A/HRC/45/13/Add.3
scope of those measures will, inevitably, depend on the circumstances of the particular case
and it is not appropriate for the Court to attempt to be more specific in this decision.”
107. A positive example of international cooperation in investigative processes, is the
agreement signed on 1 July 2011 between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Argentina
and Italy, pursuant to which all documents related to the enforced disappearance of Italian
nationals that were kept in diplomatic and consular headquarters in Argentina must be
disclosed and delivered to the National Memory Archive.
108. In France, the Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity, Genocide
and War Crimes is also the central point of contact for the cooperation with international
police and works closely with foreign police services and judicial authorities, with the
United Nations (UN) and its agencies, including the High Commissioner for Refugees and
High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the International Criminal Police Organization
(Interpol), the European network “Genocide” of Eurojust and the war crime focal point of
the European law enforcement agency (Europol).232
109. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia ratified the “Protocol on Co-operation in Search
for the Missing Persons between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and
the Government of Republic of Serbia” of 24 March 2016 that provides for more robust
exchange of information on missing persons’ files, identification of grave sites and
exhumation and identification of human remains.233
110. Several good practices can be mentioned in terms of the establishment of entities
and mechanisms of cooperation to investigate enforced disappearances on a national level.
According to the Council of Europe, national commissions on missing persons have been
established in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, as
well as in Kosovo.234,Good practices can also be identified in the practice of Argentina via
the establishment of the National Commission concerning Missing Persons and in Croatia
via the Commission for Tracing Persons Missing in War Activities in the Republic of
Croatia. In Sri Lanka, the recently established Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) holds a
range of powers in order to obtain information and evidence relevant to its investigations,
including access to the records of past commissions of inquiry.235 In Switzerland, when a
person is reported missing, relatives can initiate a search request via a newly established
network between the Confederation and the Cantons, in order to ensure that information
flows efficiently and reliably between relevant entities.236 In Mexico, the “General Law on
Enforced Disappearance of Persons, Disappearance Perpetrated by Individuals and the
National Search System,” entered into force on 16 January 2018, creates a National Search
System, a National Search Commission, a National Register of Disappeared and Missing
Persons, and a National Citizens Council, made up of human rights defenders, experts and
relatives of victims, who advise and issue opinions provided to the National Search
System.237
C.
Production of evidence, access of victims to investigation and protection
from reprisals
111. The obligation to undertake an effective investigation of enforced disappearance is
closely related to the rights of the victims, including their families, and other stakeholders
to access and take part in the investigations.238 The Inter-American Court stated that victim
participation is an important element of effective investigations and in the production of
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
40
See the contribution for this report by France, p. 5. Available at www.ohchr.org.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Protocol on Co-operation in Search for the Missing Persons between the
Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of Republic of Serbia” Official
Gazette of BiH” No. 2/16 of 24 March 2016.
Council of Europe (see footnote 232) 43; All references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the
context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
A/HRC/42/40/Add.1 para. 6.
Switzerland, Submission to WGEID, March 2019, p. 4 para. 7.
CED/C/MEX/CO/1/Add.2.
See Section III, D, E and F of the Thematic Report.
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