A/HRC/19/58 Palestinian Authority Number of outstanding cases at the beginning of the period under review Cases transmitted to the Government during the period under review: 0 Cases clarified during the period under review: 0 Cases sent under the urgent action procedure Cases sent under the standard procedure Government Non-governmental sources Number of outstanding cases at the end of the year under review 0 0 0 0 3 3 Number of cases on which the Government has replied Multiple replies on some cases Number of cases of possible clarification by Government (6-month rule) N/A 0 0 Urgent appeal N/A Government response N/A General allegation N/A Government response N/A Prompt intervention letter N/A Government response N/A Working Group request for a visit N/A Invitation extended N/A 691. All outstanding cases were retransmitted and, regrettably, no response was received from the Government. A summary of the situation in the country appears in document E/CN.4/2006/56 and Corr.1. IV. Conclusions and recommendations 692. In 2011, the Working Group transmitted 261 newly-reported cases of disappearance to 25 Governments. The Working Group used the urgent action procedure in 73 of these cases, which allegedly occurred within the three months preceding the receipt of the report by the Working Group. During the reporting period, the Working Group was able to clarify 63 cases of enforced disappearance. 693. Over 40,000 cases still remain unclarified by the Working Group, many going back decades. In spite of this large number, underreporting remains a major problem. It occurs for various reasons, including poverty, illiteracy, fear of reprisals, weak administration of justice, ineffectual reporting channels, institutionalized systems of impunity, language barriers, a practice of silence and restrictions on the work of civil society. More assistance should be provided to family members and members of civil society in order for them to be in a position to report cases to the Working Group. 694. The Working Group is grateful for the cooperation received from a number of States: it is indispensable for discovering the fate or whereabouts of disappeared persons around the globe. Nevertheless, it remains concerned that of the 82 States with outstanding cases, some States have never replied to the Working Group‟s communications and some States provide responses that do not contain relevant information. The Working Group urges those States to fulfil their obligations under the Declaration and the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. 695. The Working Group acknowledges the efforts of States, of victims‟ associations, of many human rights defenders, non-governmental organizations, lawyers and others 137

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