A/HRC/10/28 page 3 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 7/28, requested the Secretary-General to submit a comprehensive report on missing persons before its tenth session. The Secretary-General submitted a report dated 18 August 2008 on missing persons to the General Assembly (A/63/299). That report covered the thematic subjects of (a) measures to prevent persons from going missing; (b) the right of families to know; (c) the use of forensic methods and DNA forensic sciences in searching for and identifying missing persons; and (d) missing persons and the issue of impunity. The contents of the report were essentially based on responses to a note verbale addressed to States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. 2. The General Assembly took note with appreciation of the above-mentioned report and adopted resolution 63/183 on missing persons without a vote. In the resolution, the Assembly called on States parties to an armed conflict to take measures to prevent persons from going missing in connection with the conflict and to account for persons reported missing as a result of such situations. It also called on those States to determine the identity and fate of persons reported missing in connection with the armed conflict and, to the greatest extent possible, provide their family members with information on their fate. It urged States to encourage intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to provide appropriate assistance as requested by concerned States, and welcomed the establishment and efforts of commissions and working groups on missing persons. Without prejudice to States’ efforts to determine the fate of missing persons in connection with armed conflicts, the Assembly requested States to take appropriate steps in terms of the legal situation of missing persons and the needs of their family members. It also stressed the need for the issue of missing persons to be part of peacebuilding processes, with reference to all justice and rule of law mechanisms. The Assembly also welcomed the panel discussion on the question of missing persons held by the Human Rights Council at its ninth session. II. EXPERT PANEL DISCUSSION ON MISSING PERSONS 3. The present report builds on the developments since the report of the Secretary-General on missing persons, submitted to the General Assembly in August 2008, taking into account the contents and requests made by the Council in its resolution 7/28. The Council decided, in its resolution 7/28, to hold a panel discussion on the question of missing persons and to invite prominent experts. The panel discussion was held on 22 September 2008 during the ninth session of the Council. 4. The panel was composed of Cordula Droege, Legal Adviser, Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Vefaeddin Ibayev, Judge of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan; Karyne Minasyan, Director of the Human Rights Center for Prisoners of Wars, Hostages and Missing in Action and Coordinator in Armenia of the International Working Group for prisoners of wars, hostages and people missing in action; Marco Sassoli, Professor, Geneva Academy on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law; Michel Veuthey, Professor and Vice-President of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (San Remo Institute); and Kathryine Bomberger, Director-General of the International Commission on