A/HRC/39/46 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 30 July 2018 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-ninth session 10–28 September 2018 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Note by the Secretariat The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council, the report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, prepared pursuant to Council resolution 7/12. The Working Group was established by resolution 20 (XXXVI) of the Commission on Human Rights and its mandate was most recently extended by the Council in its resolution 36/6. The mandate of the Working Group is to assist families of disappeared persons to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of their disappeared relatives; and to assist and monitor States’ compliance with their obligations deriving from the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and to provide States with assistance in the prevention and eradication of enforced disappearances. Since its inception in 1980, the Working Group has transmitted a total of 57,149 cases to 108 States. The number of cases under active consideration stands at 45,499 in a total of 92 States. During the reporting period, 404 cases were clarified. In its report, the Working Group provides information on the activities carried out and the communications and cases examined from 18 May 2017 to 2 May 2018. The report includes a section on the preliminary observations on the issue of standards and public policies for an effective investigation of enforced disappearances. GE.18-12552(E) 