A/HRC/27/49 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 4 August 2014 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty–seventh session 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* Summary The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances was the first United Nations human rights thematic mechanism to be established with a universal mandate by resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980 of the Commission on Human Rights. The mandate was most recently extended by the Human Rights Council by its resolution 16/16 of 24 March 2011 and decision 25/116 of 27 March 2014. 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 monitor State’s 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 implementation of those norms. Since its inception, the Working Group has transmitted a total of 54,405 cases to 104 Governments. The number of cases under active consideration stands at 43,250 in a total of 88 States. The Working Group has been able to clarify 254 cases over the past five years. The present report reflects the activities of and communications and cases examined by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances covering the period 10 November 2012 to 16 May 2014. * The annexes to the present report are circulated as received, in the language of submission only. GE.14-09981 (E) *1409981*