CONVENTION IN PRACTICE

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USE THE CONVENTION

This page shows examples of how the Convention can already be used in practice.

The full strength and effect of the Convention will become clear after widespread ratification, the entry into force and the functioning of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

But even before the entry into force the Convention can already be used in cases  of enforced disappearances, in particular towards States that have already signed and ratified the Convention. Even though the Convention has no legally binding status yet and there is no monitoring body, many States have agreed to abide by the provisions by joining the consensus at the Human Rights Council, co-sponsoring at the General Assembly (103 States) or even stronger, signing and ratifying the Convention.

Organizations can already use the Convention in recent but also for older cases of enforced disappearances, for instance by making references to the relevant provisions of the Convention.

Examples

Human Rights Watch - On February 26 2008 HRW stated in a press release regarding recent disappearances in Chad that it is "concerned that the two men are victims of enforced disappearance. The International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, which Chad signed on February 6, 2006, defines an enforced disappearance as...."

Amnesty International - On March 2008 in an article on secret CIA detention Amnesty summed up several recommendations, one of which calls on the U.S. Administration, who have not yet signed the Convention: 'In view of evidence that Khaled al-Maqtari was the victim of an enforced disappearance, the US authorities should initiate prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the allegations by a competent and independent state authority, as set out in Article 12 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and Article 13 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.'

Human Rights Watch - On March 2008 HRW several times refers to the Convention, in the article 'Recurring Nightmare', the state responsibility for disappearances and abduction in Sri Lanka. For example, HRW states that Article 3 of the International Convention against Enforced Disappearances calls on states to investigate abductions and other acts that fall into the definition of a “disappearance” committed by non-state actors and to bring those responsible to justice. Read more...