UNITED
NATIONS
EcoiiOn,ic and, $c ci i
Council Distr
GD/ILRAL
. E/Crd.4/1991/20
17 January 1991
Original: EI/JGL.ISH
CoMll:r.ss:tON Of J HUMA J R:tGHTS
Forty—seventh sess ion
:tt rn :10 (c) of the provisional agenda
QUESTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS suBJEcrE:I:) TO ANY
: FORM OF DE EPdTIOl J OR IMPRISONMENT
QUESTION OF ENF0RCEI:) OR INVOLUNTARY DI5ApPEARANcE:s
ReportofII eWorkin aGr
GE. 91—10078
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page ii
CON ENI'S
tntrocluct ion
AO:LV]. Jf :: THE: W0RK:rI/Ic GROUP ON E:l/IF0RCEI:) oI
INvoLuNTARY DISAPPEARANCES tN 1990
A. Led. framework for the ac:t:ivities of the
Work :i.ng Group
B. Meetings and m:i. ss ions oft he Working Group
C . Communications with Governments
0 . Commun I cat:i.ons with non governme ‘ita].
organizations and relatives of m:i.ssing persons . .
E . Development of methods of work
I:. DraFt deci.araL;:ion on the protection of all
persons from enforced or involuntary
di sappearaices prepared by the Working G .:up on
Detention of the Sub Cornm:i. ss ion on Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minor:i. 1; :i.es . .
U. INFORMATJ:oI/l CONCE:RNOEIG ENFORCED OR OEIVOI...1.JNTARY
l:):ISAIDPEARAI/IcEs IN VAR:EOUS cOuNrRi:Es REVI:EWED BY THE
WORK I NE GROUP
1. AFghanistan
2. Angol
3 . Ar-gent i na
4. E3o].iv:i.a
5. Brazil
6. Burk:i,na Faso
7. Chad
8. Ch:i.le
9 . ch : 1. na
:1.0 . (‘2o i.ornb:i.a
7 .79 2
7••l 1 2
12 15 3
16 - 18 4
:19 — 27 4
23 26 5
r I r. 2 h
1-6
1
27 -29 6
30 - 394
30- 31
32- 33
34.. 45
46 •- 51
52 - 58
9.. 60
61 - 63
64•- 82
83- 96
97 - 1:1.6
7
7
7
8
1 ()
12
]. 3
14
15
17
2 ()
.4 .
-- -
CoI/ll'ENTS
E/ /l. 4/1991/20
p cje i. :1. i
ii.
Cyprus
.
117
24
12.
Dominican Republic
118
—
120
25
13.
Ecuador
:121
-
: 1.25
25
1.4.
Egypt
126
:1.29
26
15.
El Salvador
:130
-
149
27
1.6.
Ethiopia
150
-
152.
31
17.
Guatemala
:153
-
169
32
18.
Guinea
170
171
35
19.
Haiti
172
—
174
35
20.
Honduras
175
—
1.90
36
21.
India
:191
—
203
39
22.
indonesia
204
-
2 1
42
23.
Iran (Islamic Republic
of)
212
-
216
43
24.
Iraq
217
—
236
44
25.
lebanon
237
—
238
48
26.
Mauritania
239
—
240
49
27.
Mexico
241
—
261
49
28.
Morocco
262
—
277
53
29.
Mozambique
278
—
279
56
30.
Nepa]
280
—
281
57
31.
Nicaragua
282
—
295
57
32.
Paraguay
296
—
297
60
33.
Peru
298
—
320
60
34.
Philippines
321
-
332
65
35. Seychel].os
333 — 334 68
E/CN . 4/1991/2()
page iv
36. Sri Lanka .
37. Syrian Arab Republic
38. Turkey
39. Uganda
40 . Uruguay
4]. . Venezuela
42. Viet Nam
43. Zaire
44. / imbahwe
III. INFORMATION CONCERNING ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY
l:):ESAPPEARANCES IN SOUrH AFR:rcA AND NAMIi3:tA REVIEWED
BY 11*: woRI
E/CI1.4/1991/20
page 1
Introduction .
1. The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances submits
herewiII to the Commission on Human Rights the eleventh report on its work.
OEe account of the Group's activities during 1990 reflected therein describe
the approach adopted by the Working Group in relation to its mandate, taking
into account the valuable comments and suggestions made during the
Commission's debate and the specific tasks entrusted to it in Commission
resolutions 1990/30 and 1990/76.
2. OEe reporting pattern adopted in 1988 and described in the Working
Group's report to the Commission at its forty—fourth session (E/CN.4/1988/19,
paragraphs 1—5) has also been followed in this report including the graphs,
which are based on information contained in the Working Group's computerized
files and show the development of the situation since the early 1970s in
countries with more than 50 transmitted cases. Cases submitted to or replies
received by the Group after its last session (5—14 December 1990) have not
been reflected in the report.
3. The problem of disappearances has not abated. In 1990, the Working
Group transmitted to 20 Governments a total of 962 cases of disappearance.
OEe statistics and the graphs provide a telling picture of the persistence of
the practice of disappearance throughout the world. A growing awareness of
the problem as well as the existing international procedures have made it
possible for relatives or an increasing number of non—governmental
organizations to draw the attention of the international community to cases
that in the past would have remained hidden.
4. OEis year the Working Group has also taken urgent steps, in accordance
with paragraph 3(a) of resolution 1990/16 of the Commission on Human Rights,
to protect individuals and organizations that sought to co—operate with it or
tried to avail themselves of the Working Group's procedures. Information on
such steps is included in the relevant country sub—chapters and a description
of the decision taken by the Group in relation to this matter can be found oh
the chapter concerning methods of work.
5. The Group has received with appreciation a copy of the “Draft
declaration on the protection of all persons from enforced or involuntary
disappearances” adopted by the Sub—Commission on Prevention of Discrimination
and Protection of Minorities (See E/CN.4/Sub.2/1990/WG.1/WP.1/Add.1). It
recommends to the Commission that it adopt the draft declaration and transmit
it to the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly for final
adoption.
6. At the invitation of the Government of.the Philippines, two members of
IIe Working Group visited that country. OEe report on that visit is contained
in the addendum to the present report. As in the past, the country section on
the Philippines in the main report has been maintained, providing information
on decisions taken by the Group with respect to the reported cases of
disappearance in that country along with the customary statistical summary.
Statements by representatives of the Government and the views of
non—governmental organizations, except for those received after the visit,
are described in the addendum.
-4
E/cN.4/1991/20
page 2
I. ACTIVITIES OF OEE WORKING GROUP ON ENFORCED
. . OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES IN 1990
A. Leeal framework for the activities of the Workinq Group
7. OEe legal framework for the activities of the Working Group has been
extensively described in its reports to the Coimnission on Human Rights at its
forty—first to forty—sixth sessions. /
8. At its forty—sixth session, the Commission on Human Rights, in its
resolution 1990/30, profoundly concerned at the fact that the practice of
enforced or involuntary disappearance had continued in various regions of the
world, expressed its appreciation to the Working Group for the way in which it
had done its work. The Commission thanked the Group for having continRed to
: improve its methods of work and for having recalled the humanitarian spirit
underlying its mandate, and decided to extend for two years the term of its
mandate as defined in Commission resolution 20 (XXXVI), while maintaining the
principle of annual reporting by the Working Group. OEe Commission repeated
several provisions of its previous resolutions and, noting with concern that
some Governments had never provided substantive replies concerning
disappearances alleged to have occurred in their countries, urged the
Governments concerned to co—operate with and assist the Working Group so that
it could carry out its mandate effectively, and to intensify their
co—operation with the Working Group in regard to any measure taken in
pursuance of recommendations addressed to them by the Group.
9. OEe Commission expressed its concern at the growing number of reports
concerning harassment of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of
disappeared persons and urged the Governments concerned to take steps to
protect the families of disappeared persons against any intimidation or
ill—treatment to which they might be subject. The Commission also urged
Governments to take steps to ensure that, when a state of emergency is
introduced, the protection of human rights is guaranteed, particularly as
regards the prevention of enforced or involuntary disappearances.
10. OEe Commission repeated its request to the Secretary—General that he a
ensure the Working Group received all necessary assistance, in particular the
staff and resources it required to perform its functions, especially in
carrying out missions or holding sessions in countries which would be prepared
to receive it. Governments concerned were again encouraged to give serious
consideration to inviting the Working Group to visit their country so as to
enable the Group to fulfil its mandate even more effectively. OEe Commission
expressed its profound thanks to the Governments which had invited the Work irig
Group and asked them to give all necessary attention to its recommendations.
: The extension of the Working Group' s mandate was subsequently endorsed by the
Economic and Social Council in its decision 1990/230.
11. OEe Commission also requested the Working Group's action in its
resolution 1990/76. By this resolution, the Commission expressed its concern
about cases reported to United Nations organs of private individuals and
groups who, before or after co—operating with representatives qf United
Nations human rights bodies or treaty bodies, had been subject to harassment,
ill—treatment and detention or imprisonment or other forms of hardship; about
reports that those dear to such individuals had themselves been subjected to
: similar treatment; and that relatives of disappeared persons, when seeking
to clarify the fate or whereabouts of the victims through the appropriate
11/1.99:1. /20
page 3
(-hanne i.s , had Frequently been suhj ected to repri. sals as had the orgariiza ions
to which they he longed The Cornm:i. ss ion condemned al 1. acts of int:i.m:i.dat:i.on or
r-eprisa]. s, in whatever Form, against private indiviclua].s and groups who sought
to co opei te with the United Nations and representat:i.ves of its human rights
bodies, or who sought to avail themselves of procedures established under
United Nat ions auspi. cc s for the protection of human rights and fundamenta:l.
freedoms. By the same resolution, the Commission requested a:il
representatives of United Nations human rights bodies reporting to the
Comm ss ion or the Sub Commission on violations of human r:ights, in the
exerci. se of their respective mandates, to help prevent the occurrence of
intimidation or reprisals and to devote special attent:ion to this question in
their respective reports to the Commission arid the Sub Commi S51Oi'l,
B. Meet in r !it i fls ...: .h e Work in g Group
17 In 1990, the Working Group held three sessions : t:he th:irt:i.eth session
in New York From 4 II 8 June, and the thirty--first and thirty-second sessions
in Geneva from 10 to 14 September and fr-om 5 to 14 December respec. lye ly .
During these sessions, the Working Group held seven meetings with
representatives of Governments and 18 meetings with representatives of human
rights or-ganizations, associations of relatives of missing persons, Families
or witnesses directly concerned with reports on enforced or involuntary
disappearances As in previous years, the Working Group examined information
on enforced or involuntary disappearances received From both Governments and
the above-mentioned organizations and individuals and decided, in accordance
with its methods of work, on the transrn:iss:i.on of the reports or observations
received II the Governments concerned. On the basis oF the inFormation
received, the Working Group aLso took decis:i.ons concerning clar:ifi.cation of
the relevant cases. .
13. [ )urincj 1989 and 1990, the Working Group received oral invitations to
visit El Salvador, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. A vi.s it to the Philippines
was scheduled to take place i.n January 1.990 but, aC er' having considered the
situa ton prevailing in the country dur-ing that period, the Group decided at
its twenty ninth session to postpone its visit since it felt that a visit at a
later date would be more productive. The Group therefore proposed II the
Government that i.t would suggest new dates for the visit. During 1.990, aC er
consultation w:ith the Government, it was dec:ided to carry out the .j ,t the
I:)hiiippines from 24 August to 7 Septemj:)er 1.990. Two members represented the
Working Group on that mission, which was carried out in accordance with
paragraph 13 of resolution 1990/30. The report on the visit was c:ons:idered
and approved by the Working Group at its thirty second session and is
contained in Addendum 1 to the present report.
14. The Government of El Salvador renewed its invitation to visit t:hat
country through a letter dated 11. December 1.990 from the Permanent
Representative. The invitation was accepted by the Working Group in the
course of its thirty--second session,
15. The Government of Sri Lanka, in a note verbale dated 15 November 1990,
s• icmd that dates for the vi. s i. t of the Working Group to Sri Lanka in 1 991 were
being considered with a view II seeking a time which would be mutually
convenlent for the Working Group and the Government of Sri Lanka.
E/O/I. 4/1991/20
page 4
C. Communications with Governments
16. In 1990, the Working Group received 3,864 reports on enforced or
involuntary disappearances and transmitted 987 newly reported cases to the
Governments concerned 509 of these cases were reported to have occurred i.n
1990, 447 were transmitted under tha urgent action procedure, and 1.01. were
clarified in the same year. Some of the remaining cases were referred hack 1o
the sources as they ].acked one or more elements required by the Work:Lng Group
for their transmi ss ion and many others were considered inadmiss ib].e within the
context of the Working Group' s mandate. Some cases could not he processed in
time for consideration by the Working Group at its December session due to
].ack of time and staf ing constraints iha Working Group also transmi.t ed to
the Governments concerned any further information it had received on cases
previously transmitted and any observat:i.on provided by the source on
Governments ‘ rep]. i.e s ; i. t reminded Governments o IIe outstanding cases and,
when requested, retransmitted the summaries of those cases to them. Al].
outb anding cases transmitted during the preceding six months under the urgent
action procedure were retransmitted in January and Ju].y 1990. Governments
were also informed about clarification of, or new information on, previously
transmitted cases, as reported by the sourc:es ,
17. tn accordance with paragraph 1.6 of resolution 1990/30, at its thirtieth
session he].d in i/Iew York the Working Group dec:i.ded to remind Governments
concerned of he observations and recommendations included in the Group's
report on its visit to their respective countries. Let ers enclosing the
relevant text of the report were accordingly sent on 22 August 1990 to the
Foreign Ministers of Colombia, Guatema].a and Peru, requesting that the Group
be informed o he consideration given by their Government II observaLions
and recornmendat:Lons, as we].]. as oP the steps taken to imp].ement the latter or
the const r'aints which might have prevented their implementation.
Except for Colombia, none of the Governments concerned provided the
infor'mation requested. The Working Gr'oup would he gra eful if the Commission
coui.d gi.ve urgent consideration to the questions raised in the Working Group's
letters .
1.8 . During the year, the Work i ncj Group a]. so examined inforrna ion
communicated by Governments i.n accor'dance with the request contained in
reso].ution 1.990/75 of the Comm:i.ssion on Human Rights report on the
consequences of acts of violence committed by irregular ar'med groups and drug
traffickers . There were reports of assassination and other' violations
committed by such groups, and victims included both members of t;he forces of
order' and ci.vi.:Lians , Irregular armed cjr'oups and dr'ug traffickers were also
allegedly r'esponsibl e for damage to or destruction of buildings, roads and
industrial and energy producing installations essent:i.ai. for the genera].
servicing of a commun:i. ty .
Y.!1 i 0 11$ it h no n: rnmen II ]. orgar ns
tiv mis sin pa rson s
1.9 . As in pr'ev iou s years , the Gr'oup continued t;o rece i. /e pet i. ti.ons fr'orn
pr'i vate individuals and organ :i.zat ions expr'es sing support for' t:he adopt ion of
an inte r'na'Lional. instrument on enforced cii sappearanc:e s , Some of the
statements express ly cons :i.der'eci the adopt:i.on of such an ins tr'ument as being
ise :Ly ]. ri iked t:o the question of iropuni. ty , s i. rice it was be]. ieved that this
would cons ti Lute a power'Pu 1 tool For denouncing the pr'act ice of enforced
cii sappeararic:e and wou [ ci create awmr'ene s s c. he need to pun :i si'i such hideous
c r' :1. me ,
E/CN.4/1991/20
page 5
20. Non-governmental organizations expressed concern over what they
perceived to be a tendency in countries which had passed from a totalitarian
form of government to democracy whereby laws had been promulgated or
mechanisms established which contributed to impunity being used as a means of
consolidating the stability of the democratic government. OEis situation, in
which impunity was granted to agents of the former r6gime responsible for
serious violations of human rights, generated feelings of defenselessness and
insecurity in the most vulnerable and a lack of confidence in judicial and
democratic institutions.
21. OEe Coalition Against Impunity, a group of international
non—governmental organizations concerned with human rights, expressed concern
before the Working Group over the action of military forces — usually the real
power behind the disappearances — and the impunity they enjoy, especially
because members of such forces are judged by military tribunals which, too
often, leave violations of human rights unpunished. OEey expressed the view
that the systematic repression created under national security doctrines and
counter—insurgency strategies was responsible for both disappearances and
impunity for their perpetrators.
22. OEe Working Group also received reports concerning harassment,
persecution and killing of relatives of missing persons, members of their
organizations or members of organizations concerned with disappearances. It
was stated that human rights organizations and their staff had been
increasingly targeted for their activities on behalf of victims of human
rights violations. OEeir work had been obstructed by arrests, death threats,
disappearances and, in some case, extrajudicial executions. Several reports
from a number of countries stated that those who had chosen to actively defend
rights enshrined in international instruments were being persecuted on the
grounds that their activities contributed to insurgence or undermined “public
order” or the stability of the society. FurIIer information on such
allegations will be found in the respective country sub—chapters and in
Addendum 1. . . -
E. Development of methods of work
23. In addition to the methods of work described in its report to the
Connission at its forty—fourth, forty—fifth and forty—sixth sessions
(E/CN.4/1988/l9, paras. 16—30; E/CN.4/1989/18, pan. 23 and E/CN.4/l990/13,
paras. 25—28), this year the Working Group continued to consider specific
matters relating to its methods of work.
24. In accordance with decisions taken at the Working Group's twenty—seventh
and twenty—ninth sessions, letters were sent in January and J uly 1990 to all
Governments concerned reminding them of urgent action cases transmitted during
the preceding six—month period. Following a decision taken in 1989 and as
reflected in its methods of work, the Working Group transmitted to the
Governments concerned, by letter dated 20 September 1990, all allegations
received as of that time with regard to the phenomenon of disappearance in
their countries, and invited them to comment thereon if they so wished.
25. In 1990, the Group continued to consider the question of the
implementation of the observations and recommendations formulated in the
Group's reports on visits made to a number of countries. In accordance with
paragraph 16 of resolution 1990/30 of the Commission on Human Rights the Group
E/CI/I. 4/1991/20
page 6
decided to remind Governments concerned of such observations and
Iec::c)mmend 't;.ions and to request information on the consideration given to them 1
as we 1:1. as the steps taken for t:he :i. r :i.mp:I .ementat ion or the constra]. its which
might; have prevented the :1 r impi emeritat; ion .
26 , In compi :i,ance wi. th the request the Commi s s ion on Human Rights made in
its reso].ut:i.on 1990/76, the Working Group, at its thirtieth sess:ion, decided
to transmit to Governments concerned, by means of a cable from the Chair'man to
the respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs, any reports of intimidation,
persecut ion or repr:i. sal. s ar'ecti ncj such pr':i. vate mc i :i. v idual. s or groups
mentioned in the resolutions as requ i ring prompt in Ler'vent;ion w:i.th the appeal
that Governments take immediate steps to protect al. I. fundamental. r:icjhts oft he
per'son at” ected . ‘The Wor'k ing Group authorized its Chairman to dec:i.de, between
sessions , which of the cases received conta:lned the e lernents required by the
text of the resolution. The Group consider'ed tha1 cases aff c ct:ing relatives
of m:i. ss incj persons , wi OE: s ses to disappearances and the :i. r fami I. i.e s, members of
relatives ‘ or'ganizations , as wel. 1 as other non governmental. organU ations and
its member's persecuted or threat:ened as a repr'i. sal. for the:i.r activities on
behalf of vi. .ims of disappearances or for their efforts to el.:i.minate such
practice, shoul i be given pr'ior'ity tent:ion by the Working Group, in
‘ accordance with the ter'ms of resolution 1990/76.
F. [ ) a ft decla ratio n or th e pro tec tio of all ‘is fro
o rin vo luntary disappearanc Wor
E/CN.4/l99l/20
page 7
II. INFORMATION CONCERNING ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES
IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES REVIEWED BY THE WORKING GROUP
Afghan i stan
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
30. OEe Working droup's activities in relation to Afghanistan are recorded
in its last four reports to the Commission. 1/
31. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990. By a
letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the Government of IIe
four outstanding cases transmitted in the past. By a note verbale dated
6 July 1990, the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations Office
at Geneva requested to be provided with summaries of all outstanding cases of
disappearance which the Working Group retransmitted to it on
17 July 1990.
Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding cases 4
In. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 4
IV. Government responses 0
Angola
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
32. OEe Working Group's activities in relation to Angola are iecorded in its
last seven reports to the Commission. /
33. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990.
However, by a letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the
Government of the seven outstanding cases transmitted in the past. The
Government has provided no information on any of those cases; the Group,
therefore, is still unable to report on the fate or whereabouts of the missing
persons.
Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding cases 7
III. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 7
IV. Government responses o
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 8
:tnformation reviewed and transmitted to t:he Government
34. The Working Group's activit:i.es in reiat:i.on to Argentina are recorded in
its ten previous reports to the Commiss ion. 1/
35. I/Io cases oF disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990.
However, the Working Group retransmitted to the Government a total of seven
cases containing adcl:i.ti.ona]. information received from the sources .
36 . By letter dated 14 June 1990, the Working Group conveyed to the
Government of Argentina its concern that housancis of cases of cli. sappearanc:es
th t occurred in that country remained unciarified and requested the
Government to prov :i.de information on the j ud [ cia]., admi.ni. strative or'
institutional measures it had env:isaged II apply for clarifying such cases.
It; also requested the Government to provide specific details on the
proceedings, mechanisms or legal remedies avai. iab].e to relatives who wished to
continue the i.niiest:igation into the fate or whereabouts of their dear ones .
37. By letters dated 28 June and 15 December 1990 the Government was
notified that two cases were considered c].arified based on its replies and two
on the has: [ s of further informa ion provided by the source.
38 . In its commun:i.c:atiori of 28 June ].990 the Working Group reminded the
Government of all outstanding cases. By a letter dated 20 September 1990 the
Working Group informed the Government of reports i.t had received from
•non governmental organ:rzations which expressed concern about the ].ack of
i.nvestiga ions into the outstanding cases .
In f ?. i a: aan e Ltr g r elativ ms in i r is
t2!2i.'
39 . Th Working Group received updated information on cases that had
occurred in the past from Amne sty international, the Grandmothers he P ].aza
de Mayo, t:he Oecumeni.cal Movement For Human R:ights, and relatives of the
missing persons . Genera:I. information was rece:i.ved from the above mentioneci
organiz W:i.ons and also From Relatives oF Disappeared Persons and Persons
Detained for Political Reasons.
40 , The Re lat i. yes oF [ ) i. sappeared Persons arid Persons Detai. ned for Po ]. :i. ti. cal.
5 fl 5 o the Working Group a copy of the action brought against the
Argentine State in a l::ed ?ra] Court by a cjr'oup of re ].ati yes of persons who
di sappeared in the period 1976 1983 . 1 hi. s act:i.on they accused the State of
not having comj:) :i. i ed wi. th Its ob]. :i.cjat; Ions to aF o rd t;he ci I sappeared persons and
their relatives j ic:i.al protection, to make its ar'chives and documents
avail b].e to md iv :i.dua]. s and to the courts , arid tt:: pr'ov ide accurate, cleta:i. led
and Fu i ly documented inForm t ion on the treat:ment of the disappeared . They
a]. so reque sted t:hat the Court: shou id orcle rthe State to hand over (:1.) a]. ]. t:he
v'o::ords, including the deiiberat:i.c;:ns and decisions, oF the successive Mi iit:ary
Juntas wh i c::h governed Aryent:i.na betweor'i 24 March 1976 and 9 December 1983 ;
(2) t:he m:icrofii.ms, f:i.les and index cards consti.t:ut:inq the archive of
di sappeareci persons in the possess ion of t he M:i.n:i. stry of t;he Interior, the
ox :1 s fence of which had been Formally acimi. tted by the Minis try ; (3) a 1.1
doc:urnents in the possession oF army and police un:i.ts, i.nc:lud:i.nc; the
inventories of any documeri ;s which night have been destr'oyed in compliance
E1/Cl/I 4/:I.991/2()
page 9
w:i.t:h the order rece ivt.d by them from the Army General. st F f on
23 I/Io//ember 1983 ; (4) the ml C rot: ,. Ins made by the Army General. StafF :i.n 1 98() of
the disappeared persons ‘ files kept at the Mini stry of the Interior; (5) an
unabridged copy oft he ‘‘Instruct :1. ons and procedures to be app]. Led i. n deal. ing
w:i.th the children oF members of po 1 itical and trade un:ion
orcjani zat ions whose parents were under detent ion or had disappeared'' , i. s sued
by the Ministry of the Interior and trancribed by i:!. Ltary sub area 313 on 19
April 1977.
41 , The orcjanizat:i.on emphasized in particular that the cessat:i.on of crim:i.nal
pr'oceed ings against perpetrators ••F the d :1. sappearances , had completely
deprived the fam:i.lies of the disappeared persons of the sole effec .i.ve source
of official infor'mation (the criminal proceedings) and tha they had therefor'e
been denied the right to a legal. remedy, in viol.at:i.on of articl.e 25 of the
American Convention on Human Rights, to which the Republ. ic of Argentina was a
party
42, The Grandmothers of he Plaza de Mayo and Amnesty mt ernational
expressed their concer'n about delays in judicial proceedings which had been
initiated to clar'ify cases of missing c:h:i. l.dren, where it appeared that
documents had been forged so tha1 surrogate parents could claim the children
as their own.
43 , The t orking Group also rece:i.ved a request from the
an institution which had greatly contributed to the
ident :1. ficat ion of he rema:i.ns of m:i. ss :i. ng persons found in anonymous graves , to
clarify that it had not been set up by the Government but by concer'ned and
commi. t:ted sc :i.ent:i. sts and that it was an i ndependerit group and a non prof :i. t
civi. han assoc:i.ation which had never received subsidies or support from any
Arcjent :1. no adm:in:Lst rat ion or Government: .
:rnforrnation and views received from the Government ,
44 . By note verbal.e dated 1. June 1.990, the Permanent M:i. ss ion of Argent:i.na to
the United Na ions Office at Geneva, transmitted a sta't;ement by the Government
des cribing a number of measures taken by a previous adm:i.n :i. strat; ion since 1.983
to investigate the di sappearances that had occur'red in Argentina. Mention v as
made of the establ. : 1. shment or he National. Comm:i. ss ion on 0:1. sappearances
(C0!llADEP) , its investigation and it:s r'eport which referred to 8,900 vlct:ims of
cI i sappearances as we 1.1. as oF he tr'.iaJ. I nvol.v I ncj ii me former
commanders-in—-chief of the armed forces, which had ser'ved to prove the
existence of a “criminal, method oF iqhti.ng terrorism'' .
45. The Government also stated that a series of'Factors beyond the control.
of the const:i.tutionai. Governments had prevented p Fate oF each and every one
of the victims of the past events fr'om being learned; however, i.n the
j ucigement of the National. Appeal. 5 Di. vi. s ion of the Federal. Crim:i. nal. and
Corr'ectional Court of the FeII ral Capital it was stated that the facts
di. scovered had led it “to infer that abducted individuals who were not
released, placed i.n the custody of the national Executive or brought to trial.
had been physical. Ly el. im:i.nated” . Nevertheless, in no case had Cour't
considered a murder as proven unless the body was found . “Ihe Gover'nment al. so
provided :i.nFormat:i.on on 173 :mndiv:i.dual. cases . For 1.61. of those cases, the
Group had previously rece i. ved information from the Government indicating t:he
courts in which those cases were being invest:i.gated . or one of' those cases
such inform&;ion was new. Other detai. Is contained in the information on
E/cN.4/1991/20
pagelO .
individual cases was already in the Working Group's files because it had been
previously received from the relatives, with the exception of two cases on
which the Government reported that the corpses of the missing persons had ‘been
; found and identified. OEese cases were considered clarified by the Working
Group.
Statistical sumearv
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
LI. Outstanding cases 3,385
XLI. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 3,459 ‘
XV. . Government responses: ‘
(a) Number of cases on which the
Government has provided one
or more specific responses 2,940
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's
responses 4/ 43
V. Cases clarified by non-governmental sourcesW 31
4/ Persons arrested and released: 19
Children located by NODs: 6
Persons whose bodies were located and identified: 11
Persons whose cases were not disappearances: 7.
Persons released from detention: 7
Children located by NOOs: 8
Persons whose bodies have been located aM identified: 16.
Bolivia .
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government .
46. OEe Working Group's activities in relation to Bolivia are recorded in
its previous ten reports to the Commission. 1'
47. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990.
However, by a letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the
Government of the 28 outstanding cases transmitted in the past. A copy of
them had been provided to the Government, at the request of the Permanent
Mission of Bolivia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, by note verbale
dated 23 March 1990.
. 4/:199 :i. /20
page ii
Information and views received ‘From the Government
48 . With regard to the outst:and incj c:ases , by letter dated 26 June 1990 the
Government informed that despite efforts made since :1982, when cons t :1. tut iona 1
normality and dernoc rat I c government; were re st;ored , it had been pos 5: 1. b].e to
estahi. :1. sh the ‘Facts satisfactorily in only 20 of the 48 reported cases . There
had unfortunately been no accurate or precise information which c:ould help t:o
clarify the remaining 28 cases. “I” he lack of specific results sprang from the
d :1. f I cu lt:y of invest i.gat:ing acts which had taken place between eight: and 1 inc
years prey ious ly . The c :ircumstanc:es of the disappearances, which by the very
nature and charac:ter:i,stics of that of ence are d:i.ff icult to establish s:ince
the de iherato Intention is to cover up all traces of their having being
comrn:itted, had been further obscured by the pas sage of time . Moreover,
according to the compialnts most of the cases in question had occurred at
times of genera]. and often md I sc:rim:inate and massive vi o :I.en;e during twc'
m l]. itary coups, when the methods used were sadly all te:o well known.
49 . Investiqat:ions had also been restricted by the t:irne I. irnits appi. icab].e
under criminal law. The Bo].ivian penal code stipulates that criminal actions
have to be brought with:in a period ranging from three years for of ences
carrying ].esser penalties (art. 101) to eight years for more serious offenc:es
puni shab].e by rigorous impri. sonment (art. 27) . Similarly, the code of
criminal procedure sts'Ied that any offence might give r:ise to two types of
proceedings, civil or criminal., defining t:he latter as follows : ‘‘c:rjminai.
proceedings to investigate and try an act and to impose a penalty oF security
measure. . , (art.4) .
50. The above ‘Facts led Government of Bolivia to be].:i.eve that t here is
very little likelihood of reaching any definite result in the investigation of
the cases pending . However, it wou id provide information on any ‘Future
progress or developments in relation to the cases in question.
51 . The ].etter also rnent:ioned thatt he Nat:ional. Congress was in the process
of considering a bi. 11 c 'tegor:i. :ing enforced or involuntary disappearance as an
of ence comparab].e to murder, w:ith a].]. the acjqravat:inq circumstances and
puni shments st&utori ly determined . It was also to be c las si ‘Fled as an
offence against humanity of an internat iona]. character, and hence extraditable ,
I . Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding cases 28
, lotal number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 48
IV. Government responses :
(a) Number of c s es on which the Government;
has provided one or mor'c specific responses
(h) Cases clarified by the Gover'nment ‘s responses a! 20
a! Persons released from detent:ion : 18
Persons oFficially reported dead: 2.
E/CN.4/1991/20
page 12
Brazil
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
52. The Working Group's activities in relation to Brazil are recorded in its
last nine reports to the Commission. .1'
53. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990.
However, by letters dated 28 June and 20 September 1990, the Working Group
reminded the Government of the 47 outstanding cases.
54. The Government was also requested, by letter dated 20 September 1990, to
submit to the Group any information on the results of the investigations which
the Council for the Defence of Human Rights (CDDPH) of the Ministry of Justice
was carrying out on the 47 outstanding cases of enforced or involuntary
disappearances.
laformation and views received from relatives of missing persons or from
non—qovernmental organizations
55. The group “Tortura Nunca M&s — R.J.” reported that about 1,700 dead
bodies, which had been clandestinely buried in a mass grave, were discovered
in a cemetery of the city of Sao Paulo.
56. Members of the associations of the relatives of assassinated and
disappeared persons identified, among these corpses, two persons who had been
missing since 1971 and 1972. (These cases are not in the Working Group's
files.) The Prefect of Sao Paulo was conducting investigations to try to
establish the identification of the corpses. Non—governmental organizations
stressed the importance of carrying out such investigations and expressed
concern that they might be impeded or stopped.
Information and views received from the Government
57. By letter dated 14 June 1990, the Permanent Representative of Brazil to
the United Nations Office at Geneva reiterated his Government's commitment to
human rights, informing the Working Group, in particular, that the 47
outstanding cases of alleged enforced or involuntary disappearance in Brazil
: were still under careful consideration by the Council for the Defence of Human
Rights (CDDPH) of Brazil's Ministry of Justice, under process MJ—137/48/79.
58. By note verbale dated 26 November 1990, the Goverment provided
information related to 1,700 dead bodies found in a common grave at the Dom
Bosco cemetery, municipality of Sao Paulo, early in 1990. The nota verbale
stated that while developments relating to this discovery had been followed by
the Council for the Defence of Human Rights (CDDPH) in conjunction with a
trial on “political disappearances” which it had been examining for a number
of years, the primary responsibility for the investigation rested with the
Municipality of Sao Paulo. The main steps taken in that investigation were:
(a) to establish a follow—up group to monitor progress in all tasks related to
the identification of the bodies; (b) to entrust the State University of
Campinas with the task of carrying out technical work for identification of
the corpses; and (c) to invite national and international non—governmental
organizations to assist in all stages of the process. Parallel to these
measures, the legislative body of the
E:/cI/I. 41:199:1.120
page 13
Municipality of Sao Paulo established an Inquiry Commiss ion to look into all
facts associated w:i. th the c:ommon qrave $ . Comrni. S $:i(.)n conducted a number of
hearings. Final ly, on 18 October 1990, the Mayor of Sao Paulo accompanied to
the Born 13o s c:o cemetery a rn:i. s s n of I nterriat:i.onai, non gover'nmentai.
or'ganlzat:tons , :incluIIng Amnes y :Lriter'riat:i.onai, Americas Wa ch and he
Argentine Team of For'ens :i. c Antropo loqy which was rnon:it;or'i ncj the work be I ‘ ic;
undert:aken and later made statements c:oncerning the seriousness with which the
invest:i.gation was be I ncj conducted .
ma
I . Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding cases 47
iii . iota 1 number of cases traii smi tted to the
Government by the Working Group 49
iv, Gc:vernment responses :
(a) I/lurnber of cases on which t:he
Cove rnrnent has provided one
or more spec Fic responses 49
(b) Cases clarified by the Gover'nrnent: 5
responses . I 2
/ Persons detained 2 .
l3urkina Faso
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
59 . By a cable dlated 27 February 1990 the Work I nc; Group trarismitt ed to the
Government of Burk :i.na Faso, under the urgent action procedure, thr'ee cases of
ci :i. sappear'ance . Upon request r'om the Cove rnrnent , the surnrnar:i.es of these cas . s
were transmitted again by note ver'bale dated 25 July 1990.
0 j. .f s J :.! .S P fr.o !
no .. : an s.
6() , The ahove rnentioned cases were submi tt:ecl by Amnesty International. and
concerned three persons (one of them a university professor of physics and
chemistry) reportedly accused of partic :1. pat :i. nc ; in an al Sl.eqed cons pi racy
against the Government and arrested in December 1989 .
E/ L4/1991/2O
. . pagel4
Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
fl. Outstanding cases 3
I n. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 3
IV. Government responses 0
Chad
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
61. OEe Working Group's activities in relation to Chad are recorded in its
last two reports to the Commission. j'
62. In 1990, the Working Group did not receive any reports on cases of
disappearance in Chad. However, by a letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working
Group reminded the Government of the outstanding case transmitted in the
past. The Government has provided no information on this case and the Group,
IIerefore, is still unable to report on the fate or whereabouts of the missing
person.
: Information and views received from relatives of missirn persons or from
: non—qovernmental organizations
63. The Working Group received from Amnesty International reports of a
general nature alleging that hundreds of political prisoners arrested in Chad
during the past eight years had effectively disappeared since the Government
has revealed no information whatsoever on their whereabouts and the procedures
: governing arrests have not been observed. Amnesty International, however,
did not provide details as required under the Working Group's criteria.
Statistical sunarv
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding cases 1
I II. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 2
IV. Government responses 1
E/CN. 4/1991/20
paqe :1.5
Chile
:tnforrnation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
64. The Working Group' s activities in re:l.at:i.on to Ch:i.le are recorded in its
last ten reports to the Commission, 1/
65. NC) cases of di.sappearanC::e were reported to have occurred in 1990.
However, the Working Group transmitted one case under the urgent action
procedure reported to have occurred in 1989. The Group also retransm:i.ttecl to
the Government a total of three cases containing additional infonoeWion
received from the sources
66 . By a letter' dated 20 September 1990 the Government was notified that two
cases were now considered clarified based on information provided by the
source. By the same ].etter the Government was requested to provide additional.
information on nine cases that had been mentioned as clarified in a Special
Report presented to the Working Group by the Gover'nment: of Chile.
67. tn its commun c&ion of 28 June 1990, the Working Group also reminded
the Government of all, outstanding cases. By a letter dated 18 July 1990, in
accordance with the decision taken at the Working Group's twenty—seventh
session, the Government was reminded of one report of disappearance
transmitted during the previous six months under the urgent action procedure.
68 . In response to a request from the Permanent Mi. ss ion of Chile to the
United Nations Office at Geneva, contained in the nate verbale dated
27 July 3.990, on behalf of the National Comm:i.ssion for Truth and
Reconcilia ioii, he Working Group Forwarded the chapter on di appoa , anc es rrom
IIe documents which had been submitted to it by the Vicaria de l.a Soi.idaridad
in February 1989,
InPormationa od views received from re i of mis sing r .r su ‘is or from
69. A newly reported case of disappearance was submitted by the Ch. a ,i
Commission on Human Rights and concerned a human rights activist who was
allegedly t ik n from his house in Santiago in November 1989 by security
agents . The Cornmi ss ion al so informed the Working Group that in two cases of
disappearance the remains of the persons had been found and identified in
Coi.ina, Santiago.
70. Amnesty International sent to the Working Group a repor't on judicial.
deC: is ions taken in 1989 and :1990 by ml itary cour'ts concerning three important
investigations involving about 100 cases of cl:i.sappearance . The military
courts declared these cases closed, applying the :1978 amnesty law.
71 . The f:i. rst r'u I. i.ng concerned 70 people whose detent: ion i.n Sant:i.ago between
:1974 and 1976 had been car'ried out by DINA. tn :1978 a criminal complaint was
fi. led against General Manuel Contreras , former Director of DIl/IA, before the
10th Criminal Court which declared itself incompetent to continue the
investigation and passed it to a military court, which closed the case. An
appeal against the closure of the case was filed in November 1.989 before the
court mnart:ial regar'cli.ng whether or' not the amnesty law was applicable, given
that at the time of the closure, numerous :Lnvestiga ive steps were st:ti.1
pending. In Septemner 1990, the Supreme Cour't declared the 1.978 amnesty law
constitutional and applicable.
E/CI/I, 4/1991/20
page 16
72 The second and t:hircl rul.incjs respectively concerned 24 people, peasants
from P ine near Santiago, who disappeared in 1973 and eight people from
Valparaiso who disappeared between 1.. 7 and 27 January 1975 The Paine case was
closed on 20 November :1989 by a military judge. The Valparaiso case was
closed on J.6 November 1989 by the court martial. which upheld a lower
tribunal's decision to close the investigation on the basis of the amnesty
law. A c:ompl.a:i.nt against the decision was submitted to the Supreme Court:
73. rhese decisions fo].:I.owed the precedent set by the Supreme Court in
August 1989 to archive permanentl.y investigations conducted by judge Carlos
Cerda into the disappearance of 10 Communist Party members in 1976.
Information and views received from the Government
74. By notes verhal.es dated 25 October and 8 November 1990, the Government
provided :i.nform tion on 10 cases of disappearance. The Government advised the
Working Group that one case was still under investig&ion before the 26th
Criminal. Court in Santiago. The other nine c:ases concerned missing persons
whose corpses had recently been found; however, only two of nine names given
in the l.i.st corresponded to cases of disappearance submitted to the Working
Group.
75. By a note verba].e dated 11 September 1990, the Permanent Mission of
Chile to the United Nations Office at Geneva forwarded a Special Report on the
question of enforced or involuntary disappearances prepared by the Office of
the Special Adviser on Human Rights at the Ministry of External Relations.
Th document consists of three chapters which are summarized below.
76. In :1973, disappearances were in general carried out by members of the
armed forces (mainly the army and the c rab ineros). From 1974 onwards agents
of the Director te of National Intelligence (DIPJA) made persons disappear,
most of them prominent activists in the Chi].ean 1..eft (MIR, Socialist: Party and
Communi. st Party) .
77. Up to the end of the military Government there were 735 known cases of
missing detainees. The fate of 52 persons who had been arrested in 1973 was
c:l.arified in 1.978 when thei.r bodies were found, During the first five months
of the new Government, testimony had been received on a further 193 cases of
d:i. sappeared detainees, which brought the total. up to 928 mi. ssi.nq persons whose
names as well as place of arrest and date of d :i.sappearance are listed in the
report:
78 , The courts of law sy stemati. cal. i.y rej ec:ted the app]. i. c L:i.ons for amparo
subm . tted in respect of detainees who subsequently di sappeared . The courts
d id not even go through th mot ions of conducti. ng an inve st: igat:i.on and judges
never visited secret centres which were being denounced .
79 . When the former Cove rrHnent, as a result of interna ional. pressure, put
an end to the systematic d I sappearance of detainees, it enacted a ].eg is lat . //@
decree in April. 1978 granting an amnesty which essentiali.y exonerated from a]. 1
criminal ]. :i.ahi ]. ity the per'petr'ators of those crimes
80 , T he report further de scr:i. be s the po I. i. cy of he pre sent Cove rnment: in
re l.a ion to v iolat ions of human rights as a who i.e and to di. sappearances :i. n
part:i. cu tar' .
E/CN . 4/199 1/2()
page : 17
81. The programme, !.!2: ..r. .:l! states:
‘‘ he [ )emocrat :i. c: Government: shall, strive to estabi. i. sh the truth
in all cases of human rights violations which have occurred since
1 I. September 1.973
‘‘Likewise, it shall ensure the t:riai. , in accordan::e with the
criminal law in force, of human r:ights vioiat .ons which involve
heinous crimes acjai nst: life, freedom and the person . . . “
82. In fulfilment of these promises the Head of StaWe issued Supreme Decree
No. 355 of the Ministry of the Inter':ior on 25 April 1990, pub]. ished in the
P 1 of 9 May 1990, whereby the Comisi6n Nacional Verdad y
Reconc:i. i.iaci6n (National. Commission for Truth and Reconci. i.i.at:i.on) was
established, This Comm:i.ssion has been entrusted with the implementation of
t:he above mentioned human rights programme .
I. Cases reported t:o have oc:curred in 1990 0
[ I . Outstanding cases 461
. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 465
iV. Government responses :
(a) Number of cases on wh:ich
Government has provided one
or more specific responses 4
(b) Cases clarified by the Government' s
responses 0
V. Cases c].arifi.ed by non governmental sources a! 4
a! Persons released: 1
Persons dead (body found and identified): 3 .
China
:rnformation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
83 . The Working Group' s act:iv:i.ti.es in relation to China are recorded in its
last two reports II the Commi ss ion. 1/
84 . [ )urincj the period under rev jew, the Work irig Group transmit:ted 10 new: [ y
reported cases of disappearance to the Gover'nrnent of China, of which seven
were repor'ted to have occurred in 1990. Five of those cases were trarism:itted
to the Government by letter dated 20 September 1.990 and five by letter d t:ed
14 December 1.990. As regards the lat e rfive cases, in accordance w:Lth the
Group' s methods of work, it must be understood that the Gover'nment could not
respond prior to the adoption of the present report.
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 18
85. By letter dated 20 September 1990, the Government was notified that one
case was considered clarified on the basis of information given by the
source. By letter of 20 June 1.990, the Go//ernment was advised that two more
cases would be cons idered clarified, provided the source did not raise
obj ections within six months . By a further letter dated 14 December 1990,
the Work i.rig Group nfor'mod the Cove rnment that it had decided to extend this
period for another si.x months in view of reported d:i.ff iculties of
communic i.on with the fami ]. :i.es concerned .
86. The Working Group also rem:inded the Government, by communication of
28 June 1990, of a: [ l outstanding cases reported II have occurred in China.
:e ifio .f so
•n on II 1 organ izat ion
87. The majority of newly reported cases of disappearance were submitted by
the :rnternational league for Human Rights, the Minority Rights Group and the
Tibet information Network . These organi at:i.ons also suhmit:ted information of
a general nature relevant the problem of disappearances.
88. Three of the newly reported cases concerned persons who d:Lsappeared
aFter the incidents in t3ej ing in June 1989; two concerned Tibetans in Lhasa,
one of whom was subsequenti.y confirmed to be i.n pr: [ son. The five cases
transmitted to the Government on 14 December 1990 also concerned Tibetans who
report:edly di. sappeared i.n L.hasa in 1989 or in 1990.
89. The sources repo ing cases to the Working Group alleged that s:i.nce the
events of June 1989 (in Bej incj and other cit:i.es), a large number of persons
‘ had been detained, but that the Chinese authorities wer'e reluctant to disclose
the number of detainees as we I. 1. as information on the c:harges brought against
‘ them. Their whereabouts and any sentences that might have been pronounced
wer'e also unknown. The number of persons stil.:I. remain:i.ng in detention, or en
incommunicado and without charges, was sa:i.d II be ‘many thousands” . The
requirement by law to notify the detainee' s fam:i.l.y or' wor'k unit within 24
hours of hi s/her arrest has al. legedly been systematically ignored . Torture
and ill—treatment of detainees were said to be commonly practised. it was
also repor'ted that there were other methods by whic:h persons could be lawfully
detained or' imprisoned i.n the exer'cise of authority conferred by laws ,
long—term detention outside the judicial system, for example “re .-'educ:at:ion
through labour”, were said to be widely practised.
90. As r'egards the Tibet Autonomous Region, it was reported tha the
Government ‘ s efforts to contr'o I. c:ommun i. cmt:i.on and traf :1. c between that reg:i.on
and the outs ide made it extremely d :LFficul.t to obtain nformation on the
cii smppear'anc:es in that area, hi. s ci :i.ffi.cu :I.ty was said to have been
domonst rated by ifi example of the slow and scarce outflow of information on
the unrest i. n l..hasm dun. icJ the per:Lc:c1 from 2 t:o 10 March 1989 ,
91 . With regard to thp 1.9 persons who cii sappoared after being forcibly
retur'nod tc:: Tibet rom Nepal. the sour'ce stated that they were last seen in
the custody of Ch:i.nose police on the r'oad 1 ,t) Qinghai . The Cove “nment: s
as sert:i.on that all. 26 were taken to t:he :1. “ homes , was rej ected si ‘ice seven had
escaped , The source roquestoci an extent ion of the six month per:i.od in order
to tr'y to ascer'tain whether' any of t:he persons in quest: ion had retu rood to
their r'espect:i.ve fami. lies .
E/clll . 41:1.99 :I./2()
page 19
Information and views received from the Government
92 . The Permanent: Representative of the People ‘ s Repubi. i. c: of China ‘to the
United i/la'tions Office at Geneva, by letter dated 17 January :1990, stated that
2.6 . ibetans who had illegal. i.y left China had been repatriated, had been
received by the Chinese Government ‘‘t Zhangmu on the I/lepalese border and had
returned to the :1. r original. communities i. n Si chuan Prov Ince . With regard II
four monks, the Government reported that had been released From detention
in January 1989 and had returned home, one had been sentenced to two years ‘
imprisonment, and th 't the name oF the fourth monk as :1. nd icated by the Work ing
Group was not known at the [ )repung monastery .
93 . In a further letter dated 1 August 1990 the Permanent Representative a
China reiterated that his Government had encountered great d 1ff! cu i.t:ies in
conducting :Lnveb .tgations on the basis of ‘the names oF persons and locations
transmitted by the Working Group. He also stated that t he Chinese Governme nt
coul.d not he hel.d responsible for ‘the illegal departure of the 19 T:i.betans
mentioned above, some of whom might have lef their orig:i.nai. residences again
of their own Free will.
94. By letter dated 25 November 1.990, the Government of China provided
replies on another Five cases transmitted ‘to it on 20 September 1990. With
regard to two of the five cases, the Government stated that he families of
‘the individuals concerned knew their whereabouts. (However, one oF the names
does not correspond to the name transmitted by the Working Group) . For one
case, ‘the Government stated that 54 persons oF ‘that name were living in
Bei. j ing but none of them had been arrested . For the remaining two cases, the
Government stated that one person had been sentenced on 27 November :1,989 to
ser've eight year's' imprisonment in l..,hasa jail for' his involvement with a
separatist movement, and ‘tha''t the whereabouts oF ‘the other person were being
investigated by the authorities.
95. The reply further sta ed, in connection with the detentions after the
events oF 4 June 1990, that the judicial organs had released a total oF 881
people on 18 January, 18 May and 6 June 1990; it was also stated ‘th ''t, at
present, only a few people were still undergoing investigation. The
Gover'nment rej ected the al. legat:ions of torture and i ll”trea'tment, emphasizing
‘that China was a party to ‘the Convention agains't'T'or'ture and Other Cruel,
InhLlrnai or' [ )egradi rig Treatment or Pun! shment and had systematic: legal.
provis ions protecting the various rights enjoyed by citizens during law
eri'For'cement proceed incjs and while in detention or' imprisoned. UnlawFul acts
of law enforcement personnel were investigated ‘to es'tabl.:i,sh cr'iminal
respons],b], 1 ity . Between March and November 1989, some 400 persons were
arrested, over 300 of ‘them ‘For rei ''tively minor offences and only some 60 were
imprisoned according to the law.
96, With regar'd to the question of “re ”educa'tion through labour”, the reply
stated that ‘the pr'ac'tlce was based on ‘the decision oF August 1957 by ‘the
S'tand:i,ng Coi'ni'nittee of the Na't:i.onal , People's Congress, subsequently endor'secl by
‘the Standing Committee on 26 November 1979 and by ‘the State Council on
21, J'anuar'y 1,982, and that It was a fui ,l,y effective legal. pr'ac't:ice under'
national law. “Re”-educ 'tion ‘through labour” was an administr ''t'ive measure of
compul. sor'y educative reform which China had adopted to discour'acje and reduce
cr:i.me and ‘to safeguard public law and order. The Gover'nmen't emphasized that
the rights provided ‘For under ‘the Constitution and laws were guaranteed for
‘the :inm 'te s in re”-educat:ion ‘Facilities.
E/CN.4/1991/20
page 20
Statistical suimsarv .
I. Casis reported to have occurred in 1990 5
I I. Outstanding cases 32
Ifl. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 34
IV. Government responses:
. (a) Number of cases on which the
Government has provided one
or more specific responses 29
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's
responses / 1
V. Cases clarified by non-governmental sources / 1
W Person released: 1. .
/ Person in prison: 1.
. . Colombia
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
97. OEe Working Group's activities in relation to Colombia are recorded in
its last six reports to the Commission 1” as well as in the report on the
visit to the country which took place in 1988 (E/c*I.4/1989/18/Add.l).
98. During the period under review, the Working Group transmitted 108 newly
reported cases of disappearance to the Government of Colombia, of which 82
were reported to have occurred in 1990. Eighty—two of those cases were
transmitted by cable under the urgent action procedure . OEe Group also
retransmitted to the Government a total of nine cases containing additional
information received from the sources. As regards the two cases transmitted
by the Working Group on 14 December 1990, in accordance with its methods of
work, it must be understood that the Government could not respond prior to the
adoption of the present report.
99. By letters dated 28 June, 20 September and 14 December 1990, the
Government was notified that 36 cases were considered clarified, 34 based on
its replies and two on the basis of further information provided by the
sources. .
100. By letters dated 31 January 1990 and 18 July 1990, the Government was
reminded of reports of disappearance transmitted during the previous six
months under the urgent action procedure; by letter dated 28 June 1990, the
Working Group also reminded the Government of all outstanding cases.
Summaries of these were subsequently provided at the request of the Government.
E/crtJ 4/1991/20
page 21
101 . The Work ing Group also transm:itted to the Government, in a ietlrer dated
20 S ptembor 1990, al i.egat ions of mt iinic t.:ion , repr:i. sal. s or haras sment
against relatives of disappeared persons, drawing to its attention rgr ph
12. of resolution 1990/30 and paragraph 2 of resolut:i.on 1990/76 In this
connection, five such cases, which the Working Group cons ider d to require
tirnel.y intervention, were transmitted by cable By the same letter, the
Working Group also informed the Government of reports it had received about
developments in Cn rnb:ia hay [ ncj an i. nf:iuence on t:he phenomenon of
disappearance or on the solution of the cases nct yet clarified.
102 . In accordanc:e with a dec:is ion taken by the Working Group at its
thi tieth session, a letter dated 22 August 1990 was sent to the Government
reminding it of the recornrnendat ions ri. nc luded in the report on the 1.988 miss ion
to the c:ountry and requeb .ing informat:i.on on the subsequent consideration
gi. von to them Among the se recommendations, the Work ring Group had expressed
the need for a revis ion of the police powers wielded by the armed and securit:y
forces; the elimination of c:erta:i.n procedural. obstacles to the h bea
proceedings; the improvement of the phys:i.cal protection of members of the
c:ourts ; the incorporation of d :1. sappearance as a separat:e crime in the penal.
code; and t :increase of resources available II the Office of the Attorney
General, of the I/lat:i.on as well as to the judges, for establishing the
whereabouts of missing persons .
view fr.o r. iy s •f fr. m
9P ‘::: r or n j n
103 . The new cases transm;i.ttecl during 1990 wore subm:i.tted by Amnesty
:rnternational, the Associat:ion of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees
(ASFADDES) , t:he Andean Comm:i. ss ion of Jun (Colornb:ian Sect:ion) and the
United Federation of Workers of Colombia (CUT) . Those most often
reported to be responsible were the army , the police arid par'am:i. I. it;ary groups
acting with impunity and believed to have i:Lnks with members of the secur:ity
forces . he departments most af ected were Ant:ioquia, Vai.le del. Cauca and
Santander.
104. According to the mnformat:Lon rece:Lved , the pr:rr ic:ipal. victims of
dmsappearance a or detention continued II he peasant farmers assoc:iated with
lawful. I cr ‘ ‘w:i.iig labour organizat:i.ons and civ:i.c leaders belonging to rural.
community organiza ions or left wing opposition parties based in areas where
:i, it:ary forces were engaged in counte insurgenc:y operations .
:1.05. It was alleged that insufficient efforts were made by the authorities II
trace the whereabouts of persons reported cl:isappeared af en dot;ent:i.on, as
:iiluh rated by the case of' 43 persons disappeared in Pueblo 13o lo (Ant:ioqu:ia)
on 14 January 1990. Acc:ording to the information received, in Apri. 1 1990 t:he
bodies of 26 persons had been ‘found a he Fin c s Las Tangas and Jaraguay,
rnunic:Lpal.ity of Val.enc:ia, C6r'doba , seven of wh:i.ch had been recognized by
relatives as belonging to persons arrested ‘in Pueblo Be]. lo . Other common
graves had reportedl.y been found in the same area which could contain the
bod:ies of the other m:issing persons; however, desp:ite the requests of the
fami.l. ies, no steps had allegedly been taken to identify the corpses , In
general, the sources reported that, in the major:ity of cases, the forens:ic
procedure to i.clenti.'fy unnamed bodies had been carried out in an irregular
manner.
EICI/l. 41 199112()
page 22
1.06 Reports were also received concerning the iculty i.n identifying
those responsible for disappearances; this was said II be partly due to the
reluctance on the part of witnesses to come forward for fear of reprisals, and
the fact that the majority c:f people were seized by paramilitary forces
operating in civilian clothes . In certain cases, relatives or or i.cia].s from
the Procurator General's Public Mi.n:i.stry had succeeded in establishing the
place of detention of people di. sappeared after arrest; however, mi. ]. itary
authorities generally refused II acknowledge det:ent ons despite the .5. ;: flyQfly
of witnesses to the arrest.
107. In recent months several ci.vi.li.an judicial investigations into human
rights violations had reportedly resulted in warrants being issued for the
arrest of members of the Colombian armed forces imp]. i.cated i.n arbitrary
arrest, torture and extraj udic :i.al executions . However, it was asserted that,
in the vast maj ority of suc:h cases , army and po i. i. cc personnel. had been
shielded from prosecution by mi 1 .ary authorities, who were said to regularly
transfer - and somet:Lmes promote - army and police personnel, sought by
civilian courts. On other occasions military authorities had allegedly
report:ed that army personnel. could not be brought before a civilian court to
answer charges rela ing to human rights violations because they had “deserted”.
1.08 . Other practices faci ]. itating impunity, according to reports received,
were the intimidation and assassination of witnesses • the obstruction by
mi]. itary authorities of independent inquiries by fa:i.i. ing to provide
information or to comply with arrest warrants issued by civilian judges, and
the intim:i.dation of judicial. author: [ ties investigating human rights violations
attributed to military and parami]. :itary forces . It was also reported that,
despite the Government' s promi. ses to i.mprove the judicial. system, the latter
continued 1o lack resources, adequate protection and co--operation in carrying
out its investigations .
109. In connection wi.t:h the disappearances from the Pal.aci.o de Just:ici.a,
which occurred in 1985 (see E/CN.4/1989/18/Add. :1., paras. 92-96 and
E/CrtI. 41l.990/i.3 , para. 87), the At c:rney General. ‘ s Office, after completion of
disc ipi. [ nary proceedings, had reportedly requested the d i smi s sal of an army
general. (commander of the XIII Brigade when the incident took place) who had
failed to give prlorlty to the protection of innocent civilians during
mi. 1. i.t:ary operation to bring the guerr:i. ]. l.a group under c:ontro ]. ,
:rnformation and views received from the Government
11.0. In the course of 1990 the Gover -nment provided replies on 79 c:ases of
disappearance by different notes verhai.es . The major-ity of reported
vari.ousl.y : that the case was being i.nve .i.gatect by competent
authorities; that, according to the inquiries made, government forces were
not; respons i.bl.e for the di. sappearance; t:hat no record or he arrest was kept:
at the offices of the forces reportedly responsible; tha he case had not
been denounced t: the authori.t:ies of the place of ar-rest; or' that the attorney
had visited the premises of the forces r'eportc dly responsible and had not
found missing persons there. In two cases the Attorney Delegate for the Armed
Forces had issued a resolution rc quest:ing the removal of an army capt:ain; in
several. other cases t:he per'son had been found dead or had been released from
detention. The Government al so sent rep 1 i. es c:oncern [ ny two cases of
baras sment of re lat :i. yes on whi. c:h t:he Work [ ncj Group had sent a prc:mpt
intervention appeal. It stated that one case was be:ing investigated and in
the ot:her, a c:omrni. s s ion of t:he c:f F :i. d:O of t:he A1.:tor'ney of Santander had v :i. si t:ed
the re l.a .1 yes of the th r'c. atencd person as we. 1.1 as w:i. t:n@ s sos .
1:/CI/I . 41:199 :I./2()
23
:1.11 . By note verbale dated :19 November :1990, the Government transmitted a
document conta:i. n ing informat ion on recent developments of the Government ‘ s
poijcy in the Field of human rights According to this cornmun:ication, during
1990 various institutional, measures were taken with a view to graduai:Ly
restoring the ability cF the courts to ‘Function normally.
112. Act No.4 of 1990 set up, reorganized and reinForced the functions of the
QF'Fice of the Attorney General of the Nation and restored the special
functions of II c:r : [ Imninai. police to the or ice of the At:torney General. through
the_QJ:Fice of Special Investig 'Lions. Since January 1990 the Office of the
At orney has enjoyed complete j ur:Lsd ic:ti.on in cases
where public o Ficials were hel.d responsihi.e For torture and disappearances,
It had evolved a special. procedure to be applied in cases of presumed
disappearance entailing immediate visits by officials of the Office of t:he
Attorney General., as soon as a complaint was received, to places where a
person suspected of having disappeared was likely II he Found.
113. The Government urther reported that the Of ic:e of the At o rney General.
had also established an emergency centre II deal w:ith cases of Forced
disappearance. Thi.s centre consisted of or :icial.s of the Office of Special.
tnvesligations and Lhe Orfice of the ALtorney Delogate roi Human RighLs as
wel.l. as the 0ffi of II At'to heyL . ..Del,egate forthe ArmedF'orces, the
National Police and the Criminal Poi:ice, as the case might be, who were
empowered to inspect military and police units and instai,:iations us:i.ng
flexible and appropriate methods. In a number of cases, these methods had made
it possibi.e to trace disappeared persons.
114. The Office of the Presidenti .al Adviser For Human Rights was reorganizing
it e].f so s to be able to play a more active part the monitor:Lng of human
rights violations as a means of supporting the more resolute action being
taken by the Of ice of the Attorney General. and other governmental, bodies
dealing with human rights that are members o the Interinstitut:i.onai. Work :i.ng
Group. One of the main elements of this work was the permanent monitoring of
the situation of disappeared persons as a means of centralizing the sca ered
information ava:i.l.abi.e on such cases and developing more eFficient ways of
dealing with the problem. The Office of the Presidential Adviser was
endeavouring to estab]. ish closer relations with non-governmental. organiza ions
dealing with human rights rn 'tters in order to ohta n more timely news of cases
of human rights violations, as very oFten presumed arbitrary detentions or
d sapperances were not brought to its attention; this hampered the emergency
action that was necessary to initiate an investigation at a time when it had a
greater chance oF success.
115. 1”he Government was making vigorous er orts to reform the investigative
system, the weaknesses of which were pointed out in the Group's report. Steps
had been taken by the previous Government to reorganize the Technic 1Rr nch
oF 1he Criminal Police, a civil invesLigative bndy under LheNatinnal
cc (.urate foi ( ,rj nn na] 1 nves Li gati on One hundred and iii nc y pre] rn i nary
:Lnveb igation units had been set up :Ln various par'ts oF the country. In
addition, the Dir'ectorate ‘For Criminal. Investigation had established a
r'JationalHumanRights Unit to co-ordinate the work of human r'ights units in
all, the departments an fhereby enabl.e its staFf to develop a be'L er
under'standing oF human rights matters and to monitor the activities of
investigative units res pons bie for examining punishable acts to ensure that
investigations can be carried out eFFiciently and without abuses by the for'c:es
of law and order'.
EICF/I. 411991/20
page 24
116. Commenting on the process of const:i.tutionai reform, the Government
stated that among the var:i.ous groups seeking a mandate to represent t:he
people, there was a clear consensus that the main functions of the ssembiy
should be to reorganize the system of justice, and to draft rules of law that
clarify and supp].ement the guarantees and rights of individuals along with
machinery that guarantees their implementation or offers the individual
adequate remedies to ensure observance thereof or to protect him against
abuses. In the context of the constitutional reform process, it had been
borne i.n mind that the remedies of an pa.ro, habeas corpus and public: right of
action had to be embodied in the Const:itution as a means of protecting human
rights.
j ]
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 82
II. 0utstand ng cases 649
i:i:i. Tota]. number of c:ases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 800
Iv. c;overnment responses:
(a) Number of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific responses 61].
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's responses a! 121
V. Cases clarified by non governmental, sources b/ 30
a! Persons at liberty: 26
Persons released: 54
Persons in prison: 9
Persons dead: 31
Persons abducted by rebels : 1 .
.!2! Persons at 1 :ihe y : 2
Persons in pr:i.son: 4
Persons released: 18
Persons dead: 6.
117. The Working Group's activities in relation to Cyprus are recorded in its
ten earlier reports to the Commi ss ion. / As in the past, the Working Group
continued to remain available to assist the Cornm:it cc on Missing Persons in
Cyprus, as appropriate and when requested . The Working Group noted that in
1990 the Committee, whose acti.vi.t:ies were mainly based on the testimony of
witnesses and irives igations in the field, had held ten sessions involving
45 meeti.ncjs during which it continued to examine t:he reports presented to it
by the investigative under responsibility of each side .
EICI/I. 4/1991120
page 25
ii'iforn tion reviewed and transmit:ted to the Government
:1. :i . The Work sing Group' s activ:it:i.es in relation to the Dominican Republic are
recorded in sits l t six reports to the C:mmiss ion
1:1.9 . During the period under review no cases of di. sappearance were reported
to have occurred . By letter dated 28 June 1990, the Work sing Group remsincled
the Government of the one outstand:inq case.
information and views received from the Government
120. By a note verbale dated 17 September 1.990, the Permanent Mission of he
Dominican Republ:ic to the Un:ited l/lations Office at Geneva r iterated
information g:iven on 5 August 1985 and 5 August 1989, i that the person
concerned had left home in 1984, according to s atements made by his sister to
the I/Jationai. Pol. ice whose i. nvest :i.gat ion y i.e lded negative results .
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1.990 0
II. Outs and ing cases 1
i:r:i: . Total. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 3
IV. Government responses 4
V. Cases clarsif:i.ed by non governmentalsources a! 2
a!, Persons released fflrn'fl detention: 1
Persons liv:ing abroad: 1. .
E:cuaclor
:tnfori ation reviewed and transmitted tO the Government
121. . The Working Group' s act:i.vi.t::ies in relat:i.on to Ecuador are recorded in
its las our reports II the Comm:i ss ion.
122. Dur:incj the period under rev:iew t:he Working Group transmitted t:o the
Government one case under the urgent action procedure wh:ich was repor'ted to
have occurred in 1990. By a letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group
retransmstt:ted to the Government of Ecuador two cases contalning additional
informat;ion rec:e ived fr'om the sources . The Government was a]. so not :if:ied that
one case was considered clarified based on its reply , By the same letter the
Working Group a]. so rem:i. nded the Government of all. outstand :1. rig cases .
123. Having been advised by the Government of Ecuador of an er'ror in the
stat i. st i.ca]. summary of t:he Work :1. ng Group' s report to the Commi. ss ion at Its
forty-sixth session concerning the number of out:standing cases, which should
have read five instead of six, the statistics were adjusted accordingly,
E1CI/l. 4/1991/20
page 2.6
:124. The Working Group received Further inFormation from the parents of two
young brot:hors who allegedly d:Lsappeared in 1.988 while driving their father' s
car outside Quito. The information provided pointed to some irregularities in
the investigation c:arr'ied out by the Ecuadorian authorities • such as the
insistence of t:he police that they had been v:ictims of an accident as opposed
to the opinion of the Red Cross • the Ci. v :1. 1. [ )efence, the “scouts” and persons
who knew the area where the car was found and who discarded the accident
hypothesis. In view of the criticism voiced by several organizations against
the manner in which this case was handled by the police, a Presidential
Commission was estab]. i. shod i.n July 1990 to investigate it. No information has
so ‘Far been received about results of the inquiry by Pros idential
Comm i. ss [ on .
Information and views received from the Government
:1.25. By a note verbale d 'L:ed 12 January :1990, the Permanent Mission of
E:ct.tador to the United Nations Of ice at Geneva prov:i.ded a copy of the death
certificate of a person reported missing by the Work:i.ng Group. As a result
the case was considered clarified.
I. Cases reported to have occ:u rred in 1.990 1.
[ I. Outstanding cases 5
hI, iota]. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 15
iv. Government responses :
(a) Number of cases on which the Cove roment has
provided one or more spoc:if:i.c responses 14
(b) Cases cl arif:ied by the Government' s responses a! 9
V. Cases clarified by non—governmental, sources b/ 1
a! Persons detained and clu].y tried : 2.
Persons arrested and extradited II Peru: 2
Persons dead: 3
Persons living abroad: 1
Persons escaped from detention : ]. .
b/ Body located and identified: 1.
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
1.26 . The act j vi. ties of the Work i.riq Group :i. n relation t:o Ecjy pt: are recorded i.
:1 sixth, seventh and eighth repo rt.s to the Comm iss ion .
E/CN. 4/1991/2.0
page 27
127. The Working Group did not receive any reports of disappearances having
occurred in Egypt during 1990. However, it transmitted to the Government of
Egypt two newly reported cases of disappearance which occurred in 1988 and
1989 As regards the case transmitted on 14 December 1990, in accordance with
its methods of work, it must he understood that the Government could not
respond prior to the adoption of the present report.
128. It may be recalled that in 1986 the Working Group transmitted to the
Government one case of disappearance which was subsequently clarif:Lecl in 1988
on the basis of the Government's reply.
reCelved from reh t e n o i s r f.m!
non— ov
129. The newly reported cases of disappearance were submit ed by a Lawyer.
One case concerned a medical student who was reportedly detained in December
1989 when police were making mass arrests in Zagaz:lg of alleged sympathisers
of Islamic groups. The other case concerned a schoolboy who was allegedly
witnessed being arrested outside his school in A].exandria one year ear].i.er.
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
[ I. Outstand:ing cases 2
III. Total. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 3
IV. Government responses: .
(a) Number of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more speci.fi.c responses 1
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's responses a! 1
Person in pri.son: 1.
El. Salvador .
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
130. The Working Group's activities in relation to El. Salvador are recorded
in its last ten reports to the Commission. 1/
131. During the period under review, the Working Group transm:Ltt:ed 24 newly
reported cases of disappearance II the Government of EL Salvador, of which
seven were reported to have occurred in 1990. Elf ccii of those cases were
transmitted by cable under the urgent action procedure. The Group also
retransmitted to the Government a total. of six cases containing additional.
informa ion received from the sources. As regards the four cases transmitted
by the Working Group on 1.4 Decemh r 1.990, in accordance with its methods of
work, it must be understood that the Government could not respond prior to the
adoption of the present report.
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 28
132 By letters dated 28 June and 14 December 1.990 the Government was
notified that 19 cases were now considered clarified, 13 based on its replies
and six on the basis of further information provided by the source. By the
same letters the Government was informed that one additional case would be
considered clarified provided the sourc:es did not raise objections within six
months .
133. In accordance with the decis:i.on taken at the Working Group's
twenty--seventh session, by letters dated 31 January and 18 July 1990, the
Government was reminded of reports of disappearances transmitted during the
previous six months under the urgent action procedure.
134. In its coinmuni.cat:Lon of 28 June 1990 the Working Group also reminded the
Government of all outstanding cases. By a letter dated 20 September 1990 the
Working Group informed the Government of reports it had received from
non governmental organizations expressing general concern about the situation
in that country and the effect that was havi.ng on the phenomenon of
di sappearance.
135. The Working Group also transmitted to the Government, in a letter dated
20 September 1990, allegations of intimidation, reprisals or harassment
against members of non-governmental organizations, drawing its attention to
paragraph 12 of resolution i990/30 and paragraph 2 of resolution i990/76.
136. By a letter dated 14 December 1990 the Working Group accepted in
principle the invitation of the Government of El Salvador to visit that
country in the course of i991.
Information and vie s .f JtLv f missin persons_orfr
!] i2flt
137. The newly reported cases of di.sappearance were submitted by Americas
Watch, Amnesty International, Archibishop Oscar Romero Christian Legal Aid
(SJC), the non-governmental. Commission on Human Rights i.n El. Salvador (CDHES),
the Commission for the Defence of Human Rights in Central America
(cODE:HuCA) .the Ecumeni.ca]. Movement for Human Rights (MEDH) and the Federation
of Co-operative AssociaL-ions of Stockbreeding Production in El Salvador
(FEI:)E:C00PADEs) .
1.38. The disappearances occurred in the departments of Soyopango, Ahuachap n
and San Salvador, and concerned persons from different professions (among
them: six co operative workers involved in land disputes and active member's of
J::EI)I::COOpAI),:S day labourers, farmers, mechanics, street vendors and
students). The forces which allegedly carried out the arrests were described
as members of the ar'my (1st :rnfantry Brigade, Bataii6n Atlacal and C l FA) of
the security forces (Poii.cia de Hacienda), or si.rnp].y armed men i.n
pia nciothes. The h petitions as well as inquiries addressed
the security forces yielded negative responses or no resu].ts at a].l.
1.39. The sources further repor'ted that six cases had been clarified, four
persons had been released, one was dead and the body of another was found and
identified.
140. In several. reports of disappearance submitted to the Working Group, the
above mentioned organizatlons repor'tod that an increase in violations of human
rights had been noted for the period January to May 1990, involving mainly
E/CIll. 4/1991/20
page 29
death squad killings , 17 cases of capture and disappearance, and an increase
in the use of torture . At least 23 people, Inc lud incj members of the pol it:ical
opposition, academics and trade unionists, were said to have been killed by
death squads which allegedly acted under orders or with the acquiescence of
the armed forces . It was all.. eged that enforced disa.ppearances continued to
occur, without any vis ible attempt on the part of the civil authorities to
pre.vent this practice or to carry out meaningful investigations into the
thousands of cases that had already oc:cu rred .
141 . The cases reported followed a similar pa tern: arrests were allegedly
violent and made without a warrant by soldiers, paramilitary personnel or
members of the security agencies, in uniform or civilian dress and heavily
armed . The perpetrators ‘ certainty that they would never be identified, much
less punished, had reportedly reached such a point that in many cases they
acted with impunity during working hours, in uniform, in front of witnesses
and in o icial vehicles. They reportedly subsequently denied any part in the
acts .
142. Particular concern was expressed about t he fact that the absence of
protectlon for human rights, due to the failure to bring to trial members of
the ar'med and security forces identified as the culprits of crimes, had
reportedly created a climate conducive to the practice of di sappearance . The
armed forces , together wit;h the police under i t;s command (Nat; ional Pol. ice,
National Guard and the Treasury Police) , allegedly evaded, with the complicity
of t;he judicial system, any responsibi 1 it;y for human rights violations
143 . It was rc.ported that threats, persecution and even arrest or murder wc re
used t:o silence witnesses and relatives of disappeared persons . The
relatives, searching for the disappeared person, had allegedly also been
victims of extortion in their ef orts to oJatain information on the whereabouts
oftheir loved ones. It was also reporte.d that, thus far, the remedy of
corpus had not been ef ectiv in c lear'ing up disappearances .
144. It was also repo rted [ hat the Supreme Court had set up a “central office
for i nformat ion on det;ainees ‘‘ . Under the law establ i shi rig this of ice, every
Salvadorian authority was obliged to give written notification, within 24
hours, of any arrest it had carried out; the register could be consulted
by all i nteres tc.d parties , including non gover'nmental organ izat ions . However,
it has been said that this positive step had not been accompanied by other
more er ec lee measures which would prevent t;he practice of enforced
di sappearanc:e . If disappearances t;ook place outs ide t;he formal legal
framework, the central o rice for information on detainees could not act;
moreover, it; has been reported that its compet;e.nce was limited to the city of
San Salvador, and that no penalties had been set out for those who fail ed to
not;ify the. office of a clet;ention .
Information and views received from the Government
145 . [ )uring its thirtieth session, he 1 i in New Yor'k , t;he Work i rig Group met
the Deputy Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations who
re itera ed his Government ‘ s commi t;ment to human rights . He referred t;o human
rights violations perpci.trated by t:he National Liberation Fr'ont Farabundo Marti
(FML.N) which amount;ed to 2,870 cases in 1989 and J 174 during the first; half
of 1990. He also infonned the Working Group of he Government' s intent ion to
create a Regi st;ry of Detainees; t;he proj e.ct; was being examined in
consult:ation with the Adu i sory Services of the Centre for Human Rights . lie
E/CI/I 4/1991/2.0
page 30
final. iy :1. nv i ted the Work :i, ncj Grouj:) to visit: the counL:r ,y , an i. nv i tat ion which
was again extended by the Permanent Representat:i.ve of El Salvador to the
United Illat:ions Of ice at Geneva who meL he Work :i. rig Group dur:i. rig [ ts
thirty ‘Fi st session.
146 . By letters dated JR F( l I”LtaI' y , ]. 1 May , 11 September, and 1 and
4 October :1990, the Government provided :i.nforma ion on cases of d :1. sappearance
pr i i . :i transm:ittecl by the Working Group : one of the m:i. s sing persons was
released and another was in prison, whi 1 e in a further four cases the
inves ‘1: :igat: ion was cont:i. nu :i. rig ,
147 . By notes verba les dated 2:1. June, ‘7 and :1.0 Aucjt.i , 10 arid 19 September,
and 9, :1.2, 13, 16, 22, 23 and 29 November :1.990, Per'manerit M:i ssion provided
iriformat ion i c:onnection wi t:li Comrn:i. ss ion on Human R ight:s reso lut ion 1990/75
iccor'd ing to th:i. s information, fr'om 198:1 to :1988 the FMLN per'petr'ated 14, 444
human riqhts v :i.o lat: ions , 10, 074 of wh i cl i were abduct ions and 4, 370
as sas :i nat ions . For :1.990, the Permanent M:i ss ion communicated further
ir iformat ion ori a cjr'eat number' of inc riclents r'e su i.tirig i ‘i the dmat i of member's
of the armed arid secur:ity forces and civil. ians as wet]. as in important
rnater'ial. damages . The FMLN offensive of 19 l'tlo//ernber' 1.990 r'esuited in the
dea h of 12 civilians and in fl' wound ing of 74 men, women and children as
well as in damage to 31 homes and 36 elect:r'icai. poles in the departments of
Cabaiias, Usutal n, San Salvador, l.a l...ibr r'tad, l.a Paz, Chalatenango, Moraz4n
and San Miguel. ,
1.48 , By a note verbai.e dated 22 Octc:ber' 1990, the permanent M:iss:ion of El.
Salvador to the Un [ ted Nations Office at Geneva forwarded a I. :i st of 71. members
of the armed for'ce s who had been brought to j ust ice on char'ge s of homi. c ide,
r'obbery and rape .
1.49 . By a letter' dated 1. 1. Deceml:)er' 1.990, the Per'mar'ien't: Repr'eserita :i. ye
conveyed to the Working Group an invitation fr'om h :i.s Gover'nmerit to v ri. 5 :i.t the
country in 1.991. .
I. Cases r'epor'ted to have occu r'r'ecl in 1990 7
r I . Outstanding cases 2, 168
I:t' ,:I:. lotal. number' of cases tr'ansm:i. ttecl to the
Government by the Working Group a/ 2, 535
Iv . Government r'e s ponse s :
(a) Number of cases on wh :i. cli t:he Gover'nment
has prov:ided one or' mor'e spec:i.f:i.c: responses 503
( b) Cases c lar:i fried by the Gover'nmerit 5 r'e 5 t:)Or es b/ 309
V. Cases clarified by rii' i''gover'nm ntai. sour'ces 59
a/ Ii a rev ri. s ion oft he f :1. :i. s , i. ‘I: was found that', as of' 14 December
:1990 the total number of cases cons:i.der'ed cia r”:i fri. ed by t:he
Cove i”ni'ne ni. should be 309 and t:he total. number' of cases co ni:i,dered
clar':ified by nongove rnmert:al sources 59. The Cove “rimcint was
inFormed and t'rhe s'La'lr::i.s'L:ics adjus'L.:ed a:'cor'd:incjly .
page 31
hi Persons abducted by rebels : 1
Persons in prison 157
Persons released: 137
Persons at: ].iberty 4
Persons dead: 4
Persons in court: 5
Persons in hospital: 1.
c/ Persons dead: 6
Persons released From detention: 37
Persons at liberty: 4
Persons whose bodies were found and identified: 2
Persons executed : 1
Persons in prison: 9.
:rnforrnation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
150. The Workincj Group' s activities in relation to E:thiopi.a are recorded in
its last nine reports to the Commission. 1/
151 . The Working Group received no reports oF disappearances occurring in
Ethiopia during 1990 but it transrn:itted to the Government one newly reported
case which had occurred in 1989. In its communication dated 28 June 1.990,
the Group also reminded the Government oF all outstanding cases. There has
been no response from the Government, however, and the Working Group regrets
that it is again unable to report to the Commission on the results of any
investigations which might have been carried out.
I nforma tion and views receiv
g j j o
1.52. The newly reported case of disappearance was submitted by both Amnesty
International and the sister of the missing person, and concerned a poi.itic:i.an
whom the security forces arrested in 1989, al].egedly on suspicion of
involvement in an a•• tempted cou p
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
. Outstanding cases 28
3.:J::j: Total. number of cases transmit ed to the
Government by the Working Group 28
IV, Government responses :
(a) Number of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific responses 2
(h) Cases clarified by the Gover'nment' s responses 0
E/CRI. 4/1991/20
page 32
Guatemala
:rnform tion reviewed and transmitted to the Government
153 . ihe Working Group' s activities n relation to Guatemala are recorded in
its previous ten reports to t:he Commission, . / as well as in the report on
the visit to the c:ountry which took place in 1987 (E/CI/I 4/1988/19/AcId 1) ,
154. Dur:i.ng the period under review, the Work:i.ng Group transm:itted 86 newly
reported c:ases of cli. sappearance to the Government of Guatemala, of which 74
were reported to have occurred in i990. Seventy—four of those cases were
transmitted by cable under' the ur'cjent action procedure.
155. By letters d 1ed 28 June and :14 I)ecember, the Government was notified
that four cases were now cons:i.derecl clarified, one based on i.ts rep].i.es and
three on the bas is of further information pr'ovided by the sour'ces . Another
case was cons i.derecl clarified unde rthe six month rule.
:1.56. By letters dated 31 January and 18 July 1990, the Gover'nment was
reminded of reports of disappearance tr'ansmi.tted during the prev:Lous six
months under the urgent action procedure. tn its communication of
28 June 1990, the Working Group also reminded the Government of a]. 1
outstanding cases. Summaries of these were subsequently provided at the
r'equest of the Government. .
:1.57. The Wor'k:i.nq Group also transm:i.tted to the Government allegations of
intimidation, repri sals or harassment aga:inst r'elatives of disappeared
per'sons, drawing to its attention par'aqraph 12 of resolution 1990/30 and
paragraph 2 of resolution 1990/76. Considering th the situation required
prompt inter'vention, such cases were tr'ansmitted by cable. Another case was
nc.mifited by letter.
158. By letter' dated 20 Septeml:er 1.990, the Working Group informed the
Government of reports it had received about developments in Guatemala having
an influence on the phenomenon of di. sappear'ance or on the solution of the
cases not yet clarified, and invited the Government II make any comments on
those allegations . A letter' dated 22 August 1990 was sent to the Government
reminding it of the ohservat ons included in the r'eport on the Group' s miss ion
to the countr'y and requesting information on the subsequent considera ion
given to them. These observa ions refer'red in particular to the efforts that
shoul.d be macic to improve the functioning of the h i bees co rp . S pr'oceclures, to
protect the life of witnesses as well as of persons and organizations
denouncing cases, and to adopt convi.nc :i.ncj measur'es f;() pr'event and clarify
di sappe ii”anceS ‘
In fo !2d J.! o m 9! Ls 29.r s o ii
n :::gP 9
]. 59 . 1'he new cases t:r'ansmi.tt ed dun. rig 1990 we “c submi. tt ed by such sources as
Amnesty :rnte r'national , Americas Watch, the Centr'al Amer'c ian Assoc iat::i.on of
Re l.at: :i. vies of 0:1. sappear'ed Oeta:i. nec s ( ACAFAI:)E ) , t:he Central. Amer':i. can Commi. ss ion
on Human R :i.gh (CODEHUCA) , the ;atc. ma lan Commi ss :1. on on Human R :1. ght s (COHG) ,
the Mutual. Support Gr'oup (GAM) and the Ceritr'e for the .1 yes t:i.qat :i.c:n , Study and
Pr'omot ion of Human Rights (CIEPRODH ). The r'cpor'ted di. s j ranc e 5 occur'rod
rna:i.nl.y in the clepar'tments of Guatemala, El Qui.ch , San Marc:os, Sol.ol and
E/c: N. 41:1991120
page 33
Escurint l . a , and the Forces most often c:ited as responsible were the armed
forces (27) , the nat: ional po ]. ice (6) or armed men in p].ai ic lothe s act:i.ng with
impunity and be 1 ieved to be 1:Lnked to government Forces (41) .
160. It was a]. so reported that, after an i. nit:i.a]. decrease when Pres :i .clent
Cerezo came to of ice in 1986, repo 1s on human rights abuses, including
d ri. sappearances, continued throucjhout; his term of of :1. cc and escalated sharp].y
during 1989 and the first months of :1990. Extrajudicial executions and
disappearances were said to have primari ].y af ected popu].ar organizations,
peasants, trade unions and students' assoc:iations . Often, the motive appeared
to be the belief hat the victim had tries with underground guerrilla
organiz tions.
161 . Ac:cord incj to the reports received, the constant threatening and
intimidation of rela .ives and popular c rganizations such as the Associ 1iori of
University Students (AEU), the Mutual. Support Group (GAM) , the rt at:i.ona].
(or
EICN. 4/1991.120
page 34
information and views received from the Government
167. In the course of 1990. the Government provided replies on seven cases of
di sappear 'an ce . in two of them the Government: reported t:haL he per'son had
been released and this inf'nation was cc:nflrmed by the sources; in one it
stated that t:he person was living with he r family, The Government further
reported that other four cases were being invest gated by a par'ticular
judge.
168 , The Government al so rep]. led to a prompt intervention conc:er'ni.ncj a case
of thre Ls, nd i ca I ng that the police and judicial authorities had been
advised to inve sticjate the case and to g i. ye protection to the. person concerned .
:169 . By dl ff erent notes ver'hales the Government, in accordance w:i. th
reso].ution 1990/75, tr'ansmitted information on the activities c'f irreular
armed groups as a resu it of which approximately 42 persons, some of them
civilians, were said to have been ki. :1. led and about: 35 other's i.nj ured in
diFferent depar'tments of the countr'y . Other incidents, such as the
destr'ucti.on of electricity py].ons, houses and br'idcjes as well as the setting
on fire of vehi.cles, were also mentioned . RIo cases of disappearance, however',
were r'eported .
I . Cases repor'ted t )D have occur'r'ed in 1990 74
:i:i. Outs and ing cases 2, 972
III . Total. number of cases transmitted to the
Gover'nment by the Working Gr'oup 3 ,086
iv . Government: responses
(a) Number of cases on which the (over'nment
has prov :ldecl one or' more spec: i. Fl C: r'esponses 125
(b) Cases c lar:i Pied by the Cove rnment ‘ $
responses / 4].
V. Cases c].ar:ified by non gover'nmentai sources .! 1 73
/ Persons dead : 3
erso n s i. n pr :1. son : 4
Persons rd iased: 20
Persons not deta:i. ned i. ii the c:ount:ry : 1
Persons at ].ihe I::y : 13 .
b/ Persons repor'ted dead : 27
Persons whose bod :1. es were found arid :i.clont: if led : 13
Per'sons in prison: 1
Persons r'eleased : 23
Persons at ],i.ber'ty : 9
. 41:1.991/20
page 35
Guinea
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
170. The Working Group's activit:ies in relation to Guinea are recorded in its
Ust eight reports to the Commission. 1/
171 . No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990 By
let er dated 28 June 1990, Working Group reminded the Government of the 21
outstanding cases transmitted i.n the past. No response whatsoever has been
received to date.
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
[ I. 0utstand ng cases 21
II I. Total. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 28 ,
I V. Government responses 0
V. Cases clarified by non governrnenta1
sources / 7
/ Persons dead: 7.
Haiti
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
172. The Working Group's ac:tivities in relation to Haiti are recorded in its
last e:i.ght reports II the Comm:i.ss ion.
173 . Nc) cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1.990.
However, by letter da d 28 June 1990, the Group transmitted a new case of
alleged disappearance which had occurred in Oc:tober 1989 . In the same letter
the Working Group r'eminded the Government of the 25 outstanding cases
transmit ed in the past. No response whatsoever has been received to date.
In :...n n c I view r •c from af missir person or from
orgar !a o
174 . new c< se of enforced or involuntary disappearance which had allegedly
occur'red in 1989 was submitted to ‘the Working Group by the Ha:itian Centre for
Human Rights . Non governmental. organ:i.zati.ons also alleged that arrests were
generally car'ried out [ n an almost clandestine manner which amounted to
abduc:tion . Prisoners were heiricj detained in unacknowledged places of
detention and no registration records of detainees were kept.
E:ICN. 4/1.991/20
page 36
Statisti
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
:r:t. Outstanding cases 17
. Total. number of cases t:ransmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 26
I V. Government responses :
(a) Number of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific responses 13
(b) Cases clarified by the Government' s
responses &“ 9
a/ Persons at liberty: 4
Persons in prison: 5.
Honduras
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
1.75. The Working Group' s activities in relation to Honduras are recorded in
its last nine reports to the Commission. 1/
176. During the period under review, the Wor king Group transmitted two newly
reported c:ases of disappearance to the Government of Honduras, of which one
was reported to have occurred in 1.990. One of those cases was transmitted by
cable under the urgent action procedure. The Group a].so retransmitted to the
Government one case conta:i.nincj add it:ionai. information received from the
sources.
1.77. By letters dated 28 June and 20 September 1990, t:he Government was
notified that seven cases were now considered clarified based on its replies
and one on the basis further information provided by the source.
178. In accordance with the decision taken the Working Group's
twenty--seventh session, by letter dated 1.8 JuJ.y 1990 the Government was
reminded of a report of disappearance transmitted during the previous six
months under the urgent action procedure.
:179 . In its communication of 28 June 1990, the Work :ing Group also reminded
the Government of a].]. outstand incj cases. By a let er dated 20 September
:1.990, the Working Group informed Government of reports it had received
from non governmental, organizations expressing general. concern about he
situation in that country and the effect developments were having on the
pract :1. ce of disappearance .
180, The Work i.ncj Group a]. so transm:i.tted to the Government, by let ers dated
28 June and 20 September i990, allegations of intimi4 ' ion, reprisals or
flE: n-i acjai. n st members of non c;overnmenta 1 organ :i.zat :1. on s , ci rawi. ncj to its
at.tent ion paragraph 12 of reso lut ion 1990/30 and paragraph 2 cf resolution
1.990/76.
E/CN 4/1991/2()
page 37
181 . The case :ransmi.tt ed in 1990 were submitted by Amne sty International
and by a relative of the missing person. General rrFormation on
clisap earances and further detai is on cases were submitted by Amnesty
, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Honduras
(CODEH) , the Comm:i.ttee of Rei.at:i.ves of [ ):i. sappeared Detainees in Honduras
(COFADEH) and the Central American Association of Relatives of
Detained Di. sappeared (ACAFADE) .
182 National and i. t;eat:i.criai. non governmental, organizations reported that;
cases of disappearances which had occurred in previous years had not been
properl.y investigated s o that; t he fate of t:he miss :i.ng persons was sti. 1.1.
unknown and those responsible ‘For such crimes had not been brought
justice . The Commi.t:tee of Relatives OF Di. sappeared Detainees in Honduras had
asked Preside o form a coi'nrniss ion to investigate the fate of missing
persons and had offered to contribute data, names and other evidence available
to help the (love ment in its investigations.
1.83 . The non governmental. orcjan:i.zati.ons expressed particular' concern over the
case of trade'—un onist and human rights activist Reyrialdo ZCii iga, president of
the Yoro (Saii Pedro Sui.a) local. chapter' of the Committee for' the Defence of
Human Rights in Honduras (CODEIl) , an organization which has submitted numerous
cases of di sappearanc:e to the Working Group, who was found shot dead on
25 January 1990 in San Pedro Sul a aC er having been under surveillance by
po I. ice agents , and the case of t:he legal. adviser' of CODEH, R moi'i dc J'escts
Madarusga, ki. lied on 18 July 1.990 a:ilegediy by o icial forces or groups
linked to them. The repor'ts str'essed that these at:tacks , as well, as numer'ous
cases of intimidation and death threa s against member's of human rights and
related or'gani.zations and pc:l.i.ti.c:al. and trade—union activists, were committed
by t military ‘For'ces w:i.th the acqulescence of the civilian authorities.
Ihese authori.ties had never' punished the perpetrators of such v:i.oi.ati.ons of
human rights, and consequently they persisted in their activities .
Information and views r'ecei.ved from the Government
184. At its thirty'—fir'st session, the Working Group met with r'epresent:atives
of the Government of Honduras who conveyed to the Work :ing Group the c:ommi.tment
of their Government j human rights and stressed cons i. stency of i. 1s
policies for the respect of human r'i.ghts and democr'acy, in spite of the
soc:ial, economic and political problems aFFecting the conditions of life of
the majority of the population . i”he ri.cjhts to liFe, to physical. and
psychological. integrity, to security, to freedom of express ion, freedom oF
as soc:i.ati.on and freedom oF assembly wer'e enshrined in the Constitution and on
this basis, the President of Honduras had stated that respect for human rights
wou Id be the fundamental. pri.nc i pie of his Gover'nment: , The r'epr'esentat :1. ye s oF
the Government r'equested the Working Group II consider c:I.ar'if''ied 50 cases oF
d:Lsapj:earance for' which a reply had been provided . The members of the Work:incj
Group explained t:hat a dec s ion on those replies had been taken In accor'danc e
with the Working Group' s methods of wor'k .
:185 . The representatives oF the Government stressed the meagr'e resour'ces
avai. labl.e to the Inte Agency Comm:i. s s ion on Human R :i.qht:s fo “the inve si: :i.cjat ion
oF cases and the training oF its per'sonnei and expressedi the hope that their
Government would receive suppor't fr'om the pr'ograi'nme oF Adv i sor'y Serv ices of
E/CPJ. 4/1991/20
pacje 38
the Centre for Human Rights for further tra:i.ning of personnel. i.n human rights
mc ters They added th t he judiciary was also making serious efforts to
investigate cases nf di sappear'ance and other human rights vioiat:ions and,
although in many cases decks ion had not yet been reached, it was
expected that: fully justified dec::Lsions would be t:aken for such cases .
:1.86. With respect t:he compensation due ‘l:o the relatives of mlss ng persons
in two cases in which the Inter -American Court had ruled that the Government
of Honduras was responsible, the representatives explained that the
compensation had not yet been paid because Congress had delayed in voti. ncj the
l.evant budgetary :i. tern . II is had caused the coinpensat ion i ni. tially agreed to
decrease in value due to inflation; Court. t:hen clec:i.ded on a figure which
was more than double the earlier one. The Government was in the process of
negotiating, because the amounts named by the Court af ected the finances of
the country .
187. By note verbal.e dated 29 March 1990, the Government of Honcluras provided
the Working Group with on seven cases for which a reply had already been
provided in 1.989 The new reply indicated that he missing persons had been
released after having been imprisoned under criminal charges and then
acquit ed by a mu. itary t:ribunal. ,
188. By note verbale da ed 10 September 1990, • ha Gover'nment provided the
Workinq Group with an of icial. statement: and a copy of an agreement reached
among differ'ent groups concerned with agrarian matters. In its statement, the
Government pointed out tha . the agreement was an example of how peaceful.
negoc i tion could fos er development while violence oft en led only II death.
1.89. A representative of the Government met with the Working Group at its
thirty-second session sess on and submitted a document on behalf of the
Chairman of t:he Inter——Agency Comm:i. ss ion on Human Rights which st:ated that a
number of cases shou i.d be considered clarified because internal remedies had
not been exhausted in relat: ion to them and that t:he i. nforination provided by
the sources had not been verified, and should therefore not he considered
admissible , In addition, the representative of the Government confirmed that
the mpenset:ion referred to above had st:i. 11. not been paid .
190. In reply t:o this statement, the Work incj Group, by let er dated
14 December 1990, reminded the Government of its methods of work of which the
Commission had taken note at its forty fourth session. Accord:lng to them, to
trar smi a case to the Government the Working Group required only the bas Ic
‘ data ment: ioned i. n paracjraph 21 whi. ch shou lcl al low the Gove rnmnent to uncle t”t.ake
the necessary invest iga ions. Regarding the clues ion of dornest ic remedies,
the Working Group requ i.recl only that the source mci :i.cate the steps takeri to
determine t:he fate or wher-eabouts of the missing person or give an md :i.cation
that ef ‘orts to resort to cit::me 51: ic remed i.e s had bee n frustrated or' were
inconclusive. tn i:iiis r'espect, the Working Group is inspired by its
humani. tar-ian approach and is not bound by t:he mec::hani. sms fore seen in cii. f erent
tin i ted I/iat ions instruments conc:erni ng t:he exhaust: f domestic remedies .
E:/cI/I 4/199:L12()
page 39
:t . ses ro.ported to have occurred in 1990 1
I:i:. Outstand ing cases 126
:i::r:i. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Work :incj Groui: ].90
tv. Government responses:
(a) I/Iumber of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific responses 122
(b) Cases clarified by the Government' s responses /29
V. Cases clarified by non governmental sources P1 35
*/ This case was clarified in 1990.
a! Persons in prison: 4
Persons at ].iberty: 15
Persons tried and released: 7
Persons found dead: 2
Person deported : 1 .
b/ Persons found dead: 8
Persons released from detention: 12
Persons at ].:i.berty: 12.
Persons escaped from a camp: 1
Perscns deporLed: 1
Refugee forcibly returned to his country of ori.g:i.n: 1.
I nd i a
191 . The Working Group' s activities in relation to India are recorded in its
last three reports to the Commission. 1!
193. During the period under review, the Working Group transmit cc l 15 newly
reported t: ases of disappearance to the Government of India, of which four were
reported to have occurred in 1990. The latter cases were transmitted by cab].e
under the urgent action procedure. The Group also retransmitted II the
Government a tota]. of ].6 cases containing additional informat:i.on received from
the sources. As regards the eight cases retransmitted by the Working Group on
14 December 1990, in accordance wit:h it:s methods of work, it must be
understood that the Government could not resi:ond prior II the adoption of the
present report.
193. By letters dated 28 June, 20 September and 14 December 1990, the
Government was informed that, on basis cf its replies, six cases would be
considered clarified provided that, within six months of he date on which the
Government' s reply was communic 'Led II them, t:he respective ‘Families did not
make any observation which requ I red further cons Lderation by the Group. Four
of those cases were subsequently recorded as clarified . Four cases were
retransmitted wit;h the fami. ly ‘ s comments on the Government ‘ s reply.
E/CRI. 4/1991/20
page 40
194. In accordance with t:he decision taken at the Working Group's
twenty . seventh session, by letters dated 31 January and 18 July 1990 the
Government was reminded of reports of disappearance traflsmifi•ed during t:he
previous six months under the urgent action procedure.
1.95. In its communi cat ion of 28 3 1990 the Working Group a]. so reminded
the Government of all outstanding casos, and in response to a subsequent
request rom the Governmnt forwarded the relevant: summar:i.es .
196. By its let er dated 20 September 1990, the Working Group also informed
the Government of reports it had received about developments i.n India having
an influence on the penomenon of disappearance or on the solution of the cases
not yet clarif:i.ed, and invited the Government to make comments on those
allegations.
197, On 20 September 1.990, the Working Group also communicated one newly
reported case of disappearance in Sri Lanka for which the Indian Peace -'keeping
Force was al].eged].y respons:i.b].e. By deciding to bring it to the attention of
the :ti,dian Government, the Working Group, motivated by the purely humanitarian
obj ective of i.ts mandate, hoped that i.nvestigati.ons would he faci. litated with
a view to clarifying the fate and whereabouts of the person reported missing.
In accordance with the Group's methods of work, however, that case is not
included in the statistical summary for India. :
. l.O f. 1 i.n
1.98. Most of the newly reported cases of disappearance were submitted by
Amnesty International and/or Sikh human rights groups, and all had occurred in
the Punjab Three of the missing persons, who had reported].y been he].d in
unacknowledged detention from May 1989 to March 1990, were last seen as they
were being driven out of a Central. Reserve Pol. ice Force (CRPF) camp in
Amritsar, at the very moment a warrant officer was in the camp office to
implement an order from the judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for
their release.
1.99. According to reports of a general. na Lire received during the year, the
Indian police does not record all arrests, and there were al. legations that
both pol. i. c:e and parami ]. itary forces had been g i veti far-reach :i. ng powers in the
states of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
200 , Furthermore, as human rights groups were becoming active • t:he Government
had started to detain relatives of those who testified about viola . One
report c:ited the case of the unc:ie of one missing person who was arrested
because he had supplied information a human rights group. He was detained
fer 1.5 days, during which he was allegedly tortured, but: no charges were
brought against h:i.m and local publi.c pressure had caused him to he released.
201 , With its letter dated 26 October 1.990, Amnest:y International. forwarded a
copy cf It s recent report entitled “Amnesty . [ nt rnat onal ‘ s Current Concerns
in lid ia'' . According tc: the report, estab]. :1 shed :l.c cj i1 guarantees had been
suspended in response to increased armed opposit:i.on facing the Government in
several, parts of the country , notably in states of Punj ab and Jammu and
Kashmi r . The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, for example, which applied in
several, north eastern states and now a]. so i. ri the state of Jammu and Kashmi r ,
gave the secur'i ty ‘Forces the power 1:0 make arrests without warrant and granted
them immunity from prosecut:Lon . [ )et:a:i.nees were oFt en not: brought before
- .
1 % . :
- :
E/cN.4/1991/20
page 41
magistrates within 24 hours of arrest, as Indian law required, and access to
lawyers and relatives was denied during interrogation, when detainees were
held incommunicado. In an increasing number of .cases reported from Punjab and
Jammu and Kashunir, the habeas corpus remedy had proved ineffective, and
Amnesty International's report again stressed that that legal remedy was not
always available to many poor and illiterate victims since habeas corpus
petitions could only be filed in the High Courts.
202. Amnesty International was particularly concerned at the detention
without trial or charge of several thousand political prisoners under
“anti—terrorist” or preventive detention laws, and the report alleged that
many disappearances occurred after arrest. In its report, Amnesty
International pointed out that the two main laws permitting preventive
detention in India — the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, and the Jammu and
Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 — permit up to one year's detention without
trial or charge.
Information and views received from the Government
203. By letters dated 17 January, 30 April, 6 July, 10 September and
29 November 1990, the Government provided information on cases of
disappearance previously transmitted by the Working Group. The Government
advised that two missing persons were presently in Jail, one was in police
custody, two others had been released and were now living in their respective
villages, and one missing person had been killed “in an encounter”; that in
fivecases the Punjab police had no information on the missing persons, in
nine cases the missing persons had neither been arrested nor were in the
custody of the State Police Department, and that investigations could not be
made in another two cases due to incomplete addresses. At the time of the
reported disappearance in September 1989 of the person now in police custody,
fears were expressed that he might have been killed by police after his
alleged escape from detention. According to the Government reply, he was
rearrested in June 1990.
Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 . 4
II. Outstanding cases 90
. ( III. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 107
! IV. Government responses:
(a) Number of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific responses 35
(b) Cases clarified by Government's
responses W . 17
Persons whose bodies were identified: 13
Persons in prison: 2
Persons released: 2.
E/CN. 4/:1991/20
page 42.
Inclones ia
:tnformation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
204 . The Work incj Group' s activities in relat::i.on to Indonesia are recorded in
its last ten reports to the Commission 1/
205. During the per:i.od under review, the Working Group did nott rarisrnit any
newly reported cases of di. sappearance to the Government of Indones La, but
ret:ransm:i.ttecl two cases reflecting the source' s c:omrnents on the Government' s
reply.
206. By letters dated 28 June and 20 September 1990, the Government was
notified tha Lwo cases were now considered clarified, one based on its repi.y
and the ot:her on the bas i. s of further i.nformat:i.on provided by the source .
207. In its communication of 28 June 1990, the Working Group also reminded
the Government of a]. 1 outstanding c:ases ,
nan c eive romreativ s per son 2J. :9
t i4
208 . In a letter dated 12 July 1.990, the source provided the respective
Falfli. ly s comments on the Government s reply that two iii. ss ing persons had been
released from detention on 18 August 1984. According to the family, the two
brothers were known to be still in Laksusda/Bakors .anasda custody on the
alleged date of their release.
209 . By its commun:Lc:at:i.on dat:ed 3 September 1990, Amnesty International.
advised the Group that i had learned that one missing person was in j ai. 1 and
might: face charges of a]. lecjed involvement with the res i stance . He had last
been seen in May 1989 in the custody of the security forces .
2l() . During t:he year, the Working Group also received reports of a general.
nature from Amnes y International, as well as from two other non governme ntal
organizations , the Canada Asia Work [ ncj Group and t:he Acheh/Sumatra I/IaL .na l
Liberation Front. Concern was expressed th 't no mechanism yet existed for t:he
systematic: publi.c reporting of human ri.cjhts violations, includ:i.nq those on
East Timor.
2.1.1 . I/ o written information on the human ri.cjht:s situation i. n East Ti.mor had
emerged since the papal vis it of October 1989, and there was a]. l.eged ly
j usti.fiabl.e fear that those who did report: such violat:Lons would themselves
become victims. The Indonesian Government' s continued restrictions on access
to East: Ti.rnor by i.nternat i.onal. human rights observers severe ].y c:crnprom [ sed the
r:Lght to promote human rights in tha . rritory . Many of the persons who had
been reported as di. sappeared had a]. j.E cJed : iy been held i. ii unacknowledged
mi 1 :L t:ary or p01 ice detention
E/C 4/1991/20
page 43
i . Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding casc s 38
I:r.I. Total number of cases transmitted t:o the
Government by the Working Group 73
Iv. Government responses
(a) r Iumher of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specif:i.c responses 27
(b) Cases clarified by the
Government's responses 23
V. Cases c:larified by non-governmental.
sources ].2
L / Persons detained in prison: 6
Persons currently residing in named villages: 17.
Persons found to be alive: 8
Persons in prison: 2
Persons killed: 2.
.2/ Three cases clarified by both the Government and the source
are included in IV(b) only.
r n (Islamic Republic of)
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
212. The Working Group's activities in relation the Islami.c Repuh].:Lc of
:tran are recorded in its last nine reports to the Commission. 1/
213 . During the peri.od under review, the Working Group transmittecJ 58 newly
reported cases of disappearance to the Government of Iran, seven of whi.ch were
reported to have occurred in 1990. One of these cases was transmit ed by
cable dated 25 July 1990, under the urgent action procedure. However, by
let er dated 20 September 1990, the c;overnment was not::Lfied that this case had
been considered clarified by the Group on the basis of information received
from the source. As regards the 45 newly reported cases t:ransmitted by the
Working Group on 14 December 1990, in accordance with its methods of work, it
must be understood that the Gove rnment could not respond prior to the adoption
of the present report.
214. Iii accordance with the decision taken at the Working Group's thirtieth
session, by letter dated 28 June 1990, t:he Working Group reminded
Government of the 393 outstanding c:ases transmit ed in t:he past, in the
earnest hope that all possible efforts would he made II clarify them.
E/cN.4/1991/20
page44
Information and views received from relatives of missing persons or from
non-qovernmental organizations
215. OEe newly reported cases of disappearance were submitted by the People's
Plojahedin Organization of Iran and a relative. According to the information
submitted, these persons had disappeared after they were arrested by members
of the Pasdaran and the Islamic Revolutionary Committees (Komitehs).
216. Since its last report to the Commission on Human Rights, the Working
Group has received several reports about arrests of persons suspected of
political activities in circumstances which allegedly do not permit the
relatives of the arrested person to be informed either of the arrest or of the
person' s subsequent whereabouts. It was reported that many such arrests were
carried out, without written authorization of the public prosecutor, by the
Islamic Revolutionary Committees (Komitehs) and the Pasdaran members. Such
detainees were said to be held in incomunicado detention, frequently for
extended periods of solitary confinQment. OEey were reportedly completely
isolated from any contacts with their family, friends, legal counsel and
outside medical attention. .
Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 7
II. Outstanding cases 450
III. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 451
IV. Government responses:
(a) Number of cases on which the Government has
provided one or more specific responses 0.
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's responses 0
V. Cases clarified by non—governmental sources W 1
W Person in prison: 1.
ira . .
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
217. OEe Working Group's activities in relation to Iraq are recorded in its
last six reports to the Commission. j/
218. During the periodS under review, the Working Group transmitted 464 newly
reported cases of disappearance to the Government of Iraq. Three hundred and
fifty three cases were transmitted by a letter dated 28 June 1990 and
concerned cases of persons who disappeared in late August 1988; 111 cases
were transmitted by a letter dated 20 September 1990 concerning persons who
disappeared between 1978 and 1987. .
E:/CN 4/:I.99:i./2()
page 45
2.19 . By a letter dated 2... 8 June :1990, the Government was not:if:i.ed that 31.
cases were now cons :i.dereci clan fi. ed based on 1. ts rep]. Ic s. By the same letter
:he Government was informed that three fu rt.her cases would be c:c:ns :idered
c: lan. f :1. ed provided the sources ci id not. raise obj ect ions with in 5]. x months . By
a letter dated 20 September :1990, the Working Group retransm:i. tted five cases
on which new informat:i.on had beeri rec:e i ved from the sources .
220. ir'th i”mor'e , t:he f:i. les of the Working Group were revised and it was
found that f i ye cases had been transmitted erroneously 1.0 the past due II
misspelling of names . The stat is ic s were ad j u stod and the Government
intormed accordingly .
221 , In its communication of 28 June 1.990 the Wc>rkinq Group also reminded the
Government of all outstanding cases. By a letter da ed 30 November 1990 the
Working Group informed the Government of reports it had received from
non governmental organizat:ions express ing general concern about the situation
in that country and the ef ect developments were having on the phenomenon of
disappearance . ‘
222. By a note verbai.e dated 8 May 1.990 the at ention of the Permanent
Mission of Iraq to the united Nations Of' ice at Geneva was drawn II the
letters by the Chairman of the Working Group on Enforced or' Involuntary
Disappearances dated 8 and 29 July and 9 December 1988. by which the Group
transm:i.tted to the Permanent Mission a full description and a list of names
concernlng the alleged disappearance of 2,280 Barzani Kurds, indicating that
all of them had rcport:ecl].y disappeared on 30 July 1983 , Cop:i.es of the
above-mentioned letters of the Chairman as well as another copy of the summary
descr:i.pt:ion of the reported cli. sappear'arices, together with a detailed computer'
print-out of the 2,280 cases was a ached.
223 . Also by a let er dated 20 September 1.990 the Working Gr'oup emphas:i.zed
that accor'ding io its methods of work as endorsed by the Commission on Human
Rights, it could transmit cases of disappearance on:Ly to Gover'nments of
countries in which they were alleged to have occurred . Since the Working
Group had received reports complying w:i.th its cr:i.ter'ia of aclmiss:i.bi. l.ity for'
all of the 2,280 Barzani i
EICN. 4/1991/20
page 46
225. A further 353 cases were submitted by the League of Kurdi sh Jurists and
concerned male Iraqi Kurds, mostly civilians, who were allegedly abducted by
Iraqi armed forces in late August 1988. Acc:ording •L:o the report, the Iraqi.
army had moved on 27, 29 and 30 August into the Bore Gara and Rekan regions in
the district of Amadya and indiscriminately arrested entire families . The
men, mostly farmers and sheep breeders, were separated from their respective
famil. :i.es arid trinsferred to the Dahok Qa ucast:leht, where they were al legecily
tortured and beaten by military intei.i. igenc.. e during interrogation sess ions,
while members of thei.r fami.l [ es were taken to the Baherk resettlement camp
near Arbi.L Most of the men arrested were KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party)
supporters and were reportedly seen for the last time on 1 September 1.988.
226. Several reports of a general nature were received during the year from
the International Organization for the Defence of Human Rights in Iraq, Middl.e
East W ch and Amilesty International.
227. It was reported that most Iraqis arrested for political or security
offences disappeared during a certain time. When this occurred, the relatives
assumed that the missing persons were in detention. However, inquiries
generally went unanswered and sometimes they entailed the arrest of other
fami. l.y members or friends.
228. Reference was made to constitutional. order no. 840 section 1, article
42, law no. 225 published by the Iraqi Government on 11 July 1986 in the Al
Wacjaae Newsletter by whi.::h a person could be detained by the security forces
withcut a warrant for, inter alia, expressing opinions or criticizing the
Government, holding books or other printed material or even listening to or
reading news From foreign media.
229. The number of missing persons was estimated to be in the thousands.
The most massive instance of disappearance known to have occurred in Iraq was
that involving the Kurdish Barzani. tribesmen taken from c:amps at Qushtapa and
Diyana in Arhil province on 30 July 1983. Two thousand two hundred and eighty
such cases were transmitted to the Government by the Work:Lng Group, with some
organizations suggesting that there were many more cases of disappearance of
Kurd Barzani. tr:lbesmen For which information was incomplete. Thi. s was due
to the fact that rei.a i.ves and the popui 'L;ion in general Feared reprisals if
they reported cases ei.gth II the authorities or to international organizatlc)ns .
230. :tt was a:lleged that, in fact, the most relatives dared to do was to seek
information through personal. channel.s s:i.nce the denunc:i.ati.on of human rights
viol Iions would put at risk the security of the person presenting the
report. Such an atmosphere of insecurity explained the refusal. of witnesses
to testify and the reluctance of lawyers to denounce cases of d.isapparance.
23 1 . One of the organizat tons ment:ioned above expres sod particular conc:e rn
about the Iraqi Kurds who were living in Turkey and were forced II return to
iraq ar or several. amnest:i.es had been granted by the latter since September
1988 . However, numerous reports had since been received on the cii. sappearance,
torture and execution of Kurds and other Iraqis who had sought () benefit from
amnesty laws .
Information and views received from t:he Government
232. By a note verbal e dated 10 May 1990, Permanent Mission of Iraq
the United Nations Of ice at Geneva prov:i.ded 1.7 replies on cases conce rn: [ nq
persons who had been released from prison, others who were sentenced to
. 4/:I.99i./20
page 47
Imp :1. sonment , one person who was sentenced to death and another who was k ili.od
durincj an encounter with the police. Five c:f those replies concerned cases
that were never submitted to the Working Grcup. A Further t:hree cases cou:td
not be ident.if:i.ed as having been transmitted by the Work incj Group to the
Government of Iraq . In three cases mentioned above the Working C roup decided
to apply the six month rule (see F:/cN. 4/1988/19, para. 27) .
233. By a note verbale dated 10 January 1990 the Permanent Mission replied to
a letter' sent by the Working Grt:: up on 15 Decernbei” 1989 concerning an er'r'or in
. statistical summary (E/cN , 4/1990/13, par'a. 192). The Mission objected to
the number' of di. sappearanc:es (2, 876) cited in the above rnent necI letter on
the grounds tha the maj ority (2, 280) the persons who allegedly di sappeared
belonged to the Barzani. c:lan (E/Ctll. 4/1989/18, para. 188) , It also st:ated that
since no dates of disappearance or arrest were specified it was impossible
give a reply on those cases which consec uent:l.y should not be included among
the cases of disappearance. If precise and detailed information was provided
on the remain:i.ncj 596 cases, the competent Iraqi. author'i.ties would continue to
co—oper te with the Working Group with a view to providing the requested
replies.
234. By notes verba].es dated 10 May and 20 June 1990, the Permanent Mi.ss:i.on
provided the foilow:Lng replies concerning the Barzani clan:
“The ar'eas of Iraq which are inhabited by the Bar'zan:i. clan were the
scene of a number of ml itary oper'ations during the Iraq”Ir'an war when
Irani.an forces attacked the areas of Haj Umr'an, Banjwi.n, Choar'ta and
Sidikan in norther'n Iraq in 1982, 1983 and 1984. That clan collaborated
with the invading forces and facilitated their' entry into those areas
after providing them with all the reconnaissance i.nfor'ma inn that they
required. The cl.an also actual.iy participated in the battles aga:i.nst
Iraqi military units; as a result of which many of its members were
ki. I. led.
“When Iraqi. Forces recovered control. over those ar'eas and Forced t:he
Iranian forces to retreat across the :traqi Frontier into Iran, many
member's of that clan fled with the r'etreati.ng hosti.l.e forces. In vi.ew
oF these events, during which many of them were killed dur'ing the
bat les and some of them fl.ed to Iran, i.t is di.ffi.cul.t for the Irac i.
authorities to investigate the truth of the allegations contained in the
note received from the Centre for Human Rights and, at the pr'esent: time,
it is imnposs:ihie to ascertain whereabouts of the persons who
allegedly disappeared.” .
235. The Per'manent Mission suggested that for' the above mentioned reasons the
cases of disappearance oF 2,280 persons from the Barzani clan should be
closed. It further suggested that the Iranian author'i.ti.es should be contacted
to ascertain the ‘Fate of the Barzani Kurds who had allegedly disappear'ed. The
International Committee of the Red Cr'oss could also be requested to make
r'epresentations to the Iranian side for the same purpose.
236. The Wor'king Group met a representat:i.ve of the Iraqi. Gover'nmerit during
its thirty-second session at which time he reiter 'ted the above-mentioned
position of hi.s Government.
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 48
Statistic
i:. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
El. Outstanding cases 3. .420
i i i Toted. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 3 504
IV. Government responses :
(a) Number of cases on which the
Government has provided one or more
specific responses 134
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's
responses / 67
V. Cases clarified by non-governmental sources 17
a! Persons living abroad: 3
Persons in prison: 2 .
Persons re].eased from detention: 27
Persons executed: 10
Persons at liberty: 18
Persons not detained in t:he country: 3
Persons dead: 4.
b/ Persons executed: 4
Person released from detenti.on: 4
Person dead: 1
Persons at liberty: 8.
Lebanon
Information reviewed and transmitted to t:he Government
237. The Working Group's activities in relation to Lebanon are recorded in its
last seven reports to the Commission, 1/
238. No cases of ctisappearanc:e were reported to have occurred i.n 1990.
However, by a letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the
Government of the 2.42. outstanding cases transmitted in the past . The Government
has provided no information on any oF those cases; the Group, therefore • i. $
st:i. 1.1 unable to i' -epo rt on the fate or whereabouts of the mi. ss ing persons .
E/Cl/J. 4/1991/20
page 49
I . C ses report:ed to have occurred in 1.990 0
II. Outst:anding cases 242
1:1:1: , Tot ]. r,nber of cases transvni.tt ed to the
Government by the Work ing Group 247
I V. Government responses 0
V Cases clarified by non governmental sources . 5
a! Persons released: 5.
Mauritania
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
239. During the current year the Working Group transmitted to the Government
of Mauritania. under the urgent action procedure, one case of enforced or
involuntary disappearance which reportedly occurred in 1990.
I i j J:y.9 s
n 9vern atio
240. The Working Group also received from Amnesty International reports of a
general nature alleging that many people belonging to the tIHal...pt.liaarlu ethnic
groups in the south of the country had been the victims of summary executions
and torture carried out by gover'nment forces and the Haratine militia.
However, Amnesty Internat i.onal has on].y produced one concrete case of
disappearance , i.e. the case of a 21—year-old man taken away by members of the
National. Guard i.n a vi].].age in south Mauritania during a nightly curfew.
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 1
:t:r. Outstanding cases 1
III. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 1
IV. Government responses 0
Mexico
:tnformation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
241. The Working Group's activ:i.ti.es in relation to Mexico are recorded in i.ts
second and fourth to tenth reports II the Commission. 1/
242. During the peri.ocl under review, the Working Group transmitted five newly
reported cases of disappearance to IIe Government of Mexico, of which three
were repor-ted to have occurred in 1990. Three of those cases were transmitted
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 50
by cable under the urgent action procedure. The Group also retransmit' ed to
the Government a total oF three cases containing additional information
received from the sources. As regards the two cases transrnit cc l by the
Working Group on 14 December 1990, in accordance with its methods of work, it
must be understood that' the Government cou].d not respond prior to the adoption
of the present report.
243. By letters dated 28 June 1990 the Government was notified that one case
was now considered clarified based on its reply. By letters dated 20
September and 14 December 1990 the Government was informed that three
additional cases would be considered clarified provided the sources did not
raise objections within six months.
244. In its communication of 28 June the Working Group also reminded the
Government of all, outstanding cases.
245. The Working Group also transmitted to the Government, by letters dated
28 June and 20 September 1990, allegations of intimidation, reprisal.s or
harassment against members of non-governmental organizations, drawing to its
attention paragraph 1.2 of resolution 1.990/30 and paragraph 2 of resolution
1990/76.
246. By its letter of 20 September 1990, the Working Group also informed the
Government of reports it had received about developments in Mexico having an
influence on the phenomenon of disappearance or on the solution of the cases
not yet clarified, and invited the Government to make any comments on those
allegations
s s received 1L na Pi 9r. . .f
a2ra 2n
247. The new cases transmit ed to the Government durSi.ng 1990 were reported by
the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared
[ )etainees (F'E [ )Fl::'AM) and the Independent National. Comm:i.tt cc for the Defence of
Prisoners, Persecuted and Missing Persons arid Political Exiles (CNI) . In
addition, reports on the human rights situation in Mexico were received from
Amnesty Intern 'Lional, Americas Watch, the Mexican Academy on Human Rights,
and the Minnesota Lawyers Human Rights Committee
248, The cases transmitted during the period covered by this r'eport occurred
in 1990 (three cases), i.n 1988 (one case) and in 1.974 (one case). Two of the
cases which occurred in :t990 concerned persons arrested a Ler a press
conference convened by the National. Popu Jar- Democrati.c Front (Fl/IDP) . 1”he
third case concerned the disappearance of a ‘for'mer policeman who had allegedly
left the Federal. Judicial. Pol. ice because of hi. s di. sagreement with certain
practices, such as corr'uption .
249 . The c:ase which occurr'ccl in 1988 1.s that of a legal. adv :1. ser and munic: i. pal.
assistant for a C:Orflrnufllty who was representing the community i.e a dispute w:i.th
a local. author'i. ty over' comrnun [ ty lands . He had r'epor'tecl i.y been ar're sted by
members of the Judicial Police in plainclothes and subsequently disappeared .
The case wl'i [ nh occ:u rred i. n 1.974 concerned a member' of a land oc:c:upa't; ion
movement who had a]. legeci ly been arr'e stecl and seen in detention in a military
camp.
E/CI/i . 4/199 :1/20
page 51
250 , /Jongo/Ie irneritai organ :1. zat ions reported tha he new Government had
announced that di sa l:pearance s which occurred during the per:i.oci 1970 to early
:1980 would be analysed on a case by-case basis in an attempt to resolve the
matter to the satisfaction of a].]. part::i,es involved; however, re ].at:i.ves
:inpi ined that, so far, no results had been reported to them. S:i.mi. iariy the
di. sappearance of a member of an opposition party in December 1.988 a]. so
remained unc iarifi.ed . tn relation this case, a Special Cornmi ssion had been
appointed for the purpose of expeci i. t i nq the I nvestigat:i.on, but no concr'ete
results ••F its work had been repor'ted . Relatives o he miss leg person
comp].a:i.ned that many irregularities had been commit ed in t:he investi.qat:ion of
this case, including several False hypothesis advanced by persons linked to
the police and other investicjat:i.ng bodies with the intention of clearing the
Gover'nment of responsibility. The investigation was allegedly delayed by
steps taken to investigate such hypothetica]. assumptions which were proved
false after evidence disclosed that they had been fabricated by official
sourc:es .
251.. Non-governmental organizations also reported persecution of
organizations and individuals concerned with human rights. They mentioned, in
particular, the assassination of lawyer Norma Corona Sapiens on 21 May 1990,
who had campaigned For human rights and against police abuses, torture and
disappearances over the past 15 years. On].y a few days before her murder, a
law punishing the practice of torture in the state of Sinaloa was adopted by
the parliament of that state. They also mentioned the arrest of some 300
persons during a raid carried out by police forces on
4 August 1.990 at the offices of a human rights organiza ion during which
documents, typewriters and office supplies were destroyed.
Information and views received from the Government
252. By notes verhales dated 13 and :16 August, 12 September and 1.3 November
1990, th Government of Mexico provided information on the three cases
transmitted to it that occurred in 1990 and on a case which occurred in 1980.
In two of the cases, the information indicated that the persons concerned had
never been detained by agents of the Judicial Police and that the Independent
National Comm:i.t cc for the Defence of Prisoners, Persecuted and Missing
Persons and Political Exiles (CNI), in a letter addressed to the Attorney
Genera]., had admitted that he missing persons had gone into hiding for
several days. In relation to a third case, the Government reported that a
preliminary investiga ions had not yet resulted in the missing person being
traced. The reply on the 1980 case indicated that the National Comm: [ ssion on
Human Rights had located the person concerned, who was working in a university
school in Mexico a ter having been sentenced by a court and released in 1982.
253. Concerning the disappearance of a member of an opposition party in
December 1988, the Government replied that, in spite of the inquiries made by
the Special. Public Prosecut:or' s Of ice, it had not yet been possibl.e to locate
h :1 mn.
254. In relation to the assassination of lawyer Norma Corona Sapiens, by note
ver'bale dated 16 August 1990 addressed II the Special Rapporteur on summary or
ar-bi.trary execut::i.ons, the Government provided a report: on the invest:igation of
jJ j crime which ].ed II the identification and detention of those respons hle
for it.
i:iciu. 4/1991/20
page 52
255 By a note verbai.e dated 12 Sept:eml:)er 1990, t:he Government provided
:informat on on the activities of the National Commiss ion on Human Rights,
which was in charge of mc:nitoring respect: for human rights standards set out
in the Mex ican Constitution and in the mt rnational conventions to which
Mexico was a party The National Cornm:i.ssion had received the files on
d :1. sappearances compiled by the former Human Rights Off ice within the Minis try
of the Interior
256 With the purpose of upholding the commitment made to relatives of
alleged missing persons and their organizations to use every means available
to est:ahii sh conclusively the facts regarding those allegations, the National.
Commission was considering the inter--:institutional methods and processes which
could be used to study the files on the alleged missing persons, seek
additional informa ion, if appropriate, and draw each investigation to a close.
257. Furthermore, by the same note verbale, the Government informed the
Working Group that several working meet:ings had h en held at the Ministry of
the Interior with leaders of a non—governmental organization representing the
relatives in most of the cases concerned and that the President of the
Republic had granted an audience to the leaders of that organization on
17 April 1990.
258. By a note verbale dated 13 November 1990. the Government informed the
Working Group that an :tnter -Agency Working Group estabi i shed under
presidential. decreme published on 6 June ].990 would study, on a case—by—case
basis, all the reports transmitted by the Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearances with a view to c).arifiying them. The clarification
of a case that allegedly occurred in :1980 provided a demonstration of what
could be done by governmental. institutions, the re].ati.ves and non--governmental
or'gan zat ons working in conjunction. :tt was for this reason that the
National Commission on Human Rights wished that outstandi.ng representatives of
Mexican civil society be associated with it and participate in its work.
259, The everyday and procedural, difficulties of locating some of the persons
reported missing should not be overlooked. rhere was a constant flow of
Mexican emi.grant:s to the United States, where there was not necessarily a
record of their whereabouts, changes of identity and internal migrations
occurred in the st Les wit:h the highest incidence of disappearances and
information was not always available on the new identity or whereabouts of
those per'sons . Time i.nevitabl.y constituted a major di.f i.culty, particularly
as Mexican society had undergone significant population changes over the last
20 years . Events which had taken place in regions with a high level of
population mobility made reconstruction, the finding of reliable infor'mants ,
etc. difficult.
260 . The National. Comi'ni. ss ion on Human Rights was t:horoughly awar'e of the
reports and methods of work of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
[ )i. sappearar'ic:e s and had recognized that its rules were c: lear and coher-ent ,
Therefore, the Cove rnment r '1::Lfied its position . fl continue c -operating with
the Working Group in t:he clarification of cases .
261 . The Working C roup has also received c. opies o wo bulletins published by
t:he National. Commi. ss ion on Human R i.cjhts , c:onta:i. ii ing information on the
activities of t:he Cornmi ss ion and its r'ecoiiimendat ions in cases that were
reported t:o i. ‘I: . The Work :1. rig Group examined the Nat: i.onai. Commission ‘ s
recommendations to ‘ifi Cove rnment and found tha I r implemerita ion wou i.d
great i.y contr:i. bute ‘11:0 i.mprov :1. eq the s :1. t:uat ior'i in re i.at: ion to the cases
considered by the Commission.
. 4/1.991/2()
page 53
] . Cases reported t:o I iue oc:c:u rred in 1.990 3
:r:t . OutsIInding cases 219
i:t:r . ‘iota]. nurnbe r of cases transmitted t:o the
Gover'nmnnt by t:he Working G r up 257
iv. Government responses
(a) Number of cases on which the Govor'nment
has proVided one or' more specific responses 214
(h) Cases clarified by the Government's responses . ‘ 38
I Persons reported dead : 37
Person at ]. :ibe rty : 1.
Morocco
.Enfor'mation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
262. The Working Group' s activit:ies in relation to Morocco are recorded in
its previous ten reports to the Commission.
263 , No c:ases wer'e repo C(:l t:o have occurred in 1.990. However, t:he Working
Group transm:itted to Gover'nment of Morocco 91 newly repor'tod cases of
disappearance, the rflaj ority of t:hem dating back to the ].970s . Two of those
cases were transmitted by cable under urgent action procedure.
264. By letter' dated 1.8 July 1990, the Gc:vernment was reminded of r'eports of
disappearance t:ransmitted durjng t:he prevlous six months under the urgent
action procedur'e and by ].et or of 28 June the Working Group also reminded the
Government of all nuts and ing cases.
265. By let or dated 20 September 1.990, the Working Group also. informed the
Government nf reports it had r'eceived about developments in Morocco having an
influence on the phenomenon of disappearance or' on the solution of the cases
not yet c Ian Pied , and mv sited the Government to make comments on those
a]. 1.egat ions .
:Lfl. .2.:t'2Ji!.2 Vie ! L 5 0 f F2.9 1 :?.0
n 0fl :gO vern P
266 . The newl.y reported cases tr'ansmit:t:ed to the Government were submitted by
‘tJ' Association of Relatives of Sahraoui Prisoners and Detainees
(AFAPREDE:SA) . The maj ori.ty of them repc:rted ].y occurr'ed in the late 1970s i.n
places such as Laayoune, I...eboi.r ''t and Smara. The forces . en c:ited as
r'e spons ib].e were the Genclarmer'ie Royai.e Marocai.ne , the po]. i. ce and the ar'med
forces.
267. It was also reported that mc::re than 400 disappear'ed persons were being
detained in secret prisons i.n Morocco, isolated ‘From any contact with the
out:side world . These persons were said to be mainly : mi. i.i.tants belonging to
. -...
E/cN.4/1991/20 .
page54
the nationalist movement, arrested during the period 1958 to 1963; two groups
of military personnel involved in the two attempted COUDS d' tat of 1971 and
1972; trade unionists and as ociated activists; people of Western Saharan
: origin suspected of opposing Moroccan rule in the Western Sahara and
supporting the Polisario Front organization, or their relatives.
268. Two factors reportedly contributed to this situation: first, the
existence of police groups trained in the practices of sequestration and
torture, without being required to answer for their acts to any jurisdiction;
second, the existence of Srtain provisions in the Moroccan Criminal Code
which made it possible, with the leniency of certain magistrates, to extend
the duration of detention. OEus, it would seem that many critics and
opponents of the Government had been subjected to imprisonment without trial
for long periods in g?j aj..j!!e detention and denied access to legal counsel,
their families or independent medical examination. Judicial supervision of
g!r4Li,JLi4e and subsequent pre—trial detention seemed to be virtually
non—existent. OEese practices, in consequence, facilitated the phenomenon of
dtsappearance. . . .
269. In connection with the persons arrested in the Western Sahara and
subsequently disappeared, it was reported that no written proof of detention
existed because it was considered that no trial would take place and that any
record of the act might be used as evidence against the authorities who denied
responsibility for any of the arrests. It was also reported that individuals
expressing any interest in the condition, fate or whereabouts of the detainees
or even attempting to deliver food or clothing to them, let alone filing legal
proceedings against their unacknowledgd detention, incurred the risk of
sharing the same fate,
Information and views received from the Government
270. By note verbale dated 26 January 1990, the Permanent Mission of Morocco
to the United Nations Office at Geneva acknowledged receipt of two cases of
disappearance transmitted by the Working Group at the end of 1990, and
indicated that many Moroccan citizens were kept in concentration camps
situated on the other side of the Moroccan borders; this could be the case of
the two reportedly missing persons.
271. By note verbale dated 5 April 1990, the Permanent Mission transmitted a
statement made by the Moroccan delegation at the forty—sixth session of the
Commission on Human Rights which affirmed that Morocco had always co—operated .
with human rights bodies and would make every effort to provide accurate
information, verified by the competent authorities, about allegations brought
to its attention. .
272. By another note verbale of 19 April 1990, the Permanent Mission pointed
out that those who made allegations did not reveal where their inf6rmation had
come from, nor did they give sufficiently precise details of the true identity
of the persons said to have disappeared, thetr place of birth, activities and
occupations or identify those supposedly responsible for their arrest or
abduction. Such information was vital if investigations were to be conducted
for the benefit of the families of the alleged victims and if rights and
freedoms were to be respected. Furthermore, such allegations generally did
not specify the reason for the arrests in question. They seemed deliberately
to ignore the fact that Morocco was a State governed by the rule of law.
. 41: 1.99:1/20
. :)age 55
273 . [ he (3over'nment of Morocco also pointed out that use should be made of
the Working Group on Enforced or involuntary Disappearances only if it had
been cer'tained that the procedures governing the admi ss ihility of
communic:at;i.ons ml l.eqing human rights v :i.ol.at:Lons had been respected with regard
to the conditions to he observed by the information source and, above all,
that available domestic reined ies had been exhausted .
274. tn this connection, parents or other relations of peopi.e who had
i:i. lecjecl l.y d :i. sappeared , or any humani tar:i.an orgmn:i.zation concerned about the :1.
fate provided they were acting in good faith and were directly acquainted
w:i.th and confident of the situat:i.on they describe — should, befor'e approaching
1:he Working Group, first exhaust a:Il available domestic remedies in Morocco.
Such remedies were the fol. lowing:
(a) Compl.a:i.nts at the judicial level, to the King' s Prosecutors, in
accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Public Freedoms
Act of 15 November 1958 and the 1972 Const:i.tution of the K:i.ngclom of
Morocco, which guarantees the rights and freedoms of al.l Moroccan
citi.zerns;
(b) Recourse to the Ministry of Justice;
(c) Recourse to l Complaints Office of the Royal Cabinet.
275. Nevertheless, the Government of Morocco, demonstrating its good wi. 11. and
respect ‘For its internat:ional commitments, conducted an iqvestig ''t;i.on through
the Ministry of Justic:e, which established that the names of the people in
question were not on the registers of any Moroccan prisons. Similarly, they
were not facing prosecution, the subject of juclic:i.ai. enquiries or standing
trial. . ,
276. In reply to those notes verbai.es, the Working Group reminded the
Government of its methods of work, of which the Commission on Human Rights had
taken note at its forty-fourth session. In acc:ordance with them, the Work:i.ng
Group constantly ur'ges the sources of reports to furnish as many details as
possibi.e on the identity of the missing person; however, in orde rto transmit
a case to a Government the Group requires only the basic data mentioned in
paragraph 21 of the methods, which should allow a Government concerned to take
up the necessary investigations. Regarding the question of domestic remedies,
to transmit a case to a particular Government the Working Group requires only
that the source gives an indication of the steps taken to cleter'mine the ‘Fate
or whereabouts of”' l' e missing person or an i.ndi.cat:i.on that efforts to resort
to domestic remedies were ‘Frustrated or inconclusive. En this respect the
Working Group is inspired by its hummn:i.tarian approach and is not hound by the
mechanisms ‘Foreseen in different united Nations instruments concern:ing the
exhaustion oF domesti.c remedies . With refer'ence in particular to the cases
transmitted by the Working Group to the Moroccan Government, the sources have
often indicated that any step taken to initiate judicial. proceedings woul.d
incur the risk of sharing the ‘F ite of the missing person.
277. Fi.' l.:I.y , by note verbal.e dated 16 May 1.990, the peri'iian nt M: [ ss ion
informed the Centre ‘For Human Rights oF the estab]. i shment of an Adv :1 sor'y
Counci. I. for Iluman Rights in Morocco.
F/CP.J. 4/1991/20
page 56
Stat 1. st i
. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
ii. outstanding cases :108
I:ri: Total number of' cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 113
IV. Government responses
(a) Number oF cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific
responses 0
(b) Cases clarified by the Government' s
responses 0
V. Cases clarified by non—governmental sources S
a! Persons released: 5.
mbi .que
:tnform ton reviewed and transmitted to the Government
278. The Working Group's activities in relation to ozarnbique are recorded in
its last two reports to the Commission. :1/
279 . During the period under rev few, the Wor'k ing Group recei ved no new
repor'ts of d:i appearances in Mozambique, but by a letter dated 28 June 1990
the Government was reminded of the one case transmit ed in the past which
remains unc lar'i fied . There has been no response from the Government,
however, and the Working Group regrets that it is again unab].e to report: to
the Commission on the results of any invest1g t;ions which might have been
carried out .
I. Cases reported to have oc:currecl in 1990 0
ii . Outstanding cases 1
1:1]: . iota]. number' of cases t:ransmi. tt:ed i:o the
Cove rrunent by the Working Group 1.
Iv, c;OV ernn , e of r'esponses 0
Ne l
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 57
280. The Working Group's activities in relation to Nepal are recorded in its
last four reports to IIe Commission. 1/
a
281. During the period under review, the
reports of disappearance in Nepal, but by
Government was reminded of the four cases
unclarified. OEere has been no response
IIe Working Group regrets that it is again
on the results of any investigations which
Working Group received no new
a letter dated 28 June 1990 the
transmitted in the past which remain
from the Government, however, and
unable to report to the Commission
might have been carried out.
Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990
II. Outstanding cases
III. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group
0
. ,
4
5
IV. Government responses
V. Cases clarified by ni
1 sources !“
0
1
Person released:
1.
Nicaragua
. ,
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
282. OEe Working Group's activities in relation to Nicaragua are
its previous reports to the Commission. /
recorded in
283. During the period under review, the Working Group transmitted 11 newly
. reported cases of disappearance to the Government of Nicaragua, of which two
were reported to have occurred in 1990. As regards t 'ie 11 cases transmitted
by the Working Group on 14 December 1990, in accordance with it. methods of
work, it must be understood that the Government could not respond prior to the
adoption of the present report. .
284. By letter dated 28 June 1990, the Government was notified that one case
wal now considered clarifiS, based on a reply previously received from it.
285. In its communication of 28 June 1990, the Working Group also reminded
the Government of all outstanding cases.
286. At the request of the Government, by note verbale dated 20 April 1990,
the Working Group provided it with summaries of all outstanding cases.
E:/a/l. 4/1991/20
page 58
287 The cases transm:itted to the Government clurincj 1990 were submit ed by
the Jicaraguan Committee on Human Rights (Brussels) and the Permanent
Commission for Human Rights in r Iicaragua (Managua) One such case occurred in
1.979, one in 1983, one in 1.985, one in 1986, one in 1987, five in 1989 and two
in 1990. The forces considered responsible for the disappearances are in five
cases the Sandinist police, in five cases the General Director Le for the
Security of the State (DGSE), i.n three cases the army and in one case the
J: I or tier Guard. Six of the missing persons were seen in pr:Lson after their
arrest:, and in three of those cases the persons had been imprisoned for more
than 10 years and were supposed to he released a ter having been granted
amnesty. In one case the person had been released from prison and was
subsequently arrested and disappeared . rn the last four cases, the missing
persons had been members of the former Somoza National. Guard or had held
government posts during the Somoza regime.
288. Two of the missing persons were political activists for IIc opposition,
two had been accused of counter—revolutionary act:ivities and two had been
i.mpri. soned on common crimes charges alt:hough her relatives al. l.eged that the
real reason was her links with counter-revolutionary forces.
289 . Another group of cli. sappearanc:es i. s related II mi I. :i.t:ary serv ic:e . In one
case, the person disappeared while he was performing hi. $ military service.
His fami. ly was informed by of i.cers that he had deserted and had subsequentl.y
been detained . In two cases, the persons were in hiding avoid being
i ncorpora ed into the army when they were a rre s t:ed and d :1. sappeared .
290. The Permanent Commission on Human Rights in Nicaragua reported that an
amnesty law was enac:ted on 1.2 March 1.990 by which amnesty was granted for any
ii, legal acts committed between 19 July :1979 and d L:e of enactment of the
law. It also expressed the view that, despite achievements a ta ed sinc:e the
new admin strat on took power, the State Security c:ont:inued II have its aff
in dir erent areas of M:i.ni stry of Interior and to pressure its ttp 01 iticai.
enemies . The pri sons were sti. 11 controlled by ifie same military chiefs who
had become wel. 1. known overt he years for the:i.r repress ion of po].itic:ai.
pri soners . Some members o he governing party had been killed by civilians
supposed to belong to the previous governing party. Also, a clandestine
cemetery was found on Mount Mokoron , in the northern department of Jinotega in
which the c:orpses of ten persons a rrestecl by the State Secur:i.ty and the army
were identified by relatives. flip investigation of these cases had been lert
in the hand s of the mi ]. i.t:ary tr:i. bunal. and the So]. :i. ci tor Genera]., whi c:h were
not nvestig L;ive entities, and several o .icials had indicated that those who
committed suc:h cr:i.mes had a] eacly been absolved by t:he amnesty law
291 . The Central American Commission on Human Right:s stated that several
thousand persons had disappeared in Ni caracjua dun. ncj the period 1 980 1. 987 and
& y of the reports of these di sappear'anc:es pointed to the involvement of L:he
c:ounte revolutionary forces , wh i. c:h opened c: l.anclo st i, no pni. sons in Honduras .
The Ccnnmi ss ion requested that :1. ivo st igat ions into the of the mis sing
persons shou id be car rr ied out by t:he (3ove rnments t:f Honduras and N:i. c:aragua
and that the responsibilities for such cases should be established .
E/cN.4/1991/20 .
page59
Information and views received from the Government
292. Representatives of the Government of Nicaragua met with the Working
Group at its thirtieth session. OEey said that the election held in their
country had demonstrated a high degree of responsibility and participation on
the part of the population. OEe election had taken place peacefully, in the
presence of thousands of international observers who witnessed that people had
voted for peace and national reconciliation.
293. After the election, the new administration promulgated a broad amnesty
law covering all political and related ordinary offences committed by
Nicaraguan citizens prior to the date of publication of the act (1 May 1990).
The amnesty extended to persons under arrest who had been tried, persons who
had been convicted, persons awaiting trial, persons who were not under arrest,
convicted persons who had served their sentences and persons who had been
granted a reprieve.
294. The representative of the Government recommended that, taking into
account the policy of reconciliation of the Nicaraguan Government, the Working
Group should not keep outstanding cases in its files since according to
Nicaraguan internal legislation such cases will not be investigated and those
responsible for them will not be punished.
295. The members of the Working Group explained to the represenEatives of
Nicaragua the Working Group's methods of work, in particular those related to
the clarification of cases.
Statistical suan
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 2
II. Outstanding cases . 101
I n. Total number of cases transmitted to IIe
GovernmentS by the Working Group 232
IV. Government responses: .
(a) Number of cases on which the Government .
has provided one or iore specific .
responses . 175
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's
responses !‘ 112
V. Cases clarified by non—aovernmental sources 19
W Persons in prison: 7
Persons dead: 64
Persons at liberty: 16.
Persons who joined counter—revolutionary forces: 12
Persons abducted by counter-revolutionary forces: 2
Salvadorian fishermen not detained in the country: 11.
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 60
information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
296. The Working Group's activities in re].at:Lon to Paraguay are recorded in
its last nine reports to the Commission. 1/.
297. It should be noted that the Group has received no reports of
disappearances occurring in Paraguay since 1977. However, by a letter dated
28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded t:he Government of the three
outstanding cases.
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
ii. 0utstand ng cases 3
iii . Tota]. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 23
I V. Government responses :
(a) I Jumber of cases on which the
Government has provided one
or more specific responses 23
(b) Cases clarified by the Goveriiment' s
responses a/ 20
a! Persons arrested or abduc:t:ed in Argentina: 5
Persons arrested and expe:I.led to Brazil: 4
Persons detained and released: 4
Persons whose transfer to Argentina was witnessed: 2
Persons whose transfer to Uruguay was witnessed : 2
Persons dead: 1
Persons 1. lvi ng abroad : 2 .
Peru : /
.tnforlflation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
298. The Working Grouj:)' s activities in relat:i.on to Peru are recorded in its
previous reports to the Commission i/ as well as in the special reports on
two vi. sits to the country which took place in 1985 and 1986
(E/CN.4/1986/i8/Add.1 , E/CI/I.4/1987/:15/Add. 1).
299 . During the pe ric:d under review, the Working Group transmitted 268 new].y
repo I:ed cases of disappearance to the Government of Peru, cf which 233 were
reported to have occurred in 1.990. One hundred seventy seven of those cases
Mr. [ ) :1. ego Gar'c ia Say in d id not p y 1 Ic: :1. pate Iii t:he dec: i. s ions
relating t:o this subsect: ion of pnr't .
. 4/1991/20
ption present report .
300 . By letters dal;ed 28 June • 20 September and l4 December 1990, the
Government was not ri f ied that 86 cases were now cons j.dered c l.ar:i.f :i.ed , 12 based
on Its repi :i.es and 74 on the basis cFfu information provided by the
source . The Group also informed the Government that two further cases would
be considered ciarif:i.ed prov:Ided t:he sources did not raise obj ections within
si x months from the date they were iformed of he Government reply .
301. . tn accordance with the dec is ion taken tt.he Working Group' s
twenty sevent:h session, by letters dated 31 January arid 18 July 1990 the
Government was rem:inded of reports of disappearance transmitted during t:he
previous s i. X months undo rthe urgent ac:t:ion procedure . In its communication
oF 28 June :1990, Working Group also reminded Government of al :i
outs tanci incj cases .
302 . ihe Working Group also t:ransrnitted to the Government, by let .ers dated
28 June and 20 September 1990, aiieg Lions of ntim dation, reprisals or
harassment against members of non governmental, human rights organizations and
witnesses, drawing to its aL ention paragraph 12 oF resolution 1990/30 and
paragraph 2 of resolution 1.990/76. In thi.s connection, three such cases.
which the Working Group cons idered required prompt intervention, were
transmitted by cable Five other cases were transmitted by letter.
303. By its letter of 20 September 1990, the Working Group also informed the
Government of reports it had received about developments in Peru having an
influence on the phenomenon of disappearance or on the solution of the cases
not yet clarified, and invited the Government to make comments on those
allegations.
304. In accordance w:ith a clecis:ic'n taken by the Wcrki.ng Group at its
thirtieth sess:Lon, a letter d ''ted 22 August 1990 was sent to the Government
reminding it of he observations included in the reports on past miss ions to
the country and reques ing information on the subsequent consideration given
tc them. “Ihese observations referred in par'tic:uiar to t:he wide latitude
granted by the central Gover'nment to the armed forces and the police in
fighting subver'sion and t:o the nst:itut:i.onal. paralysi. s pertaining with respect
to the protection of human rights in the emergency zones • where pro cutors
were obstructed in their cf orts to follow up on denunc::iations of
di. sappearances. andt he j ud :ic iary seemed i. ii at ease with .hia!9 ,a :9r.p.u
proceed i.ncj and also lacked c:o operat:ion from the respondents . Among its
recommendations, the Working Group had expressed the view t:ha t:he judiciary
and the Of i.c:e of the Attorney Gener'ai. needed to be cf ec:t:i,ve i.y guaranteed the
co oper tjon oF all branches oF the executive, notably the armed forces, as
well, as the resources to carry outt heir functions properly; that members of
the police and the armed Forces should be taught the basic c:onc:epts oF the
Peruvian legal. system and trained in human rights matter's; that a relief
programme ‘For relatives oF missing persons should he undertaken; and that
secur'i.ty and personal. safety should be enhanced so that he people in the
towns and in the countrys ide would no longer Feel thre 'tened by violence from
all. sides.
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 62
Information and views received from relatives of missing persons or from
non—governmental organizations
305. The cases transmitted in 1990 were received from Amnesty
International, the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees and
Refugees in Lima (COFADER), the Centre of Study and Action for Peace
(CEAPAZ), the Episcopal Social Action Commission (CEAS), the Human Rights
Association (APRODEH), the National Association of Relatives of Abducted and
Disappeared Detainees in the Zone Under State of Emergency (ANFASEP), the
Human Rights Commission (COtIISEDH), the Latin American Federation of
Relatives of Disappeared Persons (FEDEFAM) and the World Council of Churches.
306. According to reports received by the Working Group, there has been a
further increase of political killings, disappearances, torture and
arbitrary detentions since 1988. OEe Senate Commission on National
Pacification reported a total of 3,198 deaths in political violence during
1989, and the President of the Commission stated that, as of 20 March,
642 deaths in political violence had already been reported in 1990. OEe
Shining Path organization was responsible for 1,400 deaths in 1989;
approximately 1,150 of the victims were unarmed or defenceless civilians.
Victims included civilian authorities, trade—union leaders, left—wing
leaders, peasants and journalists. To a certain extent, the Tupac Amaru
Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) was also held responsible for the political
violence in the country. OEe increase of violence in Peru was also
considered to be due to the activities of paramilitary groups such as
Comando Rodrigo Franco (CRF). Information received on the actions
attributed to the CRF suggested that in certain areas such violations were
the result of orders or the acquiescence of different government forces.
While in areas administered by the military, evidence allegedly pointed to
the direct responsibility of zone army chiefs for the actions claimed by the
CRF, in other areas human rights organizations had linked CRF actions to the
police or members of the APRA party.
307. Human rights organizations emphasized that in certain regions the
population was reportedly caught in a crossfire. An important indicator of
this was the tragic record of disappearances and summary executions which
seemed to have recently spread beyond the emergency zones, to which they
originally had been confined, to all parts of the country.
308. OEe practice of disappearance was said to be greatly facilitated by
the armed forces' policy of denying detentions in the emergency zones. OEe
vast majority of the disappeared persons were members of isolated peasant
communities, often reportedly targeted solely because they were residents of
areas in which armed insurgents were traditionally active. However,
disappearances had also been reported in areas where guerrilla activities
had been more recent. The reports received state that a great number of
children and young people disappeared after being detained in army raids;
other minors were said to be frequently held in unacknowledged detention in
military bases for long periods.
309. Attacks, persecution and threats against human rights organizations,
their leaders and members remain the main concerns of non-governmental
organizations, which have sent numerous reports on such cases which the
Working Group forwarded to the Government on several occasions. It was
reported that in recent months there had been a rise in the number of
attacks and threats directed at human rights activists or the premises ur
)tuman rights organizations, not only in the emergency zones, as in the pi .
but also in Lima, where several such incidents have been
. ‘1,' . , .; ;‘
3
s:i.i' ::: ? it ;it' ci ol” .1.990 ‘i'ncn'v ,:h tn ti'ie (:‘
E/cr/1 4/1991/20
page 64
3:16 . It cou lcl not be denied that i nt he struggle against subversion many
arrests had been made, but the poss :Lb]. 1 :ity could equal. ly not be ruled out that
a number of a]. J.eged di sapp r n ce had their roots in subversion nd were
erroneously alt ributed to the armed fc:rces . The s ituat:i.on was aggr'avated by
the fact that many of the reports were inc:ornpl ete , names were mi. sspel. led, the
c :ir'cumst ances oFt he di sappearances were vague, and their location and d We
were imprec :i. se .
317 . The Government: further' stat:ed that dur'ing its forty sixth sess ion at the
beg :1. nn :1. ng of 1990, Commission on Human Rights had acknowledged the
i. nc:omplete nature of reports on the huiian rights s :i. tuat ion in countries where
irregular armed groups wor'e operating against legally constituted Cove “nrnents
and, i ri r'esolution 1.990/75, had instructed the Spec ia]. Rapporteurs and Working
Groups II pay particular attention in their repor'ts to acts of violence
perpetrated by i r'regu lar armed groups . According thi. s resolution, the
Commission should be supplied with a]. I. the facts needed for a balanced and
constructive analysis of the human rights situation sin a country suffering an
ons laught of aimed subversion .
3 :1.8 . —r he Permanent M:i. ss ion agreed i. n pr:inc i. pie that the so l.ut; ion ci id not 1 i.e
i.n the mi.l:itarization of the aclmin:istr'aL:ion of justice but rather in t;he
ti ioi'i incj of ci. vi ri. ian i. ns t:i.tutions and the constitutional. State . But both
of oct Si ye measures against subver's ion and proper protect ion of he j udic i.ary
requ :i. r'ed resources wh:i. cii the Government might not be in a position to
gener'ate, bear:ing in mind the almost complete ineffectuality of its deci.s ions
i.n an int:ernational. economic ci. i.mate which was nc: t notably favourab].e to the
development of the economies of developing countries.
3:1.9. By n es verbal.es da cci 23 July, 1.1. and 25 September' and 2. December
:1990, the Permanent M:i ss ion of Per'u to the United Nat ions Of ice at Geneva
prov i.clecl , in connection with resoi.ut:i.on 1990/75, 1. i. sts of persons k 1]. led by
subver's lye gr'oups o erat:ing in Peru and press ci. i pp i ng s c:oncer'n i ng acts of
terrori. sm carr':i. ed out; by such groups .
320, According II the Government s information, i.n the 10 year's s ince their
becji.nn:ings in 1980, the forces of armed subeer's ion had been r'espons :i.bl.e for a
human cost of approximately 20,000 1 ives and an econoni:i.c cost of at least $15
b:i. :i. lion. In 1.990, ther'e had been 769 victims oft he for'c:es of suhvers ion by
August . At the moment, there wer'e no mayors in one four'th of the nat:i.onal
terr'itory wi. Lii appr'ox :i.mate i.y 330, 000 i.nhais):i. tants 1. ii 40 prov ;i. ices located
pr':Lmar. ly i. ii the depa Is:ment s of Ayacucho , Ancash and Huaricave 1 i ca . tn some
cases , th :1. s was becai.i s e many mayor's had been rnur'dereci and , i. ri others , because
mum :1. ci. pal. e i.ec ti.oris had riot been he i.d , either becau so ther'e were no canci :idato s
01” because those who ci ic ! stand were mu r'dereci , Between 1.984 and October 1.990,
9]. mayors had been mu ciered . In 1.989 alone, 46 mayors had been mur'derecl and ,
following the mun:i.ci.pal. elections hel.d in Novemi;)er t_ that year', 27
mayors-elect had met v io :r nt deaths at the hands a ho forces of subvers i. on .
Si. rice local. government. s were the fi. r'st 1. i. nk i. ii the bu i. id :i. rig arid conso 1. :i.ciat:i.c>n
of democ racy and since :i. rregu . ar' armed groups were pr'eve it i.ng large sector's of
Lhc' pupu I
E/CN .4/1.991/20
. page65
Statistical summary .
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 231
X I. Outstanding cases 1,905
XII. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group ! 2,340
IV. Government responses: .
(a). Number of cases on which the
Government has provided one or more
specific responses 350 .
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's
responses / 96
V. Cases clarified by non-governmental sources 2' 339
W In a revision of the files, it was found that 11 cases had been
duplicated. The Government was informed and the statistics adjusted
accordingly.
/ Persons detained: 10
Persons arrested and released: 47
Persons who had obtained a voter's card after the
date of IIeir alleged disappearance: 29
Persons found dead: 1.
Persons at liberty: 6
Persons abducted by rebels: 1
Persons escaped from a detention centre: 2.
5/ Persons whose dead body was found and identified: 55
Persons released from detention: 228
Persons in prison: 46
Persons taken to a hospital after detention: 1
Persons at liberty: 9.
f 4fr ines
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
321. The Working Group's activities in relation to the Philippines are
recorded in its ten previous reports to the Commission 4/9 and in the addendum
to the present report.
322. During the period under review, the Working Group transmitted 54 newly
reported cases of disappearance to the Government of the Philippines of which
43 were reported to have occurred in 1990. Thirty—seven of those cases were
transalttnd l iv table tiMer the itrivent aetlnn procedure. OEe Group also
E/Cl/J. 4/199l/2()
page 66
retransmitted to the Government a total. of 1.8 cases containing additional.
:infori'na ion received from the sources One of the cases was transmitted an w
since the source reported that the body of the person who was earlier said to
have been beheaded was in fact never found As regards 13 cases
transmited by the Working Group on 14 Dec:ember 1990, in accordance with its
methods oF work, it must he understood that the Government could not respond
prio rto the adopt:i.on of the present: report.
323. By letters of 28 June, 20 September and 14 December 1990, the Government
was notified that 13 cases were now considered c].arified, four based on its
replies and nine on the basis of further information provided by the source.
By the same let ers the Government was informed that seven additional cases
would be considered clarified provided the sources did not raise objections
wit:hin six months ,
324, In accordance with the decision at the Working Group's
twenty -seventh session, by letters dated 31 January and 18 July 1990, the
Government was reminded of repc rts of di.sappearanc:es transmitted during the
prevlous six months under the urgent act:ion procedure. In its communication
Of 28 June 1990 the Work incj Group a]. so remi. nded the Government of a]. I.
outstanding cases .
325. At the rec ue st of the Permanent Miss ion of the Phi.]. i.ppine s to the Unit cI
Nations Office at Geneva, the Working Group, on 11 May and 27 November 1990,
provided it with summaries of all, outstand incj cases and with summaries of a]. I.
cases of disappearance ever transmitted.
326 . The Working Group also transmitted to the Government allegations of
persecution against a trade unionist who had escaped from detention and who
feared that her fami. ].y and re].at:i.ves might be harmed by the military following
her escape, drawing its attention to paragraph 1.2 of resolution 1990/30 and
paragraph 2 of resolution 1.990/76 . The Wor'k ing Group, considering that t he
situation required timely intervention, transmit ed the case by cable on
1.8 October 1.990.
327 . At the invitat:i.on of the Government of the Phi.]. ippines, the Working
Group decided that Mr. Tome van Dongen and Mr. Diego Garcia-Say n should
visit the Philippines on its behalf; the mission took place From 27 August to
7 September 1990. The repor't on the visit is contained in document
1/20/Add. 1..
af an cLiiie w c fr. DL .. iIv ...9i
P tion
328. The majority of newly reported cases of disappearance were submitted by
Amnesty International, the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates
(PAHRA) and the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFI:w) . These
organizations also provided information on the basis of which nine cases have
been considered clarified ,
329 . With regard to other reports on the problem of d :1. sappearanc:e rece i. ved
from non gover'nmental organizations, reference is made to the report on the
vi. s it to the Phi. I. i. ppi.ne s c:ontai. nod in document E:/cI/l . 4/199 :1/20/Add . 1. .
. E/CN.4/i991/20
page 67
Information and views received from the Government
330. By letters dated 7, 20 and 22. March, 3 April, 19 June, 14 September and
15 October :1990, the Government provided nformat on on cases of
disappearances previously transmitted by the Working Group, The Government
reported that 16 cases had been referred to appropriate bodies for
investigation; in two cases ].nvestgat:lons carried out by the Philippine
Commission on Human Rights were provided with the findings that one of the
disappeared person was dead and the other at liberty. On a fur'ther' case the
Commission reported that the inve igation was continuing. Moreover, during
their visit to the Philippines, the two members of the Working Group were
given replies on :1.1 cases on which the investigation was also continuing.
331. The Deputy Permanent Representa ive c f the Philippines to the United
Nat ons Office at Geneva met the Working Group during its thirty second
session and made a statement in which he informed the Working Group that the
Aquino government was reviewing and reassessing its counter insurgency
policy. In this connection he reported that the office of the
Peace--Commission was studying proposals that placed the emphasis of the
counter--insurgency policy on the peace process through confidenc:e building and
conflict abatement measures. The components of this programme included
disbanding of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographica]. Units (CAFGUs) and
reorienting the whole concept of civilian defence along the lines of economic
security and popular participation, rather than an armed response.
Furthermore, the Government had recently enacted Republic Act No.6975 which
creates the Philippine National Police, to be placed under a proposed
Department of Interior and Local Government. According II this law, local
officials will, exercise operational supervision and c:ontroi over local police
units. A Bureau of Jail Management and Penology will also he placed under the
same department. The Deputy Permanent Represent tive also provided replies on
nine cases of disapearance which were examined by the Working Group, which
decided to appp].y the statutory six-month ru].e (see E/CN 4/1988/19, para. 27)
II three of them only.
332. By a letter dated 29 November 1990, the Permanent Mission of the .
Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva provided informa ion in
connection with resolution 1990/75, transmitting the report of the Philippine
Commission on Human Rights on human rights violations committed by irregular
armed groups in the country, including the Communist Party of the
Philippines/National People's Army (CPP/NPA), the Mind nao National Liberation
Front/Minclanao Independent L.iherat:Lon Front (MNI..F/MIL.F) and Moro rebels, since
January to May 1990. The incidents concerned, inter alia, ambush, killings,
taking of hostages, kidnapping, burning, looting, bombing, raids, attacks, and
forced evacuation. The victims were both civilians and military personnel.
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 68
Statisti.<
I. ses reported to have occurred in 1990 43
II. Outstanding cases 497
III Total. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 595
iv. Government: responses:
(a) Number of cases on which the
Government has provided one or more
specific responses 532
(b) Cases c].ari.fied by the Government s
responses / 80
V. Cases ciar:ified by nom-goverrimental sources / 18
a! Persons dead: 15
Persons located and identified: 2 .
Persons in pris n: 6
Persons ].ivi.ng abroad: 1
Persons released from detention: 49
Persons at l.i.berty: 6
P rsons escaped from prison: 1.
b/ Persons dead: 3
Persons in prison: 6
Persons released from detention: 4
Persons at liberty: 3
Persons escaped: 2.
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
333. The Working Group's activities in relation to Seychelles are recorded in
its last five report.s to the Commission. .1/ .
334. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1.990. By
letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the Government of the
three outstanding cases transmitted in the past. No response whatsoever has
been received to date.
E/CN 4/1991/2()
page 69
I. Cases reported to have occu rrecl in 1990 0
II . outstanding cases 3
Tcta 1 i nber of cases transmitted to the
Cove rnment by the Working Group 3
iv Government responses
(a) tllumher of cases on which the Government has
provided one or more specific responses 3
(b) Cases clarified by the Cove rnment' s responses 0
Sri Lanka
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
335. The Working Group's activities in relat:i.on to Sri lanka are recorded in
its previous eight reports to the Commi ssi.on. 1/
336. During the period under review, the Working Group transmitted 246 newl.y
reported cases of disappearance to the Government of Sri Lanka, of which 44
were reported to have occurred in 1990. Forty two 01' hose cases were
transmiL ed by cable under the urgent action procedure. The Group also
retransm:i.tted to the Government a otal of seven c:ases conta:lninq additional.
information received from ( ‘ sources. As regards the three cases
transmitted by Working Group on 1.4 December 1990, in accordance with its
methods of work, i must be unclers ood tha Lhe Government could not respond
prior to the adoption of the present report.
337. By letters dated 28 June, 20 September and 14 December 1990, the
Government was notified that seven cases were now considered clarified, two
based on its replies and five on the basis cF further information provided by
the respective sources.
338 . In accordance with the decision taken at the Working Group' s
twenty--seventh session, by letters dated 31 January and 18 July 1990 the
Government was reminded of reports of disappearances transmit ed during the
previous six months under the urgent act ion procedure .
339 . In its communi. cati on of 28 June 3.990, the Work i ncj Group aJ. so reminded
the Cove ment of all outstanding cases . By the same i.ett:er the Working
Group transmitted reports i.t had received of alleged persecution of members of
human rights organizations, in par'ticular lawyers who had filed h b •o
petitions in resl:)ect of missing persons . It drew the attention of the
Government II the prov i si.ons of Commiss ion on Human Rights resolutions 1990/30
and 1990/76, and, with particular reference to the reporting requirements of
the l.a Ler, requested the Government to pr'ovide any information about
investigations carried out in relation to reported cases of persecution
and intimidation, and the steps taken to pr -otect the persons concerned.
E/cl/1. 4/1991/2()
j:)age /0
340. By cable dated 1.3 September 1.990, t:he Working Group expressed its deep
concern about one particular incident on 1.1 September which had prevented a
Member of Pan, lament rom prov id:i.ncj the Work :i.ncj Group with statements relating
to disappearances The documentat ion, involving forms furnished by the
Working Group and which had been completed by relatives or friends of over 500
persons who had been reported missing in Sri lanka, had been confi scated by
the police as t:he Member of Par]. lament was leaving Co].ombo to travel, to Geneva
to attend the Group's meeting. As well as being asked to forward the relevant
documentation, the Gove rr'ii'nent was requested to as sure the Work in Group that
the incident would not lead to any adverse consequences for t:he persons who
had completed its report incj forms . (The Working Group was eventual. 1.y se :tzed
of those documents at the end of illovember) .
341 , The Work :1. ncj Group a]. so i nformed t;he Government, in i its let er dated
20 September 1990, of reports it had received ‘From non governmental
organ I zat ions express :i. ng gener'a]. c:Oflcern about developments in Sri Lanka wh :1. ch
were hay ng an in luence on the phenomenon of d :1 sappearance or on the so ].ut ion
of the cases not yet clariFied, A summary oF those repor'ts was enclosed and
the Government was :i. nv :i. j 10 make comments thereon .
i c view rso
n on yov : 4 n
342 . The newly repo rt:ed cases of cli. sappearance were submi. tted by Amnesty
Internat onal , The Committee of Par'l :iamentarians for Fundamental and l”luman
Rights (Co l.ombo ) , International. Alert, Students ‘For Human R icjhts (Co l.ombo ) ,
Campaign For Democracy and Human Rights in Sri lanka, and r'e iat ves or friends
oF the ml s s :i. ncj persons . ‘the 6f ore nent ioneci organ :i.zat ions a]. so submi. tted
several reports oF a general na ore during the year ,
343 , i”he cii. sappearances were general. ly attr'i.buted to t:he secur:ity forces, the
army or the po lice , Sometimes those mak i. ng the arr'e st were ci r'iv ing unmarked
vehi C:: :i,es and wean rig clvi. 1. ian clothes but w:i.tne 55 e s oFt en r'ecocjn i.zecl them as
members of one cft he government forces . in the north and east, victims were
mostl.y young i”amn:i. I. men, and fami 1. i e 5 cc'mp].a:i.necl that t:hey were unable t':) trace
relatives aFter their detention as the names of prisoners held in custody by
security forces were not made known , Many oF those who ci :i. sappeared in the
south were said to be opponents oft he Cove i”nment .
344. it was r'et:)or'teci that since the withdrawal. oF the incl:i,an tr'oops in Marc:h
l9 0 the I I berat ion I igers of Fam ii I el im (I I IL) had Lakon do Facto ,nnL rol if
the north east, and that t hey might he re spons :i. hI, e ‘For some ci :i. sappearance s as
they wer'e holding pr'isoners incommunicado in bunkers and camps . H:: wever,
human rights v i,ol,at: ions by groups or pni. vate md :i. victual. s said ‘to be act:i.ncj on
behalf of, or with the support, per'mi ss ion or acquiescence of the Government,
allegedly cont:inued.
345 . According to some repo r't.s , cjove rr'u'nenit authorities seized letters
regarding human rights; consequently, relatives reporting the disappearance
oF mdi. v .dua]. s had reque s ted that: any comi'nun :i. cat ion from the Work [ ng Group be
addressed to friends c:uts:icle the c :)untry . One person who had been complet:i,ng
forms to pr'ovi.de in'For'm it:i,on on m:i.ssi.ncj persons to Amnesty International. had
‘those ‘Forms with i'i im when he h :i.mse 1 ‘F d :i, sappear'ed. lie was a 1. l.ecjed ly held in
Ma'tar'a po I. ice stat ion ‘For' several clays aFter i i. s a r'r'e.s't. In ‘the south, many
‘Fami I , ies oF miss :ing persons said that they were ‘Frightened ‘to make enqu :i. ri. e s ,
as they ‘Feared t:hey themse ]. ye s might become vi c i: ins oF repr:i. sal s :i. ‘F'they
ins:i.sted that secur”:i'ty Forces re ”sonniei were r'espons:i.bte ‘Fo “the
E/CN. 4/1991/20
p lCJC 71
d :1 sppearances . pervas.i ye climate of fear and threatened reprisals against
anyone interested in human rights activities al :I.ecjed ly prevent:ed ioc:ai.
//oluntary organ:i.zatlons from gathering relevant information.
346. Concern was expressed about the proi.ifer t ion of viqi :I.aite cjroups in the
south - widely believed to enjoy the protection of highly placed military
officials which were said to be responsible for numerous human rights
abuses. Lawyers and students had been particular targets, allegedly of
security forces and military personnel, and several, lawyers, Members of
Parliament and trade unionists who regularly enquired on behalf of ‘i:he
disappeared had received anonymous t:elephone cal.i.s warning them not to pursue
their enquiries. The drastic drop in h b eas petitions on behalf of
di sappeareci persons was attributed to the k .i. 1.1. ing of three lawyers who had
filed over 400 cases in respect of persons missing in the south.
Other threatened persons were reportedly j ourna]. I sts, dramatists, free. 'lanc:e
writers, trade unionists, human rights workers, Social workers, and most
recent].y those released from detention camps .
.347. :tt was also reported that supporters of the Government were recruited
and sent out on missions aC er a rapid commando—type training to deal. with
political opponents. They allegedly were provided with false security Forces
ident::ity cards, and the area commanders of the State forces were under orders
to provide them with facil:ities . Many of the army camps in t:he south where
suspected JVP (Janatha Vimukhi Peramuna) rebei.s were hel.d were reportedly
being closed down and as it was not known what had happened II the detainees,
it was feared tha some had been killed and that their bodies could have been
among those seen on roads near former camps in the Kandy, Akures sa,
Siyambal.ancluwa and Hambantota areas.
348. Complaints were received tha he secret disposal of bodies continued,
despite t:he revocation of Emergency Reguiaticn 5SF' which empowered members of
the security forces II secretly dispose of dead bodies without the need For an
inquest or post—mortem, and without informing the relatives or friends of he
deceased.
349. During 1990, movements such as the Association of the Rith and Kin of
the Disappeared, Mothers for Human Rights and, more recently, Parents and
Famil.y Member's oF the Disappeared were established in an ef ort to trace
missing persons, and the Minister of State for Defence had agreed that cases
of disappearance could be submitted for investigation to a commit cc presided
over by a Former judge. However, ( movements had made it very clear that
any evidence would be given only in confidence to an independent commi ss ion
having no relationship with the Ministry of Defence. The missing persons unit
at the Army Joint Operations Command in Col.ombo reported l.y sta ed that out of
5,000 letters received in previous months, 1,177 cases were
clarified; however, it has been alleged that the famil.:ies oF JVP suspects
have been refused de 'Lh certificates which would have qualified t:hem ‘For
Government compensation for victims oF violence.
350. En 1.990, ‘Five cases were clari'F:ied on the basis oF inFormation ‘From
Amnesty International. and/o rt.he respective families that one person had died
in detention, one was detained and another three persons had been released.
351. . i”he documentation reFerred to in the Working Group' s c:abl.e to t;he
Government of 13 September 1990, whi c:h included in'Forrm''L ion on more than 600
cases of disappcar'anc:e reported to have occurred in Sri Lanka during 1989 and
1990 (over 200 in 1990), was received by the Working Group in November. Due
E:/CN. 4/i.991/2()
page 72
to sIIFf incj constra it:s of t:he Secretariat, however, it could not he processed
in time for cons:ideral .r on by the Group at its December session, and
consequently those cases are not reflected in the statistical. summary of this
year' s report
Information and views received from the Government
352 By communications dated 15 March, 23 May and 22 June 1990, the Permanent
Representative of Sri l...anka to t:he Un:ited Nations Off ice at Geneva forwarded
replies from his Government in respect of iine cases of disappearance . One
case was subsequently considered c Ian. fied by the Work i. ncj Group on the basis
of the Government's reply that the missing person was detained in Pelawatte
Camp ,
353 . At its thirtieth session, in June 1990, the Worki.ng Group received the
Charg d ‘affairc s of the Permanent Miss ion of Sri Lanka to the United Nations
who expressed appreciation fo rthe continu incj efforts of the Working Group and
reiterated Lhe long stand ring policy o he Government of Sri Lanka of
co-operating with United Nations bodies deal. i.ncj with human rights questions .
He wished to as sure the Group tha Lhe Government would do its utmost to
safeguard the huiian rights and fundamental freedoms of a], i. its citizens . The
measures the Government had had to take to deal with an extreme s ituation as a
result of the emergence in recent year's of groups applying violence and terror
as a means of achieving their' goals shoui.d be seen in this per'spective .
The Charcj cI ‘ affai res mentioned that, as conditions returned to normal, the
law enforcement authorities were conduct:ing investigations into a number of
cases of alleged i,lleal. acts • and in t:hi. s context his Government was pleased
to in Form the Working Group tha a visit from it would be welcome in 1990. :tt
was hoped that such a vi.si.t would further enhance the atmosphere of confidence
and openness with which the Government of Sri lanka had been endeavou ring to
address the unclerl.y i.ng P0 I. i.t :1. cal. arid soc rio econom:i. c problems , as we].]. as
related human rights conc. ems .
354. The emergency r'egula ions, wh:k::h imposed certa 1 restrictions on
pub! :i.cations , political parties, ruk)lic meetings, etc . had been repealed . Law
enforcement agencies were requ i red t:o hold inquests , i.n accordance with
normal laws, in the event of a death of any person. Over 1,800 detainees had
been released since January 1.989 .
355 . The Work ].r lcJ Group was informed that the international. Comm:i.ttee of the
Red Cr'oss (ICRC) had been function:ing in Sri lanka since October 1989, and, in
supplementing the efforts of the national. authori.t i.es i.r fac i. I. i.tatinq
communications between the detainees and the in farni i. i.es , had contributed to
the atmosphere of i. ncreas i.ncj confidence whi cli was so neces sary to g i. ye ef ect
to the poi i. t :1. cal process initiated by the Government . The Office of
United Nat:i.ons Hi.h Commi. s s none “for Refugees (UNHCR ) had al.so been
function:ing in Sri Lanka for some t:ime and assisting in the return and
rehab:i. 1. it iou of internal. i.y arid external. 1,y di. spi c:ed persons, ma:ini.y in the
north and east of the country .
356 . The Charg . d ‘ af air'es stated that he most important cleve 1 .)pme nit S1flCC
the Sri L.ankan ropre sentat :1. ye had appeared before the Working G r::up :1. n
December 1.989 was t:he complete wi. thcl rawai. of t:he Indian Peace keep:i,ng Forces
( :I:PKF ) , wh :1. oh was fo ]. 1 .:‘wed by a process of con!; :1. nu ing negot :ia1; ions between the
main 1am:il militant group, L.:iberation T:icjers of Tamni.i. Eelam (I... E) , and the
Cove rnment . The L E had now dec larud :1. ts c:OmFfl;i. tment to eruI;er the ma:i.nst ream
of po]:tt:.cs ‘irough free and fair— ei.ect:i.ons .
E:icr l . 4/199:L12 0
page 73
357. The c;overnment was at prose nt Focusing alt ent ion on the rehabilitation
of youths who had t:aken to violence and fo rthis purpose had establ:i.shed an
independent surrender committee . Other committees were also functioning at
d:i.strict Jove]. to investigate surrendering youths with a view to releasing
:immed ate ly . those who had not committed any serious off once. One of t:he aims
of the process was to inst:i]. confidence and to ericouracje the youths to join
the mainstream of democratic life. r' Dre, the authorities would he in a
better' postion to ver'ify if any of those surr'ender'incj belonged to the c:ategory
of missing persons. So far, 4,459 persons had sur'r'endered .
358 . As mentioned to the Working Gr'oup i.n December 1989, the Government took
stern action against any illegal groups and had given the security forces
clear- and strict instructions to seek them out, t:o tr'eat them as terrorists,
and to disarm and disband them. No r'oom should be left for anyone to commit
inhuman acts .
359. By note verbale da ed 15 November 1990, the Government communicated its
comments on reports which the Working Gr'oup had transmitted on 28 June and
20 September' ].99O expressing general c:oncer'n about deve].opments in Sr'i. Lanka.
360. With regard to t:he northern and eastern parts o Lhe country, the
Gover'nrnont' s e'F'For'ts in that ar-ca were dir'ec:t:ed towar'ds restoring Jaw and
or'der and persuading the L E to par'ticip e in elections. With the
exception of the L E, al]. Tami]. politica]. parties and groups, as we].]. as
r'epresent Lives of the Muslim community, were seeking political solutions at
the negotiating tab].e with the Gover'nment. The 1..” :‘ s uni ].ater'a]. and total ].y
unprovoked decision on 10 June 1990 II resume terrorist Ltacks and reject t)'y
path of negotiations was deplor'ed by a].]. other' Tamil parties and others
nationally and interna tonally; in fact, many were puzzled by the LTTE's
action since the Government had agr'eed to a].most every pro-negotiation request
made by them. The Government was deeply consc .ous of the suffering inflicted
upon the civ:Liians in the north and east and had taken a].]. possi.b].e measures
to alleviate hardships, with the assistance of, in ter the ICRC and
UNHCR. As recont].y as the beginning of November, the L E had forcibly
expelled all at once nearly 40,000 members o Lhe Muslim community f r'om the
Mannar' area i.n the northern part of t:he country, which in turn had ].ed •Lo a
massive number of displaced and missing persons.
36].. In re].ation the mandate of he Working Group, the Gover'nment had
taken the following steps:
(a) Given fuJi access to IJ ICRC to discharge its humanitarian
mandate including assistance in tracing missing persons; and
(b) Estab].ished Civilian Infor'rnat:i.on Centr'es assisted by Citizens'
Committees in the a Pected ar'ea to co or'dinate and pr'ovide
information oh persons repor'ted to be mi. ss :1. ng whether they wer'e
alleged' to have been abducted by ter'ror:tsts or taken into custody
by security forces.
362 . Referr'ing to the a],legatioris pertaining to the sei.zure of documents, the
Government wished II state categorically that it was not the Gove r'nment' s
po].i.cy to hinder in any way the free f].ow of information on any matter',
including human r'ights issues, in keeping with the provisions of the
Constitution of Sr'i. Lanka and the obligations undertaken by Sri. Lanka as a
par'ty to the International Covenant on Civi.i and Political Rights.
E/CI/! 4/1991/20
page 74
363. In rEspec of the recent incident involving a Member of Parliament, the
posit ion had since been c lar:i fied and the documents wh i cl i had been retained
had now been returned to the MP after s C: rut i ny, and he would he free to use
the information in accordance with the laws o he country . Under the normal
laws of Sri Lanka, tampering with evidence relating to any illegal, act by
anyone, including a police official, was a punishable offence. The Government
wished to reiterate that it would not condone acts which would be contrary to
resolutions 1990/76 and 1990/30 of the Commi.ss ion On Human Rights .
364 , The Government also shared the deep concern, expres sed both nationai. ly
and inter'r9t :iona 1. ly , in respect of the al leged phenomenon of unidentified
I I. lecjal groups wh i. ch were re s t ons ibi.e for certain human rights abuses having
implications for the mandate of Working Gr'oup, includ ing hab
applications . An independent: c:omnmnitt:ee headed by two retired judges or he
Supreme Court had identified problem last •year and a mechanism had already
been worked out to receive informat:ion fr'omn the publ. Ic in thi. s r'egard .
However, the Government was awar'e tha here was some residual violence in the
southern part of the country as a result of unidentified groups taking revenge
on those bel. :i.eved II be responsible for k :i. ii. i.ngs ‘L tr:i.buted to subversive
elements, and It: was taking sever'e measures against: any member of the secur:i.ty
services respons hle for exceeding his leg:itimate duties.
365 . in connect ion with the unfortunate k i. I. ii. ncj of sever'a I. lawyer's refe rre.d
to in the commun :ic&. ions sent by the Working Gr'oup, magisterial inques ts have
been held and investigations are continuing in accordance with the directives
of the ‘nag i st r'ates . The Gov rnment concur'r'ed in condemna ions which had
been expr'es sed i. ii r'e ar'cl to both those 1< :1. il. i ncjs and to threats r'ece i. ved by
other lawyer's, and had taken action to provide security for the lawyer's who
had rec ue sted such pr'ot ect ion . Wh i. 1st the Government condemned those
killings, It str'essed that such . I. legal acts had not hamper'ed the work oF the
j uci ic :i.ar'y or' the legal prt, es s ion concer'n in fi. I. in of fundamental. rights
cases .
366. The Government had also initiated a mobile legal. off Ice aimed at
assisting people wishing to file action, at d:ist rict or reg:i.onal levels, on
matter's oF concer'n and thus enabling them to seek legal. redress , The law
enforcement author'it es had also initiated a police mobile serv ice through
which eFfor'ts were made by the sen:i.or' police or i.cers oF var'i.ous regions, with
the ass Is tance of the Member's oF Parliament of both government and oppos :it:ion
parties, to tr'ace persons reported to be missing , As a result 21. youths
r'epor'ted missing were traced and recently handed over to the:ir parents in the
souther'n city of Be 1 i.a'L e ,
367 . The Pres :i.dent of Sr'i lanka had appointed a special Inte sec.:tor'al. group
oF public servants to mon:itor and report on alleged human r':ights vioi.at:ions .
This t:ask force cons :i. sted of repr'esenta'i:ives of the pr'es:i.denti.aJ. secretariat,
M:inistry of For'e:ign Af a:irs, Min:is ry oF 1e'Fence, the armed serv:i.ce and the
Jaw enfor'cement author'i.t:ies . ,
4/1991/2.0
page 75
i . Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 44
II. Outstand ing cases 1, 140
III , Toted. number' of cases transmitted to the .
Government by the Work incj Group 1, 182
iv. Government: responses :
(a) PJumber of cases on which the
c;over'riment has provided one
or more specific responses 241
(b) Cases c].arifi.ed by the Government' s
responses / 16
V. Cases clarified by non governmental
sources 26
a! Persons re].eased: 13
Persons detained: 3 .
b/ Persons released: 10
Persons detained: 2
Persons died in custody: 14.
nAr abR epub li. ,
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
368. The Working Group's activities in relation to the Syrian trab Repubijc
are recorded in its last eight reports to the Commission. 1/
369. During the period under review, the Working Group transmitted II the
Government of the Syrian Arab Republic one newly reported case of
disappearance which occurred during 1990, on which no response has yet been
received,
Info rma .to w re ceived fro af a i s t a .j e 0 fr.
n 2n:::9!av ernmen ta or
370. The case of disappearance in Syria concerned a man who was allegedly
arr'ested by the Muchaharat (Secret Police) on his arrival in Damascus airport
on a flight from Amsterdam in April 1990. The report was submitted by the
missing person's lawyer in the Netherlands. .
E/CI/l. 4/1991/20
p (3e 76
St tisticaisummary
1: , Cases r'eportecl to have occur'red in 1990 1
II. 0ut .anding cases 2
, Total. number' of cases transmitted to the
Gover'nment by the Wor'k ing Group 6
Iv. Government r'esponses
(a) Number of cases on which the
Government has provided one
or more specific responses 5
(b) Cases clar'ified by t:he Gover'nment s
responses / 3
V. Cases c iar'ified by rion - -gover'nmental
sources / 1
a! Persons detained: 3.
Person released: 1.
:LnFor'mation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
371 . By a cable dated 12 September' 1990, the Working Group transmit ed to the
Government of Turkey, under urgent action procedure, one case of
disapi:ear'ance reported to have occu r'r'ed in 1990.
In ! n Lv . ..f!:. j io
LD.!9 :.D I 1 tiP
372 The above--mentioned case was reported by Amne sty International and
concerned a taxi driver who was last seen driving his taxi, with two
passengers, in the d ir'ection of D:i.yar'bak :i.r' . His detention was at f: Lrst
ac:k nowi.edged by the police but ia L:er denied .
Information and views r'eceived fr'om the Government
373 . By a communication dated 4 December 1990, the Government repi Led that
the r'elevant Turkish author'it;ies had established that the missing person had
neither been detained nor taken into custody by the police or other security
offi C: ia). s. and it was cone ludeci that: he might pos si b].y have been abducted by
members of the te r'r'ori st organ i 7at ion ca]. led ‘‘PKK . According to the
authorit:i.es , the m:i.ss:incj per'son was a mernj:)er' of an organization selling arms
to ‘‘Pt
E/cN. 4/1991/20
page 77
Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 1
L I. Outstanding cases 1
I n. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 1
IV. Government responses:
(a) Number of cases on which the
. Government has provided one
. or more specific responses 1
(b) Cases clarified by Government's
responses 0
. Umanda
Information reviewed and transmitted to IIe Government
314. The Working Group's activities in relation to Uganda are recorded in its
last eight reports to the Commission. j/
375. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990. By
letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the Government of the 13
outstanding cases transmitted in the past. No response whatsoever has been
received to date.
. . Statistical summary
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0 :
II. Outstanding cases 13
III. Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 19
IV. Government responses
(a) Number of cases on which the Government has
provided one or more specific responses 1
(b) Cases clarified by Government's responses !“ 1
V; Cases clarified by non—governmental
sources h I
fi Persons released: 1.
b/ Persons released: 3
Person who died in detention: 1
Person detained: 1.
E/c;I , 4/:L99l/20
p ige /8
:tnformat ion reviewed and transmitted to the Governinent
376 The Working Group s activities in relation to Uruguay are recorded in
its last nine reports to the Commission. 1/
377 . D i i the period under review, the Work : [ ncj Group retransmitted t:o the
Government two cases containing additional information received from the
sources
378 In its cornmuni.cat ion dated 28 June 1990. the Working Group reminded the
Government of a]. 1 outstanding cases , By a letter dated 2.0 September 1990, the
Working Group informed the Government of reports it had received from
non governmental organ 1 zaL ions express ing general concern about the effects
that deveiooment:s in ieg:LsI.ation were having for the imiestigation of cases of
di sappeareance and invited the Gove iment to make any comments on those
a]. ieqat:i.ons .
379. At the request of the Government, surnrnarj.es of all outstanding cases
were transmitted to it on 28 August 1990.
! lii0 fr o n yes of 9.r f.r.o
n •r : a n
380. It was reported that, as a consequence of Act. No. 15848 of
26 December 1986, which excluded the possibility of criminal investig Wions
into human rights violations committ:ed by the mi I. itary or police forces during
the period of military dictatorsh:i.p, the r'eiatlves of miss:i.ng persons had been
deprived of pursuing t:heir search through action before penal. courts . It was
alleged tha1, in fact, there were no other legal means or ways of action
a]. .I.owincj the whereabout:s or the fate of the m:i. ss:i.ng persons to be determined .
381. :rt was alleged that, in the case of a person who was abducted on the
grounds of an embassy in Montevideo in 1976, a file containing a report of an
:i.nves iga ion of the case car'r:i.ed out over two years until October 1.989 was
pub]. . shed in c:ompl. iance with Act No. 15848, art:icl.e 4 . Copies of relevant
documents contained in the fi. le were handed to the Working Group. According
to the information rece :1. ved , the fi. I.e contained a memor'anduin by a former
Direclor of Political Affair's at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs analysing the
d :i. p ].omat :i. c: and po Ii. ti. cal i.mi:fl. :i. cat: ions i. nvo 1 ved in the di. sappearanc:e of t:he
above mentioned person and evaluating the consequences resulting the
acknowledgement t_ her det;ent:i.on o r'the continuation of her cii sappearanc:e .
The memorandum had been prepared as an element for discuss ion of ma ier
(whether to acknowledge the detent ion o rt o maintain the person di. sappeared )
:i.n a meeting of the Na tonal Counc i. 1 for Secur':i.ty (COSEI'IJA) at which the
Mi. n :1. stry of Fore i.cjn Affa:i. rs , the Mm :i. stry of t:he Interior' and the Chief of
Staff and the commanders of the three m . ]. i tary forces were repr'e s ented .
The report s tateci that the part i. c :1. pat ion at t:he highest e::he ions of t:he
dictatorship in the practice of d isappearance emerged c :. r'iy f rum the
documental: ion . As a result of t:he pub]. i cat: :i. on of th i. s fi. i.e. a par]. :iamontary
comm:i ss ion of :i. nqu :i ry had been set up .
Information and vi. ews rece i. ved from the Government:
382. tn a not:e vorba].e dated 5 June 1.990 from the Permanent Mission ()yf.
Uruguay to the United i/}ut:i.ons , i.t was stated that.. the i nvest.::i cjat ion oF
outstanding cases was bu:i.ng carried out by thc. nt:etcn organs oF Ihe :i vi.l
L/Cl/! 41:1.99:1/20
page 79
cc:)u r s and that na iona 1 remedies were operating in a thoroughly normal way ,
according to Urucjuayan leg is lation It: was the i. nt ention of t:he Gove rnment: t:o
::ont inue its co'-operat on with t:he Work [ rig Group and to :trnmed Lately prov ide
any relevant informat ion conce rn:i. icj cases of d . sappearance $ .
Cses reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding cases 31
i l l , iota]. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 39
IV. Government responses :
(a) Tllumber of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific responses 17
(h) Cases clarified by the Government 1 s
responses / 7
V. Cases clarified by non gover'nmental sources 1
a! Persons released from detention: 2
Persons in prison: 4 .
Chi].d found: 1.
b/ Child found: 1
Venezuei.a
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
383. By a letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group transmitted to the
Government of Venezuela one case of disappearance reported to have occurred in
1.989. The Working Group also transmit ed to the Government one case Linde
urgent action procedure. By a let er dated 14 December 1990, the Group
informed the Government ha one case on whic:h it had provided a rep].y wou].d
he considered clarified by the Group provided that within six months of l ,
date on which the reply was communicated to the relatives, they did not make
any observation which required further consideration by the Working Group. By
the same let er the Government was notified that one case had been considered
clarified on the basis of its reply.
In foriiat s i v t Jr.o .f . 9
.n an :::g9Y men : r fl9.n
384. The reports on the two cases of disappearance in Venezuela were
subm:itted by the La in American Federation of Associ ions of Relatives of
Di sappeareci Detainees (FEl:EFAM) . One of the cases conc:erned a person who
d:isappeared dur:ing the incidents tha Look place in Caracas in February 1989.
According to witnesses, the person was shot at fr'om a police car. The other
case concerned a person who was detained on her way home by members of the
E/CN 4/1991/20
page 80
Rural. Command of the t/Jat:ionai. c;uard and who • according t:o the Gove rnmerit ‘ $
reply, had a]. legedly escaped while being transferred to another place. In
connection with the lat:ter case t:he G:vernrnent: further informed the Work incj
Group that t hose cons:i.dered responsible for the missing person S murder had
been brought: to justice; this inforrnat ion was subsequent ].y confi rmed by the
source,
Information and views received from the Government:
385. By letters dated 9 and 26 November :1990. the Permanent Mission of
Venezuela to the United Nations Office at Geneva provided replies on two cases
transmitted to it by the Working Group. On one case it reported that the
Office of the At:torney General had stated that a corpse had been found in a
river in the area where the victim had disappeared and tha Lhe judicial
authorities had been able to determine that suf icient evidence was available
to infer that the characteristics of the body corresponded those of the
missing person. Furthermore, the Second Criminal. Court of First Instance of
judicial d:istrict of the ate of Monagas had issued a warrant for the
arrest of a former National. Guard of icer for complicity in the victim's
murder. A military court which was also dealing with the case issued warrants
for the arrest of three National. Guard offi.cerss in c:onnecti.on with the
above mentioned murder. On the other case it reported that the victim had
died during the February 1.989 incidents that took place in Caracas, and was
buried in a c:ommon gra/,e. The case was under investigation before the Seventh
Criminal. Court of First Instance in Caracas .
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 1
II. Outstanding cases 1
I I I . Total. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 2
I V . Government responses 2
V. Cases clarified by t Government's responses 1
a/ Person dead (body found and identified) : 1. .
Viet Narn
:tnformati.on reviewed and transmitted to the Government
386 . •The Working Group' s acti. vi.ti.es in r'e lati.on to Vi.et Nam are recorded in
:1. i:s last eight reports to the Commi. ss ion .
387 . By a c:able dated 3 1 Aucjust 1990, the Working Group transm:i. tted to t;he
Gover'nment , under the urgent; act ion procedure, one case of di sappearance
rted to have ocurred in 1990.
4/1991/20
page 81
non overnmc'ntal organ iz ti.ons
388 . The above-ment:i.oned case was reported by the Wor].d Vietnamese Buddhist
Order in Canada and concerned a doctor, member of the Humanist Movement, who
was ali.eged].y arrested on 14 June 1990 at his home in Ho Chi. Minh City by
members of t:he security police.
3: . Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 ].
[ I. Outstanding cases 2
III . iota]. number of c:ases transmitted to the
Government by t:he Working Group 8
IV. Governnierit responses
(a) /lumber of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific
responses 3
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's
responses / 3
V. Cases clarified by nongovernmental sources 12' 4
a! Persons in pri son: 2
Persons re].eased: 1.
b/ Persons re].eased : 4.
Zaire
Information reviewed and transmitted II the Government
389. The Working Group's activities in relation to Zaire are recorded in its
second to fourth and sixth tenth reports to the Commission. . /
390. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990. By
letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the Government of the 12
outstanding cases transmitted in the past. No response whatsoever has been
received to date.
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 82
Stati.sti.
i. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 1
II. Outstanding cases 12
i:r:i: Total number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 18
Iv. c;overnment: responses
(a) umber of cases on which the Government has
provided one or more specific responses 17
(h) Cases clarified by the Government's
responses / 6
a/ Persons at liberty: 6.
Zimbabwe
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
391. The Working Group' s activities in re].at:i.on to Zimbabwe are recorded in
its last three reports to the Commission. 1/
392. During the period under review, the Working Group nei.ther received nor
transmitted any new reports of disappearance in Zimbabwe; but in response to
the Government's reply of 6 March 1990, it requested the Government o provide
more precise details in respect of the d te and place of the missing person's
release.
JI Lr L2L! t io .9.
n on --gov 9.2 o.t
393. By a letter dated 27 September 1990, one of the sourc:es of the reported
disappearance in Zimbabwe, referring to the Government' s reply, stated that
investigations following an action to the high court by the family lawyer had
revealed that the police had handed the missing person into the custody of two
men, one of whom was an of i.ci.a]. of military i.nte].ligence, and that he was
last seen in their company .
Information and views received from the Government
394. By a communic tion dated 6 March 1990, the Government replied that
po].ic:e investigations had revealed that the one person reported missing had
been released from police cus ody after interrogation, without any charges
being preferred against him.
. 4/199:1/20
p ige 83
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 ()
:tx Outstanding cases
1:1:1 Total. number of cases transmitted to the
Government by the Working Group 1
IV Government responses :
(a) Number of cases on which the Government
has provided one or more specific: responses 1
(b) Cases clarified by the Government's responses 0
III. INFORMATION CONCERNII/IG ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY D:LsAPPEARANCES
IN SOUTH AFRICA AND NANIBIA REVIEWED BY THE woRK:r:NG GROUP
Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government
395. The Working Group's activ:ities in relation to enforced or involuntary
disappearances in South Africa and Nami.hi.a are recorded in its last nine
reports to the Commission. 1/
396. No cases of disappearance were reported to have occurred in 1990. By
letter dated 28 June 1990, the Working Group reminded the Government of the
eight outstanding cases transmitted in the past. No response whatsoever has
been received to date.
Information and views rece ived f rorn rela : .i s .9f.. n ir o ns or from
fl2 2. na nt4... P
397. Reports on the general situation in southern Africa were received from
the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa in January 1990 and
from Amnesty International on 22 June 1990.
t is u1
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
II. Outstanding cases 8
III, Total number of cases transm:i.tted to the
Government by the Working Group 10
i:v. Government responses
(a) Number of cases on which the Government has
provided one or more specific responses 10
(h) Cases clarified by Government's responses 2
E/CN. 4/1991/20
page 84
I V . COUN 1 RI.Es IN WHICH ALl... REPORED CASES OF DISAPPEARANCE
HAVE BEEN CLAR:tFIED
Panama
:tnfor'mation reviewed and transmitted to the Government
398, The Working Group's activities in relation to Panama are recorded in its
tenth report to the Commission. 1/
399. By letter dated 28 June 1990, the Government was reminded of the one
outstanding case. During 1990 the Working Group received no new reports of
disappearance in Panama.
400. The Working Group received from the Centra]. American Commission on Human
Rights (CODEHUCA) reports alleging that, during the incidents which led to the
overthrow of General. Noriega, many civi].i.ans were killed and buried in common
graves. The relatives have not received the necessary assistance from the
Government to locate a].]. the common graves and exhume the bodies.
Information and views received from the Government
401. By letter date 11 September 1990, the Government replied to the one
outstanding case that the person concerned, a journalist reportedly arrested
in October ].989, was at liberty and had filed a recourse against three members
of the army for their responsibility in inc:i.dents ].eading to his temporary
disapperance. Sources confirmed the release.
I. Cases reported to have occurred in 1990 0
ii. Outstanding cases 0
in: , iota], number of cases transmitted j 0 the
Government by the Working Group .1
iv . Government: responses
(a) Number of cases on which the Government has
provided one or more specific: responses 1
(b) Cases ciar'ifi.ed by the Cove rnment' s
responses 1
I Person released.
E/CI/1. 4/1991/2()
page 85
V . c0/K: IJ.)SI0NS ARH) RECOMMENDAIOI/JS
402 . The overall. fiqure for the case lc.oeicl that the Work inq Group has
accumulated s :inc:e 1980 now stands at close to 20, 000 c: ase s of disappearance,
pe r'ta:i. ri. ncj to some 45 countries In the per:i.ocl under rev :i.ew , the Group has
transmitted 962 cases to 20 different Governments lfl accordance with its
methods of work , 424 of them throuqh its urqent act ion procedure Of t:he
cases transmitted, 486 were said to have occurred in 1990. The corresponding
figure for 1989 was 721, As usual., the Group is including graphs on
individual countries in its report. For the First time, the Working Group is
prov id 1. ng the Commi ss ion with a graph charti. ncj the development of
disappearances world wide since 1973, based on its own files (see annex I) .
403 . As the graph shows, the trend is downward , but statistics can be
treacherous, and there are a number of important provi 50S thatt he Working
Group would 1.1 ke to make , Fi. rst , the graph does not necessarily reflect the
true situation of di sappearanc. es around the globe, as there may be many more
c:ases of which the Group is not aware . On prev:Lous occ:as ions, i.t has st ect
th tt he real dimens ions of the problem are likely to be far greater. Indeed,
quite a number' of c:ountri.es ar'e said to suffer from the phenomenon of
disappearance, some s icjnificantly, whi i.e the Working Group has only very few
individual, cases on its files , Secondly, new cases oF di sappear'ance may be
brought to the Gr'oup' $ attention ‘‘Fter lc:ng delays so th 't t:he total figure
for the corr'espondi.ncj year' has to be c:orr'ectecl upwar'ds retr'oactively . In other'
words, the caseloads ‘For :1990 and even :1989 are likely, in due course, to be
h:i.gher' than at present represented :i ‘i the graph . Thi. r'd ly , the bulge in t:he
middle o the graph is somewhat misleading, inasmuch as the maj ority of cases
for 1983 occur'r'ed in one s:i.ncjle event, as described in paragraph 182 of
E/CIll .4/1989/:18 and in the present report. Consequently, the curve ‘For the
wor'ld wide situation dc:es per'haps not reach as high as the graph may suggest,
so that the downward trend :is less str:iking than portrayed.
404, The Wor'ki.nq Group is not at this time venturin a global. explanation oF
the trend, but a r'elationship a decrease in authoritarian rule in the world
seems evident, In any case, what he gr'aph shou].d mean to the Commission on
Human Rights is that its act i.on against di sappear'ances s :i nce 1980 is
apparently pay i. ng di. v i.dencl s , On the other' hand • what the g r'aph shou id not
imply is that the Commission can relax :it:s tiigi lance. There are several
reasons : one is that several, hundred d :i. sappear'ed persons in one year' is sti. 1. :1
a dr'amatic ‘Figure, particularly as every single case is one too many, Another
reason is that r'epr'essi.on is st:i 1.1. rampant in certain par'ts of to world, and
di. sappear'ances may suddenly beg in to rise again. But most impor'tant ly, the
phenomenon does not end as soon the graph has r'eac:hed the zerc:t l v l. 1:1:
persi. s until last of the outstanding cases has been clariFied.
Therefore, t:he Working Gr'oup ur'ges that the Comrni ss ion c:ont:i.nues to give the
nat er its closest attention.
405, The Wor'k i. ng Group does not Function i. n isolation, dependent as it i. s on
a F:k of inFormation from independent sources as we :11 as on ‘the co operation
oF States . Reference may be made here to paragraph 349 oF last year'' s r'eport
(E/CN . 4/190/13), per'taining ‘to t:he Group' s approach to :ind vidual cases of
c ii. sappearance and its contacts with Governments. i”he Group notes w:ith
sat i s'Fact ion ‘that there are at present ‘Few Governments th ''t do not cooperate
with it. Very valuable is U ) cjr'owing i.ntor'est shown by r'elati. yes oF
disappeared persons and by non governmental or'ganiz 'tions in various parts oF
the wor'id .
E/CN. 4/1991/20
p 1( J(? 86
406 . As the Working Group indic t ed in its prev:ious report, impunity i. 5
perhaps the single most important factor contributing to the phenomenon of
di.sappearanc:o Perpetrators of human rights vioiat:ions , whether c:ivi. P.ian or
mi 1 i.tary, become all the more irresponsible if they are not held to account
before a court of law. Subvers ive groups, for their part, may become all the
more brazen if their violent acts can be repeated unpunished . Impunity can
also induce vict:ims of these practices to resort to self'help, act:i.ng as judge
and executioner at the same time. The interplay among these various factor's
may exacerbate the level of violence r'eigning in a countr'y, and thereby
further reinforce impunity.
407. A high level of m:ii. itarization is oft en a Government' s response to
vlolent action by subversive groups. From the outset, their impact on the
enjoyment of human rights and the a .rocities t:hey commit: have been important
factors for the Group in judging the context of violence in which
di. sappearanc:es occur. As soon as a counter-i.nsurgency campaign i. s launched
against such groups, the f].ow of complaints about human rights abuses often
increases . In those circumstances, :i.mpuni.t:y becomes almost endemic. Thi.s is
also true for opera .ioflS conducted by par'am , 1 itar'y Forces in various guises .
There i.s a pressing need for' those countr'ies wher'e such for'c:es are operating
legally, for instance as civil defence groups, II circumscribe their
re s pons i.bi ]. it i.es as regards maintenance of pub]. i. c: order'. Where par'ami. 1. itar'y
forces take the form of death squads and the like, accountability becomes
almost illusor'y, particularly in situations wher'e Governments are unwilling to
take dec:is ve action agains them.
408 . The pr'ob].em of impunity may be seri,ous].y compounded by reticence in the
adm:in:i st ration of justice. tn IIj sense, the Wor'king Group l s experience has
shown rid. I. i.tary c:oUr'ts to contr'ibut;e significant; l.y to impunity . A r'ec:ur'rent
theme in times of internal crisis or under ifie doctrine of national security
is that nil. itar'y per'sonne 1. attested to have engaged in cjros s mi sc:onduct:
against civilians hardly ever see their cases investigated in any rigorous
manner'. In the few cases which ar'e br'ouqht to tr'i.ai., they ar'e almost
invar'iahly acquitted or given sentences that, by any s andar'd, are gr'ossly
di. spr'opo r'tionate to the crime c:omnm:itt ed , Subsequent promotions are even
commonplace . The Working Group continues to be conc:er'ned about the widespread
tendency to grant j ur'i. sd i. c:t ion over' human r'i.ghts abuses to rid. I. i.tar'y cour'ts
409. Another contr':ihuting factor II impunity may likewise be the
admir ii.str'a ion of ci.vi. i.ian justice, which i.s often seen to suffe r'f r'om
ins it:ut onal par'alysis . Prosecutor's and judges may Find themselves
over'burdened and over -t:hre t,ened , making them slow to respond t , he need for'
inquiries . Par'alys is may also occur through lack of co oper'atlon by i;
executive br'anch, Hab e o S. a remedy that is the most power'fu]. weapon
against unlawful detention, is a case in point. As its success ultimately
depends on wi. 1.1 i ngne ss by the execut; ive to provide i. nformat ion on a
di sappear'ed person, ha is r'ender'ed useless if co-operation stops at
the bar'rac:ks ‘ gate . In acid ition , t:here ar'e many examples of practic:a]. and
legal ohs .aci.E s to its effective use whic:h Cove “nments have seen no reason II
remove or' wh i. ch they have pur'po se l.y put i. ‘ito pl.ac:e The Wor'k i rig Group fee Is
deeply fr'ust rated that, in this manner, h J s corp s r'ema:ins Vi r'tual. ly
inoperative in s ituat ions of wide spread cii sappearanc:e , Affected Cove rniients
shou id engage in a systematic rev is ion of h bea s cor pr'ocedur'es , repai r:ing
their' deficiencies ‘
E/CIll. 4/1991/2()
page 87
410. tn certain instances, a pardon or an amnesty is extended to persons
suspected of or responsible for human rights violations, including
disappearances. Such measures are justified on political and national
security grounds or in terms of national. reconciliation or peac:e efForts ,
r evertheiess, the Working Group finds it hard to accept that a consequence
cle f& cto or de jure - of some of those measures is to prevent investigations
being made into the f L:e or whereabouts of the missing persons. Their
relatives, underst:andabi.y , derive 1. itt i.e c:ons:iation from such policies • even
if they are designed essentially to prevent the recurrence of events such as
di. sappearances ,
411 . In success i.ve reports, the Working Group has drawn attention to
ntim dat on, threats and various Forms of reprisal against relatives and
human rights cjroups involved in cases of enforced disappearance . At its
forty-sixth session, the Commission adopted resolution :1990/76, encouraging
the Group to take more cf ect:ive steps to prc ect individuals or groups who
are the victims of reprisals because of their human rights activities . To deal
with this matter, the Group has improved its methods of work by devising a
“prompt intervention” procedure (see paragraph 26) which it intends II use and
develop further in the future.
412 , The Working Group was fortunate to have received an mv itati.on from the
Government of the Philippines visit that country. The report on the
mission, together with its conclusions and recommendations, i.s being submitted
II the Commission as an addendum II the present report.
413. In that regard, the Working Group has previously expressed concern about
the lack of follow-up to its recommendations in similar reports, those
on missions to Peru (1985 and 1986), c;uatemaia (1987) and Colombi.a (1.988) ,
The Commission' s call for information, contained in its resolution :1990/30,
has not in any way been heeded by the Governments named. The Group i.s of the
view that the Commission should follow the matter closely, lest mission
reports receive only a passing reference during the sessi.on concerned and are
forgo en about soon a ierwards, including by the Government addressed.
414. The Working Group has, on several, occasions, emphasized the urgent need
for the Commi ss ion on Human Rights to cons icier the adoption of an
int:ernati.onai. instrument on the problem of enforced or involuntary
disappearances. The Group is gra ified that the Sub—Commission on Prevention
of [ )iscri.mi.nati.on and Protect ion of Minorities at its forty-second session
(E/CN.4/199l/2 ••- E/CN.4/Suh.2/1990/59) has finalized the of a draft
deciara ion on the subject. The doc:ument i.s the outcome of an extensive
preparatory phase, which included participation by the Work ing Group and its
members . The Group recommends to the Comm. ss ion that i. ‘t• adopt he draf at its
‘Forty—seventh session.
E:ICN. 4/1991./20
page 88
v i . ADOPTION F I-lEE REPORT
415. . At the last meeting of its thirty- .-second session, on 14 Dt cemb r 1990,
the present report was adopted the members of the Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary Dis ppearances.
Ivan losevski. (Yucjos].avia)
Chairman/Rapporteur
tome van Doncjen (Nether].ands)
Jonas K.D. Foli (Ghana)
Acjha Hi].aly (Pakistan)
Diego (3arcia•-Say in (Peru)
Note
1/ Since its creation in 1980, the Working Group has submitted a
report to the Commission annually, starting at the Commission's
thirty-seventh session. The document symbols of the last nine reports are as
follows:
E/CN 4/1435 and Add 1
E/CN.4/1492 and Add.1
E:/clll .4/1983/1.4
E/CPtI. 4/1984/21
E/CN. 4/1985/15
E/CN. 4/:1986/18
E/CN 4/1.987/15
E/CN. 4/1988/19
E/Ct/J .4/1.989/18
E/CN. 4/:1990/13
and Add. 1 and 2
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A /IIllEX :i::t
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page 92
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