for he arrest are the
police, federal police, security forces, the army, the navy, “comando
antisuhversivo' , military, combined forces ( fuerzas conjuntas) , State
intelligence service, legal forces ( fuerzas legales ) military police, or the
Federal Police Co—ordination Bureau (Coordinacion Federal).
. E/CN .4/ 1983/14
Page 7
24. Included in the 637 reports mentioned abpve were the disappearances of ten
children, one of these children ‘reportedly disappeared while the mother as in
prison and the remaining children disappeared after they'were arrested with
their parents or other members of their family. The Working Group in its first
two reports reflected the widespread international concern with reports of the
disappearance.of children and the Grdup provided details concerning five
children who had been reported missing and then located, one of them had
reportedly been horn while the mother was in detention. In that regard the
Group expressed its belief that the succ s ful outcome of these searches gave
hope for other cases and that it rovided indications of paths of investigation
which might he, followed ino'u t's,tanding cases. .
25. During 1987 the Working' YGroup transmitt d to: the Government of Argentina
requests for information received from relatives regarding the children due to
have been born to 23 women who were, said t9 have been pregnant when they ‘
disappeared. The Working ‘Group in that connexion. sent ‘to the Government' reports
from persons who state that they had been held in cLahde tine detention centres
‘ (see below) with ‘some of the pregnant women; those repoifis gave details on the
‘‘ treatment of the'women, on the medical assistance given ‘t'o them and on the ‘
p•ersot s responsible for the children after the births. , ‘
26. ‘Since the tJorking Group was established it has transmitted to the
‘ , Government of A* entina 1377 reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances
s is indicated n the table at the end of this section. The years i : .‘hich
those disappearances re orted1y occurred were: 1975: 30 cases; 1976: 589 cases,
1q77: 549 cases,, 1978: 145 cdses, 1979: 31 cases, 1980: 29 cases and 1981: 3
cases. ‘. ‘ .
27. . ‘The Working Group in transmitting to the Government of Argentina the
IIports from relativ s on disappearances also transmitted in 1982 copies of
seven statements by ersons who' reported that they had beea held ip some of the
same clandestine detention centres in Argentina previously referred to and in
one new centre. These statements referred to certain of those missing persons
who cases had been sent to the Government, and the Group hoped that the details
ontained i ” h 'd it&tiII t tllb'iid' i t the “nvesti'oation' -The informat ion
; ontained in these seven statements is subtantially the same as that described
in the Group's report to the'Conunission at its thirty— eventh sessipn regarding
, the sources of the statements on clandestine detentipn centres, the
characteristics ,and locations of the centres, the personnel responsible for
‘ their operation and th eventual fate of the detainees (EICN..4/1,435, paras.
56—62). The list of perso s held in these centres, as reported by f6rmer
detainees, now contains more than 1.800 entriesr. . . .
Information and views from relatives of missing persons and their organizations
28. Since its mandate was extended the Working Group has received from
relatives of missing persons and their organizations,, expressions of deep concern
at the Government's failure to provide information on. he ; ‘hereabouts of the
missing detainees in spite of the amply docupiented public knowledge of the
circumstances of the disappearances and those responsible. They stated that
relatives, had received no satisfactory information from th Ministry of the
Interior and underlined that the Group had alsg fa .led to receive specific
responses. The relatives state that a flrict].y private solution to the problem
E/CN .4/ 1983/14 .
Page 8
was precluded by the very seriousness of the system of disappearances and they
insisted on their determination to continue the search for th ir missing family
--members wit Li satisfactory responses ,ere given. recent i iVely supported
public demonstration in Buenos Aires w as referred to in this regard. These
organizations have also expressed serious concern it the co ttinuing existence of
the structures which permit disappearances and they point in this regard--to the
seven persons who, in P182, reportedly disappeared for short periods oE time;
five were set free and tt. o were found dead. The organizations of relatives have
also mac ic pecific requests for improvements in the internationa l community's
and the Group's actions regarding missing persons, including a call to- seek .
information directly from persons allegedly responsible for disappearances and
the identification and sanctioning of those found responsible.
29. The relatives have reported on a petition presented by a large number of
persons to the President of the Supreme Court. That petition underlined the
role the judiciary could play in determining the whereabouts or clarifying the
fate of the missing detainees., It referred to thelar e quantity of information
K .‘ presented to the courts over the ‘ears in connexion with writs of habeas corpus ;
it was said that in the past habeas corpus writs had been only formally
processed in a bureaucratic manner and the petitioners requested the Supreme
Court to order the country's judges to make a real investigation of the facts
contained in those files. The Group has been informed of SupreIIe Court
decisions in two cases ordering further investigation. It has been reported to
the Group by organizations that ma few cases relatives have been informed
through the courts or by the Ministry of the Interior of -th death of their
missing family member. The Group was also informed that few persons reported
missing had been released. The Working Group has also received detailed
information on judicial investigations concerning a number of graves of
unidentified persons in several cemeteries in Argentina. Informatio.n on such
- graves was provided by the Government of Argentina in the Working Group's report
to the thirty—eighth session of the Comn ssion. . .
. -- 30. Reprssentat-ives -of -the ...one. group -emphasized- that.. another.year .had gona...hy
. with no results in-their search for the missing dh'ildren. They asserted that
- the information provided by the Government to th& Group and reproduced, in the
Group's last report indicated that no serious attempt had beeii'm-ade by the
Government to locate those children. Those representatives insisted on the ,
truth of the reports and referred to the documents and the . iitnesses oresented
and they requested the Working Group to urgently take the steps necessary for
the return of the children to their true families. In particular, they -
requested that the adoption records since 1973 he reviewed and that a study be
made of those births in Argentina in that' period which had been registered after
the expiration of the statutory period for registriation after birth.
Information and views provided by the Government of Argentina .
31. Since the extension of the term of its mandate the Working Group has
received written information From the Government (letters dated 8 -September and
1, 2 and 8 December 1982) and the Group met with representatives of the
Government at its eighth and ninth sessions. The Government referred to the
co—operation established between the Working Group and the Government and the
- -information which the Government had provided to the Group in tne past. T he
Government had informed the Group on the origins of the phenomenon of alleged
/cN. 4/1983/14
Page 9
enforced or involuntarydisappearances in Argentina, its:underlying causes, its
true extent and the cotitext jnwhich it had occurred. The Government had also.
explained the difficulties'encoQntered in attempting to i.nvestigate individual
cases, the serious disruptionin the .donntry...when they reportedly occurred, the
con ea1ment tactics used by .particu 1ar roup s;and their own ground rules and the
time which as e1ap ed ii ce •the i. . The inv sti.g .ation was futther. complidated by
the fact that thes _cat1ed5I estimonyJ! rcved E d have come frorn .-p r.sons who
werd interested inusitig the Wotking Group for political ends.
: t . , . ; . :‘. • . ‘ • . . .
32. The representative of the:Government informed the Working Group that with
regard o information on individi&1 cases,.ths Government had adhered to the
principle that it belonged otely to the relatives of the persons in question,
and therefore should be supplied only to them. The Government stated that it
was determined to continue re*evant investigations and to provide. the relatives;
and the relatives alone, with tHeresults. At the Working Group's ninth
session, the Government representative stated that the investigation had been
conpleted and the relatives informed with regard to the cases
E/CM.4/198 3/14
Page 1.0
that of conducting an investigntion through the ordinary system of justice
assisted' by the forces of law and order, which have perforfned'thiS bask i t t all
cases. The.oovernmeht further stated hat'respoase5 provided to the Working :
Group by Argentine authorities, as well as the availability of n tiona1 remedies
for individual cases of;reported disappearances — anyone who wished to enquire ‘
into the fate of an allegedly missing person had easy a cess to the machinery of'
the police'a'nd the judiciary — made it clea that; in the case of Argentina, the
Working Group had been ableto discharge it's task fully and the humanitarian .‘
aims for which it was'establi hed had been fulfilled. FurthermorE.,' ‘the problem'
of disappeared persons was a public matter in Argentina, acknowledged by the
authorities, the political parties andother representatiV groups, as t .;el l as'
the population. This constituted' a' g'uarantee ‘that the ‘measures adopted in
future -by- the Government would ‘reElect the views of the oopulatidn. .
3.5. . in ‘relation to' the graves of unidentified persons referred'.tII in'last
yearOE report, theGovernment informed the Working group that it ‘4a's no making
( availab1e ‘to familte the information in its ‘possession which might nable them'
“to identify, as their relatives, bodies in the'unidentified graves. Th& “‘‘
relatives were asked by the Government to use the normal prodedures' ‘of law to
formally identify the body. . : .
36. The,.Gover nmen.t of Argentina reiterated to the Group it.s'co 1 ntintfed
wi1lingne sst .coroperate in the work of the Working Group for-as long ‘as it'S”
mandate. cpntipifed, in respect of any n w develdpments which might ‘occur.” ‘‘‘ . ‘
37. . The, foLlowing, js ‘a statistical, summary of the reports of .cn brced' or- . -
involuntary di ap,peannc es in Argentina. dealt with by the Workihg Group: Since it
was established. . . ‘ - ‘ . - . . ‘ I' . ‘
1' . Cases received by the: Working Group ' . - 1,780 -
:‘ i. Cases transmitted to' the Government by the - ‘ - . - •: ‘, :: ‘ -
,. ‘‘ “ worldng”Group, 1,377'. . . 1 .
I I I. Answers received relat.ing.specificallv : ‘ ‘
to cases transmitted to the Government 7
4
by the Group_ - . ‘ ‘ .
A. Answers from the Government ‘ 0. J ‘
, 13. Answers from other sources ‘ . 7 -
3/ ‘The ‘working droup has a' backlog of files not yet prepared for
its examination. The number of those files is not included here.
/ (a)' Persons released from detention: 4 - . .
: (b) Perso s at liberty: . 2, , . ‘
, , (c) , Persons whose deaths have been officially recorde,d 1.
5/ See parag' aph 32 a oove (first sentence)
E/CN.4/l98 3 /1 4
. Page 11
Bolivia . .
38. The' W&king Group's previous activity in relation to Bolivia appears in
its two earlier rep.orts.6/ The Working Group transrnittad to the Government of
Bolivia informa ion,on the reported dis 1 ppearance of 32p 'rsor s along with the “
Groups request for any information. The irtss],ng persons, who had such
d tSpationS;aS5tudent,.Worker , trad,e unionict ‘ rt acher, dere report dl / ; . .
. r ted'und r previo.v.s Gove nments bett.een 4uJy 1980 and Aug i t 1981. Mos't
were renortedly detained in the city of La pdz, at IIeir Qme, on the stt et or'
at unspecified places in named towns or cities. Security forces, the arm5r'dr
p ra -rni litary groups were report dly responsible. .‘t' .
‘ . . , ., it'j ' !t''' . ., , ., , . ..
39 Since the extension of Lts mandate the Working crbup has maintained I I
contact with the.Gove.rnment of Bolivia and, during the afl& ninth:
sessions it met with representatives of the Government. Th
Bolivia during the Group's ?eventh session asked the Jorkin Groun for an
updated ;1ist' of all reported disappearances with which, the Group had'dea lt ‘‘
fOE including those which had been clarified in orde to e' l &tWe Covern r t' t & '
. 2 update its own files. The Working Group was assured of the Qove S ht W' ‘
commitment to respect human rights and fundamental and the Group was
informed of the present economic and political si u t'iorio ihe coiiiiiry. ‘The
Group was informed that the new,,Govgr meTi,t .whi,c tpok power in September 1981
had add.pted a positive attitude towards co' operation with the Working Group. A
general amnesty had been decreed and all Bolivians were free to enter or leave
the country, refugees included. Epwever,. d sp,ite the Government's good will the
situation had not permitted a fufl. investigat iQfl fnto cases of enforced dr
involuntaty disappearances. Nevertheless, the Govdrnmeflt provided information
on five of the cases dealt with by the Group. That information coincid d with
what had earlier been reported by non—gpy ntrnentfl organizations. The
..tpresentative of Bolivia also emphasized ‘the po sibilit i that persons, who for
many lessons did not want their wherea Qqt,s known and who had been reported as
disappeared would take advantage of the am st y' d'nd e ppearY .
40 By letter dated .3 November .19S2 the Government i fPF !d the Working Group
that it was the policy of Dr. Hernan SUes ZuazoOE Government to solve aU
reported cases of disappearan es), to apply C.opsti utiofl with all rigour to
toe, those responsible for violotions of human rights, and, pet hap'i, to nahle the
Group to c].ose the, case of Bol ia during the 1 CommissionOE next session During
its ninth session the tqorking Group IIet wiEh' t e ‘Chi d faires of Bolivia to
the United Nations Office at Geneva who had been appointed by the Government to
maintain liaison with the Group. The representative of Bolivia informed the
Working Group of the serious efforts being carried out within that country in
order to solve all the reported disappearances which took place under previous
governments. In particular the Working Group was informed of the estabishment
in Bolivia of a National Commission for the Investigation of nisappeared Persons
by Supreme Decree No. 19.241 of 28 october 1982. The Commission is composed of
representatives of the Executive Power, the ‘tuman Rights Commissions of both
Houses of the Legislative Assembly, the Church, the Armed Forces, the Trade
“ Unions, the Permanent Assembly of 9uman Rights, the Red Cross and the Press.
6/ E/CM.4/l435, para. 164, md I /CN.4/l492, paras. 53—57.
III. Ansz rS received relating spe ifica11y'
tocases transmitted *6 the GIIetpment
by the croup !! . . , . . .
A. , An we S from the Gov rnment
B. kns jers from other sources
— — I
E/CN.4/19 $ 3 /l 4
Page 12 .
Its objects are to analyse, investigate and determine the situatl.Otl concerning
disappeared persons, with full access to all relevant information and the right
to seek assistance of all, public authorities. , It is to report within a
period of 9,0 days beginning 28 0 tober19 8 2. 7 t 'can set ‘ap'District
Committees. It is accessible to anyode with'a complaint .abbut'.the disappearance
in Bolivia d ' relative. The full tek of sup eMe Dectee 19.241 appea s in the
chapter on disaapearances of the report of the special Fnvoy on the situation of
human.,rights' in Bolivia to the Commission on Human Rights at its thirty—ninth'
se SiOP (E/CN.4/19 83 / 22 , Chapter Vfl.' -
41. The Worki G*oup during its nit th session re e-ived from the- S edial Envoy
of the Commissiofl on Human RightS' ihformatiOh concerning reported enforced or --
involuntary disapoifiarance,S in BoLivia, and investigations relating to nest
disappearances are now being carried out by the Bolivian authorities
42. The following is a statistical gunman of the reports of enforced ot
involuntary disappearances in Bolivia dea lt with by th working Grcup since it
was established I I
I. Cases received by the Uorktnv Group 4-2
II. Cases transmitted to the Government by the
Tqorkin% Group ‘ 32
12- ‘ - - ‘
7
10
:V (a) Persons released from detentiot 3.'
(b) Persons at liberty':' 7 r' . . .
(c) Persons whose deaths hive been officially recorded: 2.
E/CN..4/19 8 3/l 4
Page 13
C. Cyprus
43. The Working Groun's previous activity in relation to Cyprus appeatS in its
two earlier reports.!! The Group received information on enforced or
involuntary disappearances in Cyprus from the Government of Cyprus, the
Pancyprian Committee of Parents and Relatives of undeclared Prisoners and
Hissing Persons and other organization5. The information was transmjtted to the
Government of Turkey and the authorities of the Turkish Cypriot communi 4y
together with the Group's request for information. The Group also received
information on enforced or involuntary disappearances in Cyprus from the
authoirities of the Turkish Cypriot community. This information was transmitted
to the Government of Cyprus for any information it might wish to submit. The
Group is aware that the number of reported missing persons from both sides
amount to about 2,400. The Group notes that the reports of the disappearance of
the Turkish.Cypriots relate to a period of internal tension which began in 1963
and again in 1974, and to Greek Cypriots and certain CreeK citizens reportedly
disappeared in mid—1974. . .
44. The tJorking Group in its report to the Commission' s thirty—seventh session
expressed its hope for the success of talks aimed at establishing specific
machinery to deal with the reports of missing persons in Cyprus (E/CN.4/1435,
para. 83). In its report to the thirty—eighth session of the Commi,ssion
(E/CN.4/1492 para. 66) the Working Group reported on the agreement establishing
the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus and the Group associated itself with
the hope expressed by the Secretary—General that the Committee on lissing
Persons in Cyprus would convene and devote itself to the solution of this issue
in a spirit of good faith and mutual confidence. . . .
45. During the Working Group s seventh session it met with representatives of
the Government of Cyprus who reiterated, the invitation made to the Working Group
to visit that country. After exchanges with the authorities of the Turkish
Cypriot Community, and having been informed by the Secretary—General that
efforts to reactivate the Committee on, Missing Persons had not been successful,
the Working Group decided that t.co of :ts memb iH dii1OE g& d C tiis fat
preparatory trip.
46. At the Working r,roup T s eighth session the members who had gone to Cyprus
informed the other members of the Group on the trip which lasted from 28 to 30
July 1982. The two members had met with representatives of the Government of
Cyprus, the authorities of the Turkish Cypriot Community and with
representatives of the relatives of the missing Greek Cypriots, and the
relatives of missing Turkish Cypriots. At its eighth session the Working Group
decided to request its Chariman to address a tatter to the Chairman of the
Committee on Hissing Persons in Cyprus. in that letter the Group stated that it
had formed the view that the Committee on Missing Persons provided not only
adequate but also appropriate machinery for resolving the outstanding cases of
disappearances from both communities.
8/ E/CN 4/l435 , paras. 70—33; 1 /CN.4/l492, na tas. 65—66
E/GN .4/1983/14
Page 14
>loreover, the Group said the Committee's purely humanitarian aims exactly .
coincide with the Group's mandate. The Group was therefore convinced that its
role should not be to supplant the committee on Missing Persons, but rather to
give it all.the assistance within its pot er. Thus, the Group said, as a
practical sugge5t on, it would be veiy willing to send oneor mo.re:mernbers to
joiitheChai afl9f the Cor rnittee and its two other members either,i.n. Geneva or
NicoSia,i order to discusS.P9S5i 1 e methods of making further orogress..Ofl this
probleoe. ;. The Grpup e prass d the hope Ehat if the Chairman of the OW thought
the idea contained any meri.t he would communicate it tb the two other -nembers.
E/CN.4/1983/ 14 .
Page 15
0. El Salvador .
Information reviewed an n trnnsmitted to the Governmeht . .
47 . The Working Group's previous activities in relation to El Salvador app ar
in its two.e-arlier reports .2' Since the extension of its mandate the Working.
.,:Croup has continued to receive and examine information relating to enforced or
h nvo.1untary disappearances in El Salvador. During that period it reviewed. .
reports. on some 970 disappearances in El Salvador and it transmitted to the .
Government reports on 870 disappearances along with its request for
information, Of the 870 reports, 385 were transmitted to the Government
pursuant to the Group.'s.urgen.t action procedure. With-regard to those cases
reviewed' b '.the Working Group but not-transmitted to the Government, the Group
decided to request from the source of the reports further inforIIation which
might increase the chances of a successful investigation or it found that the
report' did not appear to fall within the mandate of. the Group.
48. The reports of disappearances transmitted to the Government were submitted
by the -relatives of the reportedly missing p rsons, by human rights
organizations of El Salvador acting on-behalf f the relatives and by a
non—governmental organization in consultative- status with the Economic and -
Social Council. During 1982, the Group received- detailed information on a - . :
disappearance in El Salvador from the Government. of Norway. Of the 870 cases
transmitted -to the Government of El Salvador sinc ' the extension of the Group's
mandate 62 reportedly occurred in 1979,150 in.1980;'220 in 1981, and 438 in
1982. For the lq82cases the monthly breakdown is as follows: . JaxIIary: 35,
Feb uanj: 45, March: 49 April: 34, May: 48, June: 49, July: 40, August: 50,
September; 35, October: 32, and 1 ' ovemher: 21. ‘ ‘ . . ,
49. In the cases transmitted to the Governm nt information /IIs provided-on the
identity-of the persons reported missing (first names and family names), theH
date and the exact location of the arrest (most reports also indicated th . .
time). In many instances the age and the-occupation of the missing person were
given; the most frequently reported occupations were student workar-- (ski-lled
and unskilled), and farmers (campesinos). Most of the arrests reportedly took
place at the missing persons home or at a specified public place, market, bus
station, etc. Other persons were reportedly arrested at their place of work.'.
. 9/. E/CN.4/l435, paras. 84.101, annex X i i i; E/CN.411435!Add.l,. pan. 6;
E/CN.4/1492, paras. 67—87, annex IX, X and ‘t; E/CN.4/1492/Add.l, paras. .11, 1-2
and 19. . . . , . . . ,
E/C'1.4/1983/14 .
Page 16
In each report statements were. made concerning those responsible Eor the arrest;
among the forces cited were the Army, National Guard; National Police, Treasury
Police (Policia de 4acienda),.cwnbined .forcSor. security .force nd some
reports identified the of the ser ,ji einvolv d'. dfficial
:rnilitary or police vehicles w re said to have.b en used in somecases. Ir .a
number of cases armed person& dressed in civilian' clothes werereported as.
.. responsible for the arrest and in some cases theplace of detention to whj.ch the
person had been taken was indicated. In a few instances the. Files transmitted
to, the Government contained,detailed statements by witnesses; in one case a
former Government official submitted a report on his participation in. .
negotiations withthe military authorities for the releas .of a Uetainee who
remains missing. The Group was informed with regard toalmost all the. pases
that habeas..corpus petitions a d visits to the offices of the security services
had been fruitless. . . . , ,. ..
50. Of the reports transmitted to the Government in l982,..fi e concerned
children to 12 years of age and 46 minors from 13 to 17 years of age. In its
meetings with r p.resentatives of the Government of El Salvador (see below) the
Working Group.drew attention to the expressio s of concern received about the
reports of the, disappearances of minors. Tk . ?Wprking Group also rew the
GoverninentJsrattention to the reports of thedisappearanceof persons working
with, human .r gi it .organizations'and those assisting.,re1ativ s o :missin,g
persons. Four such reports we e transmitted to the.., pyecnm t, in. ), ,8l and three
,.:.. 1 in 19$2.. In..th ee of the 1981 cases witnesses to 1 the arre t w rereported and
information was, received that the persons weredflaine4.iiflth .C Y4.l.ry barracks
- of San Salvador.. Of the 1982 cases, two explicitly sta e.,that th arrests were
witnessed and in those cases information was received that.the per ons.w Fe
being held at the Central Headquarters. .f the Treasury.Police in San Salvador.
With regard to these cases, the Working Group identifies itself with the request
. of theLSub—Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of ,
Minorities (resolution 1982/5) that the Commission on Tuman Rights: should give
special attention-to the protection of persp ts including relatives who actively
seek the whereabouts of missing persons and who provide infori ation on missing
... perSons. .. . . .. ,
tnforrnation and..views received from organizations representing relatives of
missing persons : . , . . ,
51. Since the extension of its mandate the Working Group has received orally
and in writing information and views concerning enforced or involuntary
disappearances in El Salvador from organizations acting on behalf of relatives
of missing persons. The Working Group's attention was drawn to the significant
increase in the number of reports of disappearances in particular since the
elections of March 19 2; it was however sta ed..,that. a..d op in the number of
disappearances was noted in the periods prio; to. he i sua,nce by the Pres ident
of the United States of America of a certificate to Ehe Congress of that country
on the state of human rights in El Salvador; an increase was noted after that
event. The Group was informed that the disappearances in El Salvador occurred
after the person had been arrested by the security Forces who were wearing
uniform in almost half the cases. It was told that the victims were never seen
E/Cfl.4/1983/14
Page 17
agai.a or that their bodies were subsequently found,. almost always with marks of
torture. The systematic. nature and the large number of disapoea.rances led some
to suggest that the Government had adopted “enforced disappearances” as an
official method for dealing with political opponents. Special attention was
,drawn to.the fact that most of the minors who reportedly disappeared were
between 12 and 17 years of age. Concern was also, expressed over.ifihe human
rights workers and representatives of relatives of missing perspns;whd had. been
arrested and then disappeared. A number of reports were presented to the Group
in which former detainees described prison conditions and the treatment of
prisoners; one stated he had been detained in secret and had been missing for
some time. The Group also received from pne organization information that
specific nersons who had been reported missing had been released, or were being
held in official. custody in prisons. . .. . .,
52. Human rights organizations also provided the Working Group with
information on the operation of the judicial system in El Salvador. t present
the system reportedly functioned adequately when,dealing with matters which were
purely civil and non—political but, in relation .to the Government or the Armed'
or Security Forces, the, courts and judges were not able to function so as to ..‘ .
prevent disappearance, fvee those held in detention, even. when,.the exact . .
location, of. the miss .ng person was known or punish.,those guiity of. abuses. The
Working Group in the past has informed the Commission on Human.Rights of the
Special Compdttee to Investigate Political Prisoners and the Disappeared set up
by the Government of El Salvador in November 1979. That Committee identified
the places where missing persons had been held, discovered clandestine . .
cemeteries were. missing, persons who. had. been killed were buried and identified
officials responsible. The Special 1 Committee a lso,:made recommendations for the
prosecution of. officials allege4ly responsib].,e and for the prohibition of secret
places of detention. . The Working Group's last report contained information that
these. recommendations had not been carried out and no information has since been
received concerning their implementation. The Working Group during the presetit
tern of its mandate received appeals to visit.El SaLvador in order to inform
itself directly, ofthe problem and to assist in bring4.ng an epd,to the enforced
involuntary disappearance of persoris. . ... : • , , . • -,
Information and views provided by the Government of El Salndor . ,
53. fluring the period .since the extension of its rpandate tb e Working Group has
received information in writing from the Government of El Salvador and at its
eighth session the Working Group., met with the Permanent epr.esentaqive of El
Salvador to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The representative of El
Salvador set out the problem of reported enforced or involuntary disappearances
in the overall context of the difficult situation in the country. He called
attention to the process of democratization through reforms, in particular
economic and agrarian, which was being carried out. The Government informed the
El CM. (# / l 83 / 1
Page 18
Group that since the elections of March L982, a decrease in the,yig,l nce t • l{
Salvador had been noted and that it was a. continuing tendenQy . The. ,,.
representative of El. Salvador informed the Group of th.e prograrne.pf. .
institutional reform cmharke'4 upon by the new Government which included the
establishment of a Human Rights Commission to deal ‘ith human rights matters and
in particular the promotion and protection of human rights. The seyen members
of this Commission, representing the different sectors of the country, took
their oath of office on 1 Decem5 r 1982.
54.. The Working Group was also informer.! by the Government that the
Internatiopal Committee of the Red Cross continued its tracing activit:ies in El
Salvador and that the Government had undertaken to inforpi that organ za ofl
systematically of all arrests. Further, a control commission had been s, t up by
the armed forces to deal with any abuses and courses and conferences were
organized to instruct..the milita on humanitarian law and the protection of
prisoners,. The representative of El Salvador categorically deniet ta ,hLs
Government practised or oierated enforced or involuntary disappearanc and , :
reaffirmed the Ccvernment.'p commitment to the full, respect ,for h irnanji hts. :
The Group received a det4ijed description of the methods used toinve ig te . ,
reports of disappearances and it was iaformed of the steps being t?lcen.to ‘..... .
strengthen . the judiciary. . the qMestion. of the reports of disappearance of
minors was, of particular importance to. the Government and efforts ;ere ma4 to
Riarify them. Genera1ly,;.ap. r ;ested :minOr was handed over. to his parents.
55. Since the extension of. its mandate the Working Groyp has received
information from the Goverpment of El. Salvador, reg rd,ing 83 perspns whose cases
had been ,t.ransnii: t.e 1. by th Group to the Government. In 16 .c? e.s the Gov rnment
- st4ted that after i ivestig tipns no record had: been found th4 the,. p r qn had
been. arrested or, detained. In 52 cases' th.e Government. stated th person ..ias
being held for trial or, at . the disposition of ‘;he authorities. n..spi e 40 of
the 52. cases the, Goyernment provided detailed informatio on the., state of the
,iudjcia ..procedu.re rega 4ing.the person including the court ch rged F,ith, h
case. In 14 ,cas the Group.was informed of the person's, r lease and; n one
case the Government reported that the person had comnnttpd sui.ctde OEe
representative of El Salvador also informed the droup of his desire to check a
,.—‘ list of prisoners.hifitd .n El $alva br with the persons reported to the Grou,p as
disappeared. At'-the—Group's-'reqtrest the' Se retariat provided the Permanent ‘
Missjonof El Salyadbr the Inited Nations 0ffic, a Genav,a with an , .
alphabetical Ii t of c ses regi, t.ered and thp ?ermanenc tis ion' was' informed of
the availabililty. of the Secretariat to assist the.Perpiane,n.t ission.ifl the ,
matter. . ‘ . . . : , , . ‘, ‘ ... . .
E/CN.4/ 1983/ 14
Page 19
56. OEe following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or
involuntary disappearances in El Salvador dealt with by the Working Group since
it was established. . . ‘ : . .
I . Cases received by the Working Group . 1,485 .
. . II. Cases ‘transmiEted to the Co ernIIent by ‘the' .
T lortctng Group 1,232
. III. Answers received reliting specifically
to cases transmitted I I the GbvernIIent
the croup.12 1 1 17 . . . . , . 89
A. Anstzers horn th G 'ernnen :‘ 72 .
3. Answers from other sources , 17 .
. . .‘ .. . ,. .
10/ (a) Persons arrested and in prison: 65. .
(b) Persons released from detention: 21.
(c) Personsat liberty: 1. ‘ . , .
(d) Persons whose deaths have been officially recorded: 2.
In addition to the figures in III above the Group has received responses
from the Government relating to other cases as referred to in the text.
E/CM.4/ 19 83 /l 4 .
Page 20 . .
‘E. G iatemala .
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
57. The Working Group's previous activitie P in relation to Guatemala appear in
its two earlier reports.E” This year the whrking Group has contin ied to
receive reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Guatemala; ‘it has
reviewed 423 reports of enforced or involuntary disa pea1ance5 and transrnitLed
to the Government information on 139 cases together with its request for any
information. nf the 139 reports nine t yere sent in accordance with the urgent
action procedure. Concerning those. csses reviewed by the Working Group but not
transmitted to the Government the Group decided to request from the source of
the reports further information which might increase the chances of a successful
investigation or it found that the report did not appear to fall within the
mandate of the Group. . .
58. The reports of disappearances transmitted to the Government were submitted
“- by relatives of the reported missing person, by organizations acting on behalf
of the relatives and by a noa governmental organization in consultative status
with the Economic and Social Council. of the 139 reports transmitted to the
Government of Guatemala this year four reportedly occurred in 1981, and 135 in
1982. For the 1982 cases the monthly breakdown is as follows; January: 28,
February; 11, March; 3, April: 6, May; 18, June; 19, July: 16, August; 3 and
September: 31. In the reports transmitted information was provided on the
identity of the persons reported missing (first names and family names), the
date and location of the rrest (some reports also indicated the time). .
Seventeen of the reported missing persons were women and 12 were reported to be
17 years old or less. The most frequently reported place of arrest was the home
of the missing person or that of his family, although in many cases only the
town where the arrest took place was mentioned. In other cases the arrest took
place at the personts place of work. The age and the occupation of the missing
persons were given in some cases; the most frequently reported occupations were
student, farmer (campesino), .teacher or.professor, and worker! Al 9 .f he
reports transmitted to the Government contained statements from the source
describing those responsible for the arrest of the missing person. Most arrests
( ) were reportedly carried out by armed men in civilian clothes, other arrests were
made by the Judicial Police, the Army, the T)epartment of Technical
Investigations (Departamento de InvestigacioneS OEcinas), the Mational Police
and Security Forces. The information received concerning disappearances in
Guatemala is not as detailed or precise as that made available with regard to
some other countries because it is claimed that there are difficulties in
getting information out of the country.
11/ E/CM..4/1.4 35, paras. 107—116., annex XIV, E/Ct4/149 2 , paras 91—102,
anne c XI I, XIII;' E/CN.4/1492/Add.l, pare. 19. . . ,
EICr1.4/1983/14 .
Page 21
Information and views ‘ d ei cd from organizatiotis'iepreiehting re1ativ of
missing persons . . . . . , .
59. fluring the pr sen peri6d of its mandate the Wdrking nr6up received both
oral and written infornation' and views concerning enfdrded or involuntary .
disappearance in Guatemala from, inter aim , organizations acting on behalf of
relatives of missing persons Etnphasis has been placed on setting out
disappear nces wtthmn the 6v ra I human rights context ,of'Guatemala. In
particular, a widespi-ead cLimat of violei de'was described and it was stated
that during 19S2 an increas in disanpea tces had been noted. Attention was
also drawn t6 the d ecia1' iffici ltiek tjhich the organizations said they
encountered in gathering :detailed i'iiforniation ‘on the disappearances and
transmitting ‘that infdrmationto the GroupL The result was that the reports
recorded by the Working Group were less than the total riumb'et'wh'ich ct'ually ‘
took place and that in many of the cases not all the desirable details were
available. The Working'lrdup was told that in a large number of cases when the
body of a ‘peison had be n discovered some tim aft r his arrest, the
organi ation did nd end the cnse to the Group since they counted it as an
assassination. . , . ‘ ‘ . ‘ . ‘ ‘
60'. ‘‘ ‘the Worki Group ‘alsa received ififormation on a few cases in which the
arrested person had been detained secretly for a pe*iod and then released, often
as a result of international pressure. The organizations contacting the Group
expressed concern that journalists, priests and nuns were the particular targets
of enrorced or involuntary disappearances; Referende was ‘made to the recent
arrest of five clergymen; one reappeared thanks to pressure from outside the
country but four remain missing. Whilst international concern, could be helpful
for well—knoszn persons, it was stated that this did not h lp the many persons
who were not well—known and were arrested and never,reappeared. The Group was
also informed of Government' decree's which, ac ord'i'ng to the organizations,
rendered the remedy of habeas corpus or amparo inonerative ‘either to determine
the whereabouts of a missing person or to obtain the release of those illegally
‘‘held. . .,,,, ‘ ,,,‘, ‘
Information and views received from the Government of Guatemala
61. Since the extension of its mandate the llork1 g' r u has rec ived
information in writing from the GovernIIent of Guatemala,and at its seventh and
eighth sessions the Group met with reptesentatives ‘of the Government. The
Working Group was informed that the Government which took pcwer in Guatemala on
23 March 1982 had set for itself as a national objective the absolute respect
for human rights and that this was reflected in articles 5 and 23 of the basic
government Statute; article 5 provides, inter alL - i , for the establishment of all
necessary machinery for the effective and unqualified observance and maintenance
of human rights and article 23 further provides in part that within their
spheres of competence the authorities of the State at all levels, must act
scrupulously and assiduously by all lawful means available to them to ensure
that the guarantees and rights of individuals ‘are strictly observed and are
safeguarded as effectively as possible. ,The representative, of' Guatemala
reiterated, the Gdvernrnent's int' rest'i collaborating with international organs
in matters dealing with human'righcs and in part icular with the Working Group.
E!CN .4/1983/14
Page 22
The Government appointed a special representative to maintain contact with the
Group and it informed the Group that instt uctionS had been given t6 the ‘ .
appropriate authorities for investigations to he carried out, int r alia , with
regard to the reports received by the Working Group. In particular, •a special
office had bLen stablished'within tHa General Directdrate of the qationaL
Police where reports of disappearances could be filed. That oC fice had the .
resnonsibility of carryiru out the necessary investigation. The Government
pointed out that it could not answer for the events which took place under prior
r ginies, but that investigations would be carried out to determine the . :
whereabouts of disappeared persons and trials for the punishment of anyoffences
would be initiated as appropriate. The Government also informed the Grpup of
the establishment and membership of the Council of State whose function is to
advise the Government on matters relating to the political, economic and ‘social
development of the. country. .
/ 62. This year the Government of Guatemala has provided information on two, ‘
cases transmitted to it by the. orking Group in. accordance with its urgent
action procedure. _In both cases the Government reported that the persons had
been freed after an investigation had shown them not guilty of the offifences with
which they had been charged. With regard to seven other cases the Government
inforned'the.Working Group that an investigation was underway and that the Group
would .be'info.rrned of the results. . . . ‘
.. . . ,
63; The following isa statistical summary of the reports of !nforced or
involuntary disappearances in Guatemala dealt with by the.tJorking Group since it
was established. ‘ . ‘ . . , . . . .
. . . 1. Cases received by the “lorking Group . . 1,334 .
•IL. Cases transmitted to the Government by the . .
. Working G.roup . 1,050 .
III: s eI tirfji ifidaIiy
to cases transmitted to the Government
by the Groupji” Il ‘ .
A.. . AnswerS from the Government 4 .
B. Answers from other sources 7 . . .
12/ Persons at..liberty: 11. . . . .
. In addition to the' figures , in II I above the Group has received responses
from the Government relating to .other.cases as referred to in the text.
. . E/CN.4/1983/ 14
Page 23 .
F. Honduras .. . . . . . . . .
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government . :
64. The Working. Group's previous activities in r lation to Honduras appear in
its two eatlier reportsJ ' , The Group, since the extension .of its mandate,
. has receive information on reported enforced or involuntary' disappearances in
Honduras from relatives of the reportedly missing.persons from human rights
. organizations acting on behalf of relatives and, from a nonr-governmental
organization in consultative status with the Economic, and: social Council.
65. Reports on 32 disappearances in Honduras' were reviewed by the Working
Group during this year and information on 27 case's was transmitted to' the
Government together with the Group's tequest for information, Five of the 27
, cases were transmitted in accordance tqj h the urgent action procedure. With
regard to those cases reviewed by the Jorking'Group b .it not transmitted to the
Government the Group decided to request from the source of' the reports further
information which might increase the chances ofa. successful investigation or it
found that the report did• not appear to fall within the mandat of the Group.
The, Working Group.also requested from the Government further particulars
concerning points contained in a response provided by the ,Covernent regatding
the.reported disappearance of two foreign nationals in Honduras in December 1981.
66. , All the reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances transmitt d to
the Government during 1982 contain detailsabout the identity of the missi ng
persons (first names and family names), the date and location of the arrest
(most reports also indicate the time) and some details about the persons
responsible for the arrest. In some cases the age and profession or activit of
the missing person was indicated and the presence of witnesses was reported. ‘
Rarely was there information on any legal or administrative steps which might
have been taken on the missing person's behalf. In some instances the location
of the arrest was reported as the place of work, military barracks or places in
the street but in most only the town or city in which the arrest took place was
. . . . indicated. Th pQ t stated that the missing person had been arrested by the
Directorate of National Investigations (D.I.T. Directorio Nacional de
Investigaciones), the Treasury Police or by Security Forces. Eleven of the
cases transmitted to the Government reportedly' occurred in 1981 and the
remaining 16 reportedly occurred in 1982. whereas the cases dealt with by the
Working Group in its report to the Commission on Human Rights at its
thirty—eighth session dealt mostly with refugees ‘in Honduras, those dealt with
this year primarily concerned Honduran nationals. : .
13/ E/CKT.4/1492, pare. 106—109 and E/C t.4/l492/kdd .i, paras 13 and 19.
E/CN.4/ 1983/1.4
Page 24 .
InEormation and views received from the Government of Monduras
67. Since the extension of its mandate the Working Group has received written
information from the Government of Hdnduras. The Government of HIItduras
informed, the Gnntp of its keen interesL in maintaining a .limate of tranquility
and respect for' human rights and the sovereign enjoyment to all of public
liberties. It also assured the.Group of, its readiness to work closely with it
and to offer the best co—operation possible. . Thefl Director of the Centre for
Human Rights informed the Working Group at its.eighth session that in a m eting
with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Honduras the >linistar had requested.
that the Working Group he should be informed of the commitment of the Government
of Honduras torespect human rights and. to co—operate with the Working Group,.in
the clarification of the cases before the Group. . . . .
68. Since the extension of its mandate the Government of Honduras has provided
the. Working G.roup..with information concerning three cases of disappearances .
which the Group had transmitted to the Government. With regard' to:two foreign
( nationals .who..reportedly disappeared in December 1981, the Goveflmeatf reported
that they had left the country. Nevertheless, as of the:.date of this report,
these persons have not yet reappeared. With regard to'one cases.. the Government
informed the Group, that the person had not been arrest , by the authorities but
, that newspapers had reported that he had been reLeased .,by.h .s captors. In .
addition, in a number of cases the Government of Honduras informed the, Chairman
of the Working Group that it was carrying out an exhaustive'.investigation into
the.reports of disappearances which the Group bad brought' to the Government's
at tent ion. .. . .
. The following is a statistical summary, of the reports of' .enforced or
involuntary disappearances in Honduras dealt with by the Working Group since it
was established. . .
. . 1.. Cases received by the Working Group ‘ 71 . ‘.
...‘ IL Case.. trstfsIIittedtd the Gay' t M ht-b -th
Working Group , . . ; . 56 .
III. Answers received relating specifically . .. . ,
to cases transmitted to the Government .
by the Group! / . . . 9 . . .
‘ A. Answers from the Government 2 ‘ ‘ , .
B. Answers from other sources 7
‘ 14/ Persons at liberty: 9. . .
In addition to the figures in I II above the Group has received responses
from the Government in relation to other cases as referred to in the text.
El C N.4/1983 114
Page 25
C. Indonesia
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
70. The Working Group's previous activities in relation to Indonesia appe'ai in
its two earlier reports.j l In 1980 and 1981 the Jofking Group'tr nsmitted II
the Government of Indonesia information on 23 reported disappearan es together
with the Group's reques't:fo'r informatidn. Most of the disappearanc'e re ortedly
took place between February and June 1979, one reportedly occurred in 1977, wo
in 1978,.and'one-in 1980. With regard to this latter report the Group learnS
from a non—governmental source, subsequent to the transmission of the report' to
the Government, that the person in qpestion was being held in a pri,son in ni h.
No official confirmation of this has been ‘received. With regard to the .
r'emajrUng,'22, disappearances, 12 reportedly resulted directly or indirectly from
the surrender of the persons concerned to military authorities, cwb'had ‘
reportedly been captured and four arrested. One person reportedly disappeared
from prison and one person was reportedly' s en on'televisiII'aII a prisoner prior
to his disappearance. Most were reportedly connected with the Frente
Revolucionario de Timor Leste:Independiente (FRETILIN). ‘ ‘‘ ‘ .
71. During 1982 the Working Group again contacted the Government with requests
for information and by a letter dated 5' October 1982 the Permanen&” :
Representative of Indonesia to the”United Nations flffic.e'aE Geneva -rejorted that
no further information was available to be conveyed to the Working Gioup. That
letter stated that for the purpose of finding the facts relating to the alleged
missing person as well as tracing those persons,however, the Indonesian
Government and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have
concluded an agreement and it suggested that the Workins' Group should- on act
the ICRC to obtain the appropriate information on this matter. The Permanent
Representative also emphasized that the Indonesian Government could not be
expected to he in a position to find the alleged missing persons since
circumstances relating to those persons were beyond the control of the
Indonesian Government. This contact with the l O W has been made. The Group is
aware of the ICRC' s involv mept in East Timor, which has included', fot” bme
years, medical and nutritional aid to the inhabitants. The ICRC's annual
reports for 1979, 1980 snd 1981 are available to the Group and demonstrate that
C) they have access to all parts of this territory, despite the difficulty in
communications. They have many local contacts. They have now informed the
?Working Group that an agreement with the Government was indeed made in snring
1981 which included the undertaking by the ICRC of tracing activities. ,
151 EICN.411435, paras. 117—121; E/CN.4/1492, paras. 110—113
E/CN.4! 1983!14
Page 26 .
72. The Working Group takes note that by the time most of the alleged
disappearances occurred, in 1979/1980, the Ind.qnesian Government had beert in
control of East Timor for sev ral year;, and had promulg.tted the amnesty under
which a number;of the persons concerned are said to have surrendered. In these
circumstances the Working Group could only recommend to the.Comrnission that the
suggested apprpach, by means of the ICRC's investigations, be accepted if the
I,CRC is afforded by the Government all necessary facilities for tracing .
disappeared persons. The Group accordingly is reserving its position until
further news is received from the ICPC. . .
73. The following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or
involuntary disappearances in Indonesia dealt with by. the Working Group since it
was established. . . .
1. Cases received by the Working Group 23
II. Cases . r ?nsmitted to. the Government by the .
K. Working Group . 23
III. Answer received relating specifically
to cases,transmitted. to the Government . . .
. by the Group! j 1
. . A. Answers from the Government 0 .
B. Answers frorn,o.ther sources 1
0 . . : .‘.
16/ Persons,, arrested and in prison: . 1.. .
E/CN.4/19 83 / 14 .
Page 27 :
K. Mexico . :
74. The Qorking 0roup s previous activity in relatLon to lexico anpears in its
two earlier re orts j7,/ The Group reported that it had received a list of
alleg dly mi si ik p 'sons from an organization, and also that it' had been''i 'nt
by Ehd'Govern nerit ext nsive ‘information (seven fiI s) dn investigations into
reported disappearances carried out by the authoritie together with:
invitati or to the Group to visit the country: . .
.‘ 1981 roup' transmitted to the Government of Ne icO copies of
rep'o t's re ived from relatives regarding ‘43 enfotced o ' ihvoluntar ” . ,
dis ppe'Sranc s; these rej'orts were transmitted ‘after they h id been stddied by
the Group togeth t&n the information on the in s igatioIiS ir to :
disappearandes wifii'dh, had been p eviously transmitted by the Gov nmeflt. The ‘‘
Group fe1 hat :Ehe additional information provided bi the”reOEtives might' help
the Go ernment itt fd th r investigating the cases. ‘‘The e disapp ranCds , .
l1egedIy. took place in the period April 1974 to bctob r 1980 and' th reports'
contained details of th identity of the person who ‘wis missing and in almost
all cases the date, time and place of arrest. In several cases information bias
provided which stated that, the missing person had been seen in official
custody. The forces allegedly responsible for the arrest or detention were the
federal judicial and seciii'i y police, state or municigal' police ‘force's and: ..
variojs other groups. ‘ ‘ . . . :
76. The Working Group also infornred t1i Commissiofl at it thirt —eigh'th . ,
iession on the visit made by two of ‘its members to Mexico in January 1982 upon
the invitation of the Govern ment. uring that ‘vi it the niembers of the Group
met with seniot officiils df several Ministries and GovernIIent sei'vices and with
representatives or assddiat'ions directly concerned with reports of enforced 6r
involuntary disappe ran ;S. During Eh ' vi it t'h Government assured the G dup
that it was prepated to investigate th relatives' ‘reports t insIIitt d by the
Grbup to the Governim nt and that dossi'et s ‘would ‘be opened arid al l' the points
raised by the Group would be dealt with especially in light of the net# evidence
provided by the relatives, the Working Group was requested by the Government-to
inform the ela ives of the di ppea &d”that”the Government was prepared to ‘
‘ co'—o erate ‘fully with them ‘ nd to invSt'ate thoroughly all r'e'ports dntil'the
. families'were sati fied. The members of the Group informed ‘the ‘re' re entativeS
of the' d'ome ic organizatIons of the Govertimdnt's assurandes ab'ou't :: . “ ‘
investigations of rep,dr&s f disappearances and th repres nt t'I es inaicated a
‘ willingness to provide the authorities with the information they had on , .
17/ E/CT .4/l435, pars. 122—130; E/CN.4/l492, paras. 120—121;
E/CN.471492/Add.l, paras. 2—9. ‘
E!C J.4/198 /l4. ,
Page 28
disanpearances as part of the effort to resolve the matter. The Working Group
expressed its appreciation for the welcome and assistance which it had received
from the Goverwnent of Mexico and representatives of domestic organizations and
it stated that, the visit had assisted the Group in its understanding of reported
disappearances in Mexico. The Group also informed the
d&nmission'Qf,the information which it received from the Government in January
1982 e1ati.Rg to Eive reportedly missing persons. :
77. Since the thirty—eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights the
Working Group has :recei ed from relatives information on, cases of disappearances
not pieviously reported and additional informatiop on ‘cases previausly studied..
Aifier examining these reports and the' information previously provided by the
Government, the Group, pursuant to the understanding reached during the visit to
Mexico, transmitted to the Government on 24 August 1982 information on 30
repor ed1y missing persons not previously transmitted to ‘the Government and .
additional information on nine cases of disappearance ;jhich had been previously
transmitted. These reports referred to the period June 1971 to July 1980 and the
( : information contained in these reports was similar to that described' in . :
paragrap.h .75 above., ‘ ‘ .‘ . . . . ‘
By : tt 5 dated 30 ‘ ibvember and l•: oecem.ber 1982,' the Governent of'Mexico
provided the, Working Group with info.rmat:o 2,i.n addition to thatmentioned in “
paragraph 74 above. With regard to the above—mentioned 73,cases transmittedto
the Government, the Working Group has, since its establishment, received
information on,6 .cases from. the Government; that inf rmation isas follows: ‘
The person was killed ma, clash, with the armed forces or inju ed in atlash nd
was J.ater buried, by his ponDanions (28 cases); no record of the persdn ‘ho may'
have been a ?ducted o .kiiled by his own or another group (23 cases) the r on
escaped (usually after. a clash with the authorities) and is hiding ‘in a ‘ ‘
clandestine place (seyen cases); the person left the country and is living ‘ ‘
abroad (two cases); the person is a fugitive frort justice (one case); or th ‘
person was abducted by unid entified individuals ‘ahd his burned body tMs'l'at'er ‘
found (one case). . .. . . . ..
‘79.' Since the last sessi n of the Commission the Working Group received
(OE communicad.ons.from an organization representing relatives of miSsing persons in
—‘ Mexico informing the Group .that,,the hoped for informaticn on the ‘whereabouts o
fate of the missing pe sons had not been received from the Government and of the
dife,iculcies encountered by, the. relatives in their search. ‘ ‘
. .‘ j: . , t ; . ,‘ ‘, :
80. The Working Group has been told that any further information which might be
forthcoming will be communicated to the families and the Group. In these
circumstances the Group does not propose to take any further action on these
cases.
E/CM.4/1933/14 .. . .
Page 29
81. The following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or
involuntary disappearances in iexico dealt ‘jith by the iJorking Group since ‘it
was established ., . . - ‘. , .‘.
1. . Cases received by the Working Group 100
II. Cases: transmitted to the Government by the. . .
: . : o. kin ”Group . , . 73 .
. - ‘ ‘ • ‘ :‘ ‘ . . . ,
. III. Answers receiv d relating specifiq4l.ly . . .
. to cases transmitted, to the Government.
by the .Group &' . , . ‘ . 1
A. Answers from the Government. 1. . , .
B. Answer.s from other sourceS , . , ,
18/ Persons whose deaths have been officially recorded: 1.
In addition to the figures in III above the Group has received replies
from the Government relating to other cases as referred to in the text.
F,/CN.4/ 1983/14
Page 31) .
: . . $ . i. llitsragua . . :
82. The Norking Group's previous activities in relation to Nicaragua appear in
its two earlicr reports... 2'. flurin S83 and 1981 the i?orking Group
transmitted 70 reports of enforced br invoIUn ary disappearances to the.
Government of Nicaragua 60 relating to 1979 and 10 relating to 1980. The
Government of Nicaragua informed the Wd king Grdup of the difficult . .
circumstances surrounding the change in government in Wily 197 i in Nicaragua,
and the period thereafter during which the new Government's control was only
slowly extended over the whole territor r of Nit&r gua; The Government stated
that it was. legally and materially impossible td inVestigate those cases which
had occurred prior to the end of 1979. The Working Group xpressed its concern
at that statement and hoped that investigations would be carried out. The
Government provided the Group with specific informatidn with regard to 5 of the
10 cases which reportedly occurred in 1980; two persons had been arrested and
released, one was being held for trial and the investi atiOn of twd cases had
,- roduced no results. .
83. Since the extension of its mandate the Working Group has received a report
submitted by relatives concerning the disappearance of eleven Salvadorian
fishermen after their boat was reportedly arrested for illegal fishing by
Nicaraguan authorities in December 1981. The relatives reported having received
information from friends who according to them, had seen the boat in a
Nicaraguan port. They indicated further that the radio Voice of Nicaragua (Voz
de Nicaragua) announced ti ie seizure of the boat. The relatives report visiting
Nicaragua and learning that the names of some of the missing persons were listed
in a prison register and that a prisoner confirmed that the missing Salvadorians
had been held there. The relatives also reported that the Salvadorian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs had made representations to the Government of Nicaragua but
had not received any information. The Working Group at its eighth session
decided to transmit the information received on these cases to the Government of
Nicaragua together with its request for information.
34. fly a letter dated 29 November 1982 the Permanent 1ission of Nicaragua to
the United Nations Office at Geneva replied that the arrest of foreign fishing
Q vessels for illegal fishing was a common occurrence and that the arrested boat
was taken to the nearest port and released after having paid a fine. T.lith
regard to the case submitted by the Working Group the Government of Nicaragua
had informed the Foreign Ministry of El Salvador, in response to a request for
information from the latter, that after investigations no information had been
obtained on the whereabouts of that fishing boat. The Government informed the
Group of its desire o continue its co—operation with the Group and said it
shared the concerns of the relatives and hoped that the situation would be, .
clarified. . , ; ‘ . . : . ‘ . .... ,t. .. . . t . . . . . .
19! E1CN.4!1435, paras. 131—144, annex XV; E!CN.4/ 1435, Add.l, para. 3;
E/CN.4/l492, paras. 122—130, annex X IV; E/CN.4/1492.Add.l, para. 14.
E/CM.4 11983/14 .
Page 31
85. At its ninth session the Working Group met with a representative of
icaragua who reiterated the Go e nmeflt's desire to co—operate with the Group;
He aid that since the Governm nt of Nicaragua had received no response from the
Government of El Salvador they had treated the case as cl sed. However, during .
the meeting with the Group it was agreed that the Gbvernnent of fl.caragua in
conjunction with the Working Gr'oup nd the GovernIIen f 1 Salvador would rn ke
a further effort to clarify the ‘case ferating to th&fishermen. . ‘‘
86. The follo'ing is a .stati tick1 s'urm ary of the repor t ts of nforced or
invo1unta y disappearanc s in Nica ti dealt with •by the Workihg Group since it
was established. . . . . .
I. Cases received by the Working ‘Cup 90
, II.• Cases &ransmitted to the GoverSent by the . .
‘ ,Workin Group . . . ‘ , 81
III. Answers received elati' specifically . . .
to Ea s transmitted to tIII Governtrent . . . . . . .
by'tF eGroiip , 2/ . . . . . ,. . . . .
A knswers from the Government
B. Answers front other sources 0
0 . . . . .. .
20/' (a) Persons arrested and: iii 1 ri on: L
(b) Persons released from detention: 2. .
In addition to the figures in ill above the Group has received replies
from the Go ernment relating o other cases as referred to in the text.
E/C .4/l9S 3 /l 4 . .
Page 32
J. Philippines
87 The forking Group's previous activities in relation to the Philippines
appear in its two earlier reports .?.! The Group informed the Commission that
had tr nsmitted some 200 reports of isappearanc to the Government. The
per oni.reportedly diIIappeared over Lhe period 1975 to 1981. Although the
•r port did not coneain the det4ls found in other ca esinformatiottwa5 given•
in most cases on the circumstances of he arrest of Ehe missing person, the
places of detention, the public fordes involved and in some cases the etisten e
of witnesse was reported. The Working Group also informed the Commission of
the information received from the Government of the Philippines giving details
on th legal protedtion of detainees in the Philippines arid pr6viding g nerat
information on the persons reported missing. The Government a1s6p ovided . .
information with regard to three specific cases .
88. This year the Working Group has received no furtl?er reports of
disappearances in the Philippines and during itS ninth ession the Working Group
met with the Permanent Representative of the Philippine to the Uttited Nations
Office at Geneva and qith a representative of the Philippines Ministry of
Defence who was particularly charged with the clarification of alleged
disappearances. The Working Gr6 .ip wII.s informed of he commitmentof the
Government of the Philippines td kb—operate fully with the Wbrkiflg Group to
solve the cases which the Group had transmitted. The Gbvernrnent representative
underlined the fact that his Government was not involved in alleged
disappearances and had the firm policyb prosecuting an r persons involved in
illegal activities; this w s shown by the information given to the Group. The
specific information the Government had to orovide was contained in two notes
verbales, one dated 2 March 1982 and the second 8 December 1982. In those two
documents the Government provided the following information; 38 persons had
been released, 6 were free and their occupations given, 2 had escaped from
prison. In 7 other cases the missing person was reported dead and those
responsible were being prosecuted. With regard to 36 cases, investigations had
been carried out and it had been established that the Government was not
responsible. The Government reported that investigations into 88 cases were
being continued (in 29 of the 88 cases the Government was searching for the
c 1 persons for purposes of its own inquiries), and that the Group would be informed
of the results. Finally, the Government requested more details on the
identities of 24 persons reported missing where the details which had been given
were insufficient to permit an investigation.
89. The Government representative pointed out the difficulty in such a large
and populous country as the Philippines of searching Eor persons whose personal
identity had not been sufficiently established. The Government representatives
also explained the investigatory steps taken in relation to the reports
submitted by the Working Group. These included personal visits as investigating
teams.by members of the Ministry of flefenc to. selected localities and ;lear
21/ E/CN.4/1435, pares. 145—147 and /CN.4/l492,. pans. 131—1ST id
E!CN.4fl492/Add.l, paras. 15—16. . . .
E/CN. 4/1983/14
Page 33 -
instructions to the officials responsible in each region. In addition, a normal
procedure of investigation existed which dealt with complaints from citizens
within.t•he country. In about all the cases where results had been obtained the
Government was able to notify the relatives. . . “ . ; .
90. The following is a statistical summ ry of the reports of enforced or
invohmntary;disappearances in the Philippines dealt with by the Working Group
since'.:it' was established. , . ,
, ; .
I ‘ . ‘
I. . Gases received by the Working Group
II. Cases transmitted to the Government by the
ork'ing Group . .
III. Answers received relating specifically
: to cases transmitted. to the Government
. i by the Groupia' ‘ ‘ . . . . .
A. Answers from the Government
3. Answers from other sources
51
52
.‘ .
-22!' . (a)
( ‘b )
. . . . ‘ cc)
Persons' arrested and in prison: 1. . ,‘
Persons released from detention: 38. : .
‘Persons at liberty: 6. . .
(d) Persons whose deaths have been officially recorded: 7.
In addition to the figures in III above the Group has received responses
from the Government with regard to other cases as referred to in the text.
240
, ‘ 201
E/CN.4/ 19 83 / 14
Page 34 .
, . , K. Uruguay
‘91. The Working Orbdp's previous activity in relation to Uruguay appears in
its two earlier reports.. 2i The Working Group transmitted to the Governme t
of Uruguay information on the reported disappearance of 19 persons which
occurreed inthe petiod' 1974 to 1980. f the 20 disappearances 14 reported1 '
occurred in Urugday and si reportedly occurred outsid that country (five in
Argentina and one in Paraguay); in these latter cases the missing person w s'
reported to have Uruguayan nationality and to have been arrested or held in
dete ntion by !Jruguayan security forces. The reports transmitted contained
information on the identity of the missing person, including his profession, the
date and place of disapneararlce and generally the &ircumstances of the arrest.
Amo g•'the forces reported to be responsible for the arrest were the Organization
for the Co—ordination of Anti_Subversive operations and various military units.
The Group also transmitted reports from former detainees stating they were held
with the missing person in claridestinede enti0n centres in Uruguay or other
.. countries (under the partial control of Uruguayan security forces); and the
former detainees gave details of the centres and the petsons r' sponsible for
them. ”
92. This year the Working Group transmitted to the Government of Uruguay
reports concerning 13 disappearances, one ‘occurring in LTruguay, 11 in Argentina
and one in Paraguay. In these latter cases which reportedly occurred outside
Uruguay the missing person was said to have Uruguayan nationality and to have
been arrested by ltruguayan security forces. These disanpearances occurred
between 1976 and 1978 and the information concerning the individual's identity
and the circumstances of his arrest is similar to those reported above in
paragraph 1. In 11 of the 13 cases the missing person was reportedly seen in
Uruguayan detention centres by former detainees. Also in 1982 the Working Group
wrote to the Government of Uruguay with reference to five cases transmitted in
the past and requested to learn if any progress had been made in following up
the statements that the missing person had been held in specific locations.
93. In 1980 and 1981 the T.Jorking Group received written information and met on
a number of occasions with representatives of the Government of Uruguay. That
Government provided general information on disappearances and specific
information on 20 cases. That general information is relevant to the cases
transmitted this year; they were sent only recently and the Government has no.t
had sufficient time to reply. The Government of Uruguay has placed ,
disappearances in the general situation and conditibns pre a !ling'in Ur uguay
during the period and it state that in' fighting si.ibversion government forces
had acted in accordance with the law and'alL criminals had been brought before
23/ E/CN.4/1435, paras. 150—163, annex XVI; E/CM.4/l'435/Add.1, para. 5;
E/CN.47T492, paras 142—147, annex XVI; E/CM.4!1492/Add.l, para. 18.
24/ See also above, para. 27. ‘
E/CN.4/1983/14
Page 35
the courts and judged. The death penalt ' had not been reintroduced during the
period of instability. The Government asked that the problem of missing persons
be given its real dii iension. Of the 100 bt so cases reported only eight or 10
reportedly took place in Uruguay. With regard to those cases he Government was
making every e.!fort to determine the persons' whereabouts but denied any''
complicity or responsibility. Por those outside the country, the Governmnt had
made many effor;s to obtaioe information ‘ahd a special office had been
established to help relatives of missing persons. “ ; ! . .
94. I I providing information tn specific casis the Government infobned the
Group that. with. regard to the two cases which reportedly occurred in 1980 the
pers ns were in prison. Concerning other cases, one person had left the
country, three others bad been registered in a hotel some distance from the
place of their alleged disappearance on that day and one person tiad escaped from
prison. Arrest warrants had been issued for 10 others for subversive activities
and with regard to one person no information ias avai1 b1e. , . . . . . . .
95• ‘IIe following ,is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or
invoitintary disappearances relating to Uruguay dealt with by the Working Group ,
since it was established. . . , . . .
I. Cases.received by the Working Group ‘ . ; ! 136: . ,
. Cases transmitted' to the Government by the .‘ ‘ . .
. Working Group : . . . “ . . .
III. Answers received relating specifically , , .
to cases: transmitt&d to.the'Governnjen . . . .
, , . by the ‘Group, / : . ; . ‘ , “ : “‘ ‘ ‘ 2,
‘‘ . . . , . . . .
‘ A. , Answers from the. Government 2
‘ ::, B 'Answers”from”other sources 0 . . ,
25/ Persons arrested and in prison: 2.
In addition to the figures in III above the Group has received responses
from the Government in relation to other cases, as referred to in the text. .
E/CN.4/l983/l4 ‘,‘,‘ !
Page 3(3 .
ILl.. PWORaATIOM. CONCERNING ENFORCED OR” INVOLUNTARY' DISAPPEARANCES ‘
. . . IN'SOUT'ri AFRICA AND MA?tIBIA . . . . , . . .
South A, Tica , . . “ . . . . . , . .
9' The tlorking Group's Activtties relating to South Africa are set out in its
two e rlier reports.!(: ape; particular point raised has' been he way in' which
current legislation enables a disappearance, oC the sort with which th& Group iII
concerned, to occur completely in accordance with law. The Group has also
referred tp, three cases in South Africa in 1976, 1977 and 1978; the ‘three men
involv d. t er said to have been arrested and detained under the legiflat'ibn ‘
referred p. Their families were later informed' of their te1e se but'h ve; so”
far as, is known, had no further contact with them. Provisions' bE the'varibus .,
interconnected legal measures which are relevant inc1ud the Internal Security
Act ‘195O the drimirtal Procedure Act 1955, the Terrori'.sm'Ac't”1967 and the, ‘Police
AmendIIer t Act 1980. The Working Group has provisionally' to*c'ltided that t th'
South African State “has equ.ipped itself with a body of legislation which can ,
ensure that qui.t.,e lawfully, a person may disappear ‘without he relatives being .
able to obtain any information abou,t him “
97. fly a letter dated 19 December 1980 the details on the above—mentioned
specific cases ;.zere transmitted to the' Government of South Africa ‘along with the
Group's request to receive any information the Government might wish to send.
Also by that letter of 19 December 1980 ‘the-legislative provi iorII d'e cribed
above and the interpretation placed upon them by the Working Group we're
ttansmitted to the Government of South Africa-together with the Group's request
to receive that Government's views'orother info*II t'ion. During 1981 and 1982
repeated requests were made to the- Government of'Sbueh Africa for information
regarding the specific cases and on the legislative provisions governing arrest
and detention which could lead to enforced or involuntary disappearances.
, ‘r , . : , ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
98. There has still been no reply to these requests; nor has the Working Group
succeeded in obtaining any information from' ather South African sources whether
its understanding of the law is accurate. The Group can, therefore, only advise
the Commission to look again at its analysis of the legislation referred to
above and contained in E/CN4/l435, paras. 175—177. It is necessary to draw
attention once more to the extremely wide range of activity which could be
caught by the definition of “terrorism”. In the absence of any explanation it
must he assumed that the extent of ootantial criminality is very broad indeed;
and that the burden of proof to establish innocence beyond any reasonable doubt
is extensively laid on the defendant, contrary to almost all, if not all other
criminal codes. The Working Group cannot thus refrain from commenting that this
criminal legislation is wholly exceptional in international experience; and that
it seems to institutionalize the State's ability to create an enforced or
involuntary disappearance. Whether other human rights may also be infringed is
not for the Working Group to discuss. ‘
:1'” c
! E/CN 4/1435 paras 175—178, E/Cq /l' 92, paras
E/CN.4/1983/14
Page 37
Nanibia . . . .
99. The Working Group in its earlier reports reviewed information then
available on al1egation of enforced or involuntary disappearances in
Namihia. ' Referenc'e'tII 'made to the adj urnment of a hearing in the S.Jindhoek
Supreme Court with respect to an app1icat .bn by the wives of three men who, they.
claimed, had been detaihed by South Afri an force , and could not be traced
thereafter. This•inforbation mS traiismitted to the Government of South &frica
by letter dated 21 December 1980 with the Group's request to receive any
information which the Government might wish to supply. Despite the renewal of
this request in 1981 and 1Y82 no response or news has been received about any
progress in the legal proceedings. . , . . . . . .
100. .Ti its arlier reports the G bup a1 o dealt with.: n o ation that
the South African authorities•1IId ‘detained persons in neighboiirihg countries,
transported them to'Namibia'atd,llby refti ing to acknowledge th d tentibns, .
effectively caused thase persons to disappear. The particular case mentioned
( , concerned about 120people detained' at Kassinga in Southern Angola during a raid
“ in May 1973by South African forces ibis thought that they were then held at a
camp near Hardap Dam in !iamibia. According to informatidn available to the'
Group these persons were held under the South West Africa Administrator . .
General':s Proclamation. .•Act' AG9 although this only al1b sdetention without
charge for 30 days Again no eesponse has been received ‘froII the South Afri can
Government. . . . . . ,. . .
2/ E/CT1.4/1435, paras. 179—183; E/CM.4/1492, paras. 161—163.
E/CN.6/1983/14 . . .
Page 38
IV. OTHER REPORTS OF E iFORCED OR IMVOLEJNTARY •flISAPPEARANCES
DEALT WITH IN VARIO [ JS WAYS BY THE WORKINC GROUP
101. In this chapter, the Working Group deals with ‘dertain countries whence
smaller numbers of allegations of disappearances have b en received. Some of
these countries have been referr&d to in previous reports. In certain instances
the Commission may consider that there is no obj ct'in further pursuing the
cases. Some others are new this year and with the remainder, are still under
under investigation. . .
Brazil . : .
102. The Working Group since it was established has transmitted to the
Government of Brazil copies of the reports received from relatives regardipg ,
seven cases of enforced or' involuntary disap' earances which reportedly occurred,
in the year's 1970 to 1974. !' Three of the missing persons we're students, one :‘ .
a teacher, one a computer ‘pro'grIInmer, a public employee, and one a member of the.
; Tavy. In some of the ca es the families reported having received information
that the missing person was lleLd by the authorities from former prispners or , . ‘
through unofficial confirmations . . ‘ . . .
103. The Government of Brazil informed the workiHg Group that the Government
had undertaken an inv stigahion I I' order to locate the qiissing persons but that. .
the itwestifltion' had not yet yielded the expeE ed results. From the ,
information which had been collected the Government reported that three of the
missing persons had beeb tried in their absence by military courts Ear various
infringements, of laws relating to national security and that with regard to four
others, no criminal records had been discovered. The Government also informed
the Group that with regard to one case before the judiciary in Brazil, the State
had been found responsible for the disappearance at the court of first' instance
and that the right to compensation of the relatives has been recognized. The
Government further stated that the judgment had been appealed and it was
therefore not yet possible. to establish the Government.!.s responsibility in a
conclusive manner,
CT 104. Since the extension of its mandate by the Commission on Human Rights at
“ its thirty—eighth session the Working Group has reviewed these cases and
information provided by the Government and the Group decided to renew its
request for any further information which might become available. In
particular, with regard to those reports which contained specific statements
that a person had been detained in certain localities, the Group requested
information of any orogress which might have been made in following up those
statements.
1/ E/CN.4/1435, para. 165; E/C .i.4/1492, paras. 58—60.
E/CN.4/1983/14
Page 39
Chile
105. In both of its previous reports.!” the Working Group has recorded the
position of the Chilean Government that it would be in.no position to co—operate
with general United Nations procedures se long as the situation of -
discriminatory and ad casum treatment. continued. The reference is to the
* c'o itinued uIIndate for the Special Rappor'teur. There is, in December -l982 no
change in this position. The Workin Group has, however, ;continued its existing
practice of ‘t'ransmittin to the Government of Chile the details of any new
reported &si df' a disappearance, of which there has been one reported this
‘‘ year. This relates to a p rson'whose prison sentence, imposed in the 1970s, had
been cor imuted to voluntary exile, but who had without authority returned “to
Chile and who was subsequently alleged to have been arrested nd to'have “‘
. .: d sapk ared . : - - . - : . . -- - - .
106. In his report of 6 iovember 1981 (A/36/594) the special Rapporteur
informed the Commission at its thirty—eighth session of the latest developments
( ‘ , . ‘:in he solutibn to the problem of missing p.ersdps, in Chile which dated from the
. : 1970s; these ob1ems are well—known to the Commissioz ; and are not again , - ‘
outlined here ' ‘His 1982 report (A/37/564) fu1fi1 the same function for-the
‘past year and the' Working Group has kept in touch with the Special Rapporteur.
‘ 107. Chile is not a federal State; central records exist. There are
indications that judicial procedures are functioning in an increasingly .
effective t ay; : the Working Groun would not wish to comment upon progress made
under the criminal or military codes concerning cases of disappearances in the
1970s. !lowever the two cases of illegal entry into Chile, referred tb in 1ast
jeer's report and the 1982 case referfed to above, have been the siibj ct of
normal habeas corpus proceedings in the civil courts. , Such applications are.
required under Chilean law to be supported by a, sworn statement containing all
relevant facts lIIoi,n'to the app1i ant, which would enable th Court to conduct
the necessary investigation. In'relation to the three recent,cases of alleged
disapp arances, th Working Groti has requested from the sources of the reports
opies' of the' respecb v ' sworn st tements (which are public documents) to ‘assist
it in its considetation of these', alleged disippearances. . . .
108. In respect df all ‘other matters relating to disappearances, the Working
Group relies on the ‘Special Rap'porteur' report. . -‘
2/ JVCN.4/l435, paras. 40—42; F/CN.4/1435/Add.1, para.6; E/CN.4/l492,
paras. 62—64. ‘
E/CN .4/1083/14
Page 40
Ethi opia
109. The t',orking Group since it was estaolished has transmitted to the
Government of Ethiopia information on IS peopLe, who reportedly disappeared in
Ethiopia in July 1979, which was provided by a non—governmental o ganizatidn in
consultative status with the Edonomic and Social Council and copies o reports
received from relatives re arding the disappearances in Ethiopi of ‘t d
persons. ! The first of the two latter reports dealt' with the arre t' of ‘a
chu ch leader and his wife i i i July 1979 in the streets of Addis Ababa; his wife
was later reported to have been ‘reLeased. The secdnd report stated that a
former Government official had been held from 1974 in a prison in the ,
provisional military neadqtiarters (formerly the 1enelik Palace) but that in July
1979 the family was told it was no longer necessary to bring him food and, ‘
clothes. .
,--. 110 . The Government of Ethiopia informed the tJorking Group with regard to the
two reports of ‘disippe rances, that the first person was believed to have joined
the so—called Oromo Liberation Movement and that'the second person fell into the
category of those indivi'duals under detentidn becatise of crimes coutmitted,'whose
cases were being cdnsidered by the ‘recently established Central Investigation
Orgah as expe'diEious1y s possible; their human rights would be fu1l r respected
111. The Working Group recommends that no further consideration be given to
these cases
Revolutionary P&opII'$ Republic of'Guinea ‘ ,
112. The Working Grou p since it was established has transmitted to the
Qovernment of the Revolutionary People's Republic of Guine information ,received
from relatives concerning eight persons who they state nad been arrested and,
subsequently disappeared in Guinea. ' The authors said that the missing
person had been-arrested -at home ,..at military r.eIIise at .Ithe .mis. ing .p. Qfl
work place or at'a' police control border. The authors further stated that i t t
‘ dome cases the ‘arrest had been witnessed by one or more persons. The Working
Group made repeated requests to the Government for information but no response
was received., The Working Group is concerned at the total lack of response from
the Governme tt. . ‘“ .
113. In September and October 1982, the Working Group received several letters
from most of the authors of the reports providing information on the results of
efforts made by them through the European Parliament and the French Government
to determine the whereabouts or fate of their family members. They reported
having received from the European Parliament a statement that the Government of
3/ E/CN.4/l435, paras. 102—106; E/CM.4/l492, paras. 38—90.
4/ E/CN.4/l492, paras.l03—105.
.
E/CN.4/1983/14 ..
Page 41
Guinea had reported that seven oE the missing persons had b en.executed and that
one. had, escaped. It was pointed out that this information, was vague,, that the
executions took place in the first half or second ba lf of the. particular year,
and that, three of the persons were reportedly executed prior ‘to the date of
their arrest. , . . .
114. The' group was further informed that the Government of Guinea provided' the
French Tb ign Minister with information on the eight cases, which indicated
‘that seven, of these persons have been executed following a death sentence and
that one had escaped from prison and was missing since. The information
provided to the rrench Government.,qas different from that provided to the . .
European Par liament. The date of execution was, different in four cases.
Further, the re1a ives report that in one case the.. Government of Guinea reported
that the ‘person h d escaped from prison in 19,71 or in January 1971 but that the
‘ mi'ss .n person was in fa t the Chief of Cabinet for. the Minister of Foreign
, . . : Affair ‘during' 1971 and up to August 1972. ‘ . , . .
‘ 115. ‘ The orking Group has contacted the Government its request fp . ... .
confirmation and clarification of the information it reportedly gave to the
European Parliament and the French Government. ‘. . ‘ . . .
Islamic R public of Iran , ‘ . ‘ ‘
116. ‘The Jorking Group in'its r4ort to the Conmission at its thirty—eighth
session Stated that it had transmitted to the Iranian Government in 1982
. information concerning the' reported disappearance of 16 persons. ' According
to the reports transmitted to the Government, 11 of the 16 persons were arrested
at a priVate home in Teheran between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on 21 August 1980 by a
group of armed men who reportedly showed a written arrest order for those
persons, and it was stated that. government officials had confirmed the arrest of
those persons. Of the five remaining persons, one, a retired professor, was
reportedly arrested on 11 Movember 1979 in Teheran, the second reportedly
disappeared on 23 May 1979.;. it was stated .that an...arrest warrant had been -issued
for him on 12 May 1979. As regai-ds the third person, he was reportedly arresred
on 13 January1980 on his way to work. The remaining two reports were received
Q from relatives of two school girls who reportedly disappeared on 30 May 1981 and
17 June 1981 after having been taken from school by.govetnment authorities. The
Working Group requested information on these cases from the Government.
117. fluring the Working Group's eighth session it met ith the Charge
d'affaires a.i., of the Permanent Mission of the IslamiG Republic of.,Iran to the
United Nations Office at Geneva. At that meeting the representative of the
Islamic Republic of Iran stated' that his Government acted in an open way and did
not resort to such•practices as enforced or involuntary disappearances. He
stated that the information transmitted to his Government was not sufficiently
detailed to permit an effective investigation but that should further details be
made available to the Government an investigation would he carried out. The
Working Group has contacted the source of the reports of disappearances with a
view to obtaining the addj.tional in ornrLatiQn requested. , ‘ , .
5/ E/CN.4/1492. paras. 114—117.
Page 42
118. A.t a meeting duri g the eighth session the representatLve of the Islamic
lep sblic of I ran referred to a letter dated 15 September 1982 which he had
addressed to'the Chairman of che rllocking Grouo concerning Iranian tnilLtary
personnel and civilians who reportedly disappeared during the conflict with Iraq
beginning in september 1980. The repreSefltat'LVa of tkte Islam ic ‘Reoublic of Iran
requested the ‘-forking Group to undertake a study of those missing persons. By a
letter dated 3 ne ember 1982 the representative of the Islanic Republic .
submitted the names, wi.th some accompanying details, of 9,405 persons passing in
Jestern Iran. .
ll . The /orking Group has ascertained from the International Committee of the
Red Cross that persons, ciiilian or mtli:ary, who are reported missing during
any international armed conflict fall within the mandate of the ICRC pursuant to
the Third and Fourth Gene va ‘Convehtions of 1949. The ‘Working Group was informed
that the ICRC was in contact witn''the Governments of the Islamic Republic of
Iran and of Iraq with a view to carrying out its mandate ahd that facilities had
been accorded to the ICRC to make visits to the varioi.ts detention camps in both
countries. . - . . . . . , . . . .
120. The representative of the Isbmia Republic, during th Working Group's
eighth session i'd in a letter dated 29 Septemb er 1982, pointad out that t i
Working Group s activities in relation to missing persons in C prus provided a
partial precedent for the Iranian Government's request. The tllorking Group, .
hot ever ha xplained that ‘in its view ifiFiere ‘aopear to exist- substatit ial !
differences betwe n the we'situations. ‘The' Cornmission's.opinion is requested.
Lebanon . . . . . .
121. The Permanent Mission of Iran to the united .‘ at ions 9ffice at Geneva 1 )7 a
ndt 'llerbale dated 20August' 1 9 62 brought to the attedtion of the Working Group
a' r pott that ‘in July ‘1982 a i'ournatist of the Ia'TA Agency had disappeared in
Lebanon. The Working Grou;. by a L tter .dated 27Augtst , 1982,, requested further
d tai1s from the Permanent Mission, such as trie exact date, place and ‘
‘circumstances of the disappearance. By a letter dated 29 september 1982 the
C ‘Permanent Mission provided f urther information which was transmitted to the
Government of Lebanon by a letter dated 4 october 1982. In that 1ette the
Group stat d it recognized the difficulties of an investigation uosed by the
events then' in Lebanon, but said that it would appreciate receiving any .
information the Government might be able to provide. The Government of Iran was
informed of the transmission of the report to the Government of Lebanon and it
was assured that any information r ce'ived on the disappearance would be brought
to its attention. .
Morocco ‘ . ‘ ‘
122. The !llorking Group at its seventh session had before it information
submitted to it by relati' .s concerning the reported enforced or involuntary
disappearance of seven per ons in ‘lorocco. T?our of these persons reportedly
disappeared from prison in t:'ne yea:s 1972—1974 and three were reportedly
arrested together at their home in 1973. In accordance with established
practice the Chairman wrote to the Government of Morocco on 25 June 1982
informing the Government of the Group' s mandate and humanitarian purpose. By a
letter of 28 June 1q82 the Chairman. pursuant to the Group's decision, .
transmitted the information received from the relatives to the Government along
with the Group's request for information,
E/CM.4/l983/ 14
Page 43'
123. At its aighth session the Working Group met with the Deputy Permanent
! epresentative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The
representative of Morocco informed the Working Group that the information the
Government had received was being considered by the authorities of his cou itry
and that while he did not hav available at present precise information for the
Group on the rep 3rts received he believed that such information would be
forthcoming in the near future He emphasized the importance his Government
attached to the human rights of each individual but also di ek ,the CroupTs'
attention to the small ‘number of cases tratLisrnitted. The Working Group ‘thanked
the representative of ‘lorocco for havingmet with it and welcomed the
Government's expression of willin ness to co—op rate with the Working GroUp in
its hu nanitarian tasks. •. : . . : . . . ‘ •‘ :
Peru . . . . . - .
124. The Working Gr up has only been concerned with 5 cases, which are *eported
to have oc urred in i98O.. ' These were discussed with a representative of the
Government, and for three cases an offidial reply from the Minist of the
fnterior was received. All five persons were Arg ntinian citizens, and the
Government confirmed the arrest of three of them on security grounds and their
expulsion from the country. There is some indication that the other two were
also removed from Peru. One of these persons was soon thereafter found dead in
a flat in Madrid, and the Spanish authorities have been investigating the
death. No jnfokmation has been received about the other fp . .
Syrian Arab Rapublic . . . . .
125. Since the renewal of its mandate the' 1or'king Group has received
information on cases of enforced or involurit ry disappearances in the Syrian
Arab Republic provided by a non—governmental organization in consultative s atus
with the' Economic nd Social Council and a relative' of a missing person. ‘The
Working Group, in June 1982, infcrmed the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic
that the Group had received a number of communications on enforced or
involuntary disappearances n dha coun T ph iiz d the rbup' $ IIl
humanitarian task, and expressed its desire for co—operation so as tor ach a
speedy solution to these human rights matters. , ih June 1982 the, Working Group
ransmitted two reports of enforce,d or involuntary disappearances to the Syrian
Govefflnment. One ‘of the reports concerns a medical d ctor ho reporte l was
surnIIoned to the Office of Heads of Prisons in Horns arid detained there; a week
after his arrest he was transferred to an unknown destination. The second case
also concerns a doctor who was arrested and accused of membership and activities
on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood and his whereabouts are unknown since his
arrest. At its ninth session the Working Group decided to transmit a further
case which it had received from a relative to the Government and to request
information. It concerned a student who reportedly was arrested, together with
two fellow students, at his home in August 1980 by security agents; he was said
to have been taken to a specified prison. To date; no information has been
received from the Government on the above cases.
6/ E/CN.4/1435, paras.l66—1 6 9 and Annex X v ii.
EICN.4 119 33 /l 4
Page 44
Zaire
12&. in&e it ‘as established the Working Group has transmitted to the
. qvernmept of Zaire reports on the enforced or involuntary disappearance of 13
men which had been received From a non—govern9efltal organization in consultative
status with the Economic and Social council.L' These disappearance S
reportedly occurred in 1975 (Five persons), 1977 (one person), 1978 (two .
persons), 1979 (one person), 1981 (six persons). The arrests reportedly took
1acein the region of Bas—Z ire or in the southern regions of Kivu-and in Tiviva
. and soldiers or military intelligence officers were reported as havi g made the
arrest in some cases. In most cases the arrested nerson was reportedly taken to
a named detention centre such as Kikwit prison, the miLitary headquarters of
Kalemie (in the north of .Shaba) , the military prison of ‘Dolo in Kinshasa. In
one case, a person arrested with the missing person reported sharing detention
him until his reiease. The Working Group has written ,tp be Government of
zaire requesting information. Ouring its , ighth sessi,on th Group met with the
Permanent Representat [ ye nf zaire to the united Yat ions. ifif,E•ice at Geneva who
stated his Government's interest in co—operating with the -Working Group in order
to clarify the reports transmitted. . . . .
bther matters . . : .
127. The' Torking Group in 1931 ‘transmitted to tne Government of Lesotho reports
on two disappearances which allegedly took place in September 198l. ” One
person, a church leader reportedLy disappeared when his house was attacked and
another also connected with the same church allegedly disappeared after he had
gone toa police station. In this latter case the Group subsequently learned
that the body of'.the person had been found. In ‘1-982, responding to a request
for information from the Working Group, the Govertim nt of Lesotho reported that
the one remaining missing person had been killed, as he result of conflict
: betw en two warring ‘factions and that a police investigation had been opened and
Government was seeking to resolve the crime.
128. In it second report2', the Working Group referred to a Parliamentary
Select Cbmmittee set up in Sri Lanka for the purpose of in ies'tig ting certain
‘ matters, including the reported disappearance of three persons. The Government
‘ of Sri Lanka toLd the Grcu ‘that this Committee had concli.ded its work, that the
Report was being printed, and that a copy woul4.b.e sent,a soon as it was
‘ available. The Government s- as thanked for its assistance,.. .
7/ g/CN.4/l492, paras. 148—151.
3/ C/CN.4/l492, pans. 118—119.
! EICN.411492, paras. 138—139.
.
- E/CN.4/1983!14 . .
Page45 .
129. One auxiliary procedure adopted by the Group should be reported to the
Commission. A few cases of alleged disappearances have been handled on an
informal basis, and are not referred to elsewhere in this report. ThLs has been
done, in the exercise of the Group's discretion and in order to facilttate the
solution of cases by the Group where news has been received of a recent case and
where rapid intervention might help to save a life or at least regularise a
detention. Either the Government concerned was not previously contacted by the
Group or the rdetails available did not measure up fo the standards required for
a formal transmission; or in some -cases both. No Government refused to :.
co—operate and in some cases clarification was achieved. .
C
E/CN.4/1983/ 14 ‘.
Page 46 .
V. . SflCIFIC. T1UMAM RIGHTS DHJ'JIED BY ENFORCED OR I'IVOLIJNTARY . .
DISAPPEARANCES ANDt'THE IMPACT OF DISAPPEARANICEON , . .
‘ ‘ HEALTa'AHD FAMILY LIFE .. : . ‘ . .
130. The information in this and prior reports. shows. that a wide: range: of the
human rights of the, victim himself and his' family which are recogr ized' in
various international human rights instruments'are viblated..or infringed by
enforced or i.nvolun ary.disappearancesJ( These include civil and' political
rights and economic, social and cultural.rights. . , . , ‘ ‘: : “‘
131. The right to liberty and security of person is the principal human right
denied by the practice of enforced or involuntary disappearance. Related.
rights, such as the right to freedom from arbitrary arrest, the right to a fair
trial in criminal matters and the right to recognition as a person before the
law, are all involved. In addition, the right to humane conditions of detention
and freedom from torture, cruel or degrading treatment or punishment are
involved. The very fact of being detained as a disappeared person, isolated
from one's family for a long period is certainly a violation of the right to
humane conditions of detention and has been represented to the Group as ,
torture. Further, some of the information before the Group deals with the
conditions of detention, including ill—treatment, suffered by the missing or
disappeared persons. The' right to life is also involved; some of the
information received by the Group indicates that during detention the missing
person risks being killed.
132. Disappearances of the sort under consideration by the Group also involve
infringements of certain of the “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners” approved by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 663 C
(xx iv) of 31 July 1957.a' Relevant to enforced or involuntary disappearances
are the following rules of a general nature which, under .ru 1 4, are applicable
to all categories of prisoners, criminal or civil, untried or convicted,
including prisoners subject to “security measures”: rule 7, which requires tha.t
detailed records shall be kept for each prisoner; rule 37, which ensures that
prisoners ‘shall be able to communicate with their family; and rule 44, which
requires the authorities to inform a prisoner's spouse or nearest relative in
the case of his death, or serious illness, and affords the prisoner the right
without delay to inform his family of his imprisonment or his transfer to
another institution. Rule 92, which applies to untried prisoners also
recognizes the prisoner's right to communicate with his family and to inform his
family immediately of his detention.
1_ I The principal international instruments are: Universal Decliration of
Human Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; ./frican Charter on Human
and People's Rights; American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man;
American Convention on Human Rights; European Convention on Human Rights.
Reference may also be made to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. .
2/ See document ESA/SDHA/1.
E/CN.4/ 1983/14
Page 47
133. If these nay be said to be the principal human rights of the missing
person who suffers enforced or.in' oluntary disappearance, a readihg of the.
Universal Declaration, of Human Rights and the International, Covenants on Human
Rights shows that to a' greater or lesser degree practically all basic human
rights of such a' person are infringed. Particular concern has been expressed to
the Group about the right to a family life tf the persons :t ho suffer enforced or
involuntary disappearance and of their relatives. In the case of. pregnant'
‘womeny children and refugees who suffer enforced or involuntary disappearance,
‘their specific rights, as contained in the international human rights . .
instruments, are infringed; for example the right of every child to measures of
protection. ‘ A review of the econorn -social and ‘cultural rights guaranteed by
the various international human .rigse instruments shows that many of them are
denied to a greater or lesser ext.en: . enforced or involuntary disappearances.
L34. The information before the Group shows that ‘;arious human rights of' the
members of the family of ‘a ‘missing or dis rpared person may also .be infringed
by that personts enforced absence. Their right to a family life may be seen as
the principal right involved, but other rights of an economic, social and .
cultural nature can also be directly affected; for example, ‘the faniily's ‘, :.
standard of living, health care and education may all be adversely affected by
the absence of a' pa rent. Ph'e adverse impact ‘of ‘the disappearance of ‘a parent on
the mental health of children' has been pointed out in other United Nations ‘
reports ‘elsewhere.2/ Finally:, ‘Additional' ‘Protocol 1 to the Geneva ‘Conventions
of 12 August 1949 has recognized “the rights o'f families to know the fate of
their r latives” and this right of relative.s to be informed of the whereabouts
and fate' of missing or disapp ared family members has been reflected in ‘ ‘ ‘
“resolutions of United Nat ions bodies. , ‘ . “ . ‘ ‘ ;
135. Recently, considerable efforts have been made by associations of relatives
of missing persons to describe the impact of disappearances on the person
concerned, his family and in particular children. The Working Group recently
received a copy of a report drawn up at the Second Latin American Congress of
Relatives of Missing Persons (Caracas, 24—23 November 1981) which provides such
an analysis. According to that report the impact or psychological damage on the
missing person depends upon the length of detention and the exact type o.f
treatment and upon that person's capacity for recovery; this depends upon his
critical faculty, his degree of awareness, the strength of his individual
convictions and the ability to feel he is not alone. After reappearance the
K i' former missing person may find himself the subject of distrust and suspicion and
may have to depend on charitable organizations for his subsistence.
3/ :s for example, the report of the , Ad Hoc Clorking Group on the
Situation of Human Rights it ' Chile to the General Assembly at its thirty—third
session (A/33/33l/para.376).
E/CN.4/l983/14
Page 48
136. At the family level, the report described the result of a disappearance as
a drawn—out shock, a state of latent and prolonged crisis, in which the anguish
and sorrow causedby the absence of the loved one continues indefinitely. The
process of mourning and emotional affliction is essential to enable a person to
come to terms with a loss and in, the cases of missing persons this orocess is
unsatisfactory, because the person is not known to be dead, and so the same
adjustments are very difficult. According to the report the reaction of
relatives to a disappearance passes through'several stages;.the first being one
of inaction due to. fear or: reprisals and to the uncertainty as to. whether their
?ctions in search of their missing relative might lead to his death. The next
stage is that of trying individually to ; arch for the.rnissing person and the
third stage is that of collective action FeeLings of. despair are noted and
often relatives have deep feeling of gu'.t' either because they come to believe
. were respotII 1 :1 r the disappearance or that. they have not done enough in
searchingfo the victim. The result - ;ay be the paralysis and social block of
the relative and may lead t.o the rupture of the remaining family unit.
13?. The effects of the disappearance of a parent or close relative on
children, asdescribed by thereport, include feelings of abandonment,. fear and
insecurity to, the sudden interruption of. psychological development. The .
: predominant emotion is fear and there are.deep feelings of impotence,
vuinarability' and para ysi, of the will wbich invade their lives when the
children have witnessed: or become aware,of the collapse of the protection and
security provided by their families. Mothers, the report states, afflicted by
the disappearance of their husbands, have difficulty in adequately carrying out
their maternal roles, let alone compensating fo.r the loss of the child en's .
fathers. These are additional aspects of the phenomenon of disappearances which
must bolster the international community's resolve to combat' it.
E/CN.4/19 33 /l 4 .. . .
Page 49
:. ; .‘ . . CONCLrJS'I S ' ‘ . .
. - . - -H' ‘,. - . , , ..-
133. The -Wor
E/CN.4/l9 8 3 /l 4 ' .
Page 50
Relatives of Missing Persons, meeting in Caracas in November 1982 and referred
to in Chapter V above. The paper analyses what can happen psychologically to
the victim himself, and describes the deleterious effect, both short and
long—term, on a spouse and particularly on the victim's children.. There seems
to be no doubt that the' concern so 9idely expressed ahout enforced or
involuntary disappearances is justified on medical grounds as well as for all
the other ‘reasons which are familiar. .
144. Thu the working Group looks back at its.previous final chapters. It
jineII neither to revise nor to supplement what was previously set. out. An
insistence on the rule of law would make enforced or involuntary disappearances
extremely difficult. If the rule of law were universally effective, the Working
Group's mandate would not require renewal.
145. However, it is not so. In these circumstances the Working Group wishes to
reiterate the point that observance of the rule of law precludes
( : disappearances. where, for one reason or another, something has gone wrong with
this pHnciple, the Contnission should: . . , . . ‘.
‘(a) Encourage such inquiries as have been set up by some Governmentsto
solve specific cases which' have occurred; and .
(b) commend and support any reorganization of domestic pro edures, such as
has been devised by other Governments which enable rapid response to be provided
to any citizen's allegation that a disappearance has taken place. .
E/C .4/1983/ 14
Page 51
VII. ADOPTIOr OF IE REPORT
145. At the afternoon meeting of 10 ecember 1932 the present report was
adopted and signed by the meoebers of the Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary disappearances:
Viscount Colville of Cuiross (United Kingdom)
Chairman/Raoporteur .
Jonas K.fl. Foli (Ghana)
Agha R u dy (Pakistan)
Ivan Tosevski (Yugoslavia)
Luis &. Varela Quiros (Costa Rica)
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