A/HRC/10/29
concerning harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or
relatives of persons who have disappeared,
Acknowledging that acts of enforced disappearance may amount to crimes against
humanity as defined in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
Recognizing the importance of the right of victims to know the truth regarding the
circumstances of the enforced disappearance, as set out in article 24 (2) and the preamble of
the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance, so as to contribute to end impunity and to promote and protect human
rights,
Recalling the Set of Principles for the protection and promotion of human rights
through action to combat impunity (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/20/Rev.1, annex II), and taking
note with appreciation of the updated version of those principles (E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1),
Recalling also its resolution 7/12 of 27 March 2008, in which it extended the
mandate of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances for a further
period of three years,
1.
Takes note of the report submitted by the Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearances (A/HRC/10/9) and of the recommendations contained therein;
2.
Stresses the importance of the work of the Working Group, and encourages it
to pursue the fulfilment of its mandate as set out in resolution 7/12;
3.
Calls on the Governments that have not provided for a long period of time
substantive replies concerning claims of enforced disappearances in their countries to do so
and to give due consideration to relevant recommendations concerning this subject made by
the Working Group in its reports;
4.
Urges States:
(a)
To promote and give full effect to the Declaration on the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance;
(b)
To cooperate with the Working Group to help it to carry out its mandate
effectively and, in that framework, give serious consideration to responding favourably to
its requests for visits to their countries;
(c)
To prevent the occurrence of enforced disappearances, including by
guaranteeing that any person deprived of liberty is held solely in officially recognized and
supervised places of detention, guaranteeing access to all places of detention by authorities
and institutions whose competence in this regard has been recognized by the concerned
State, maintaining official, accessible, up-to-date registers and/or records of detainees, and
ensuring that detainees are brought before a judicial authority promptly after detention;
(d)
To work to eradicate the culture of impunity for the perpetrators of enforced
disappearances and to elucidate cases of enforced disappearances as a crucial step in
effective prevention;
(e)
To prevent and investigate with special attention enforced disappearances of
persons belonging to vulnerable groups, especially children, and enforced disappearances
of women, as they may become particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and other forms
of violence, and to bring the perpetrators of those enforced disappearances to justice;
(f)
To take steps to provide adequate protection to witnesses of enforced or
involuntary disappearances, human rights defenders acting against enforced
disappearances, and the lawyers and families of disappeared persons against any
intimidation, persecution, reprisals or ill-treatment to which they might be subjected, with
22
GE.09-17451
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