A/HRC/10/9
page 94
(c) Place of arrest or abduction, or where the disappeared person was last seen
(indication of town or village, at least);
(d) Parties, acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or
acquiescence of the Government, presumed to have carried out the arrest or abduction or to be
holding the disappeared person in unacknowledged detention;
(e) Steps taken by the family to determine the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared
person, or at least an indication that efforts to resort to domestic remedies were frustrated or have
otherwise been inconclusive;
(f) A case should be submitted to the Working Group by a reliable source, which, if
other than a family member, must indicate whether the reported victim's family has given their
direct consent that this case be submitted to the Working Group on their behalf.
If a case is not admitted, the Working Group sends a response to the source indicating that
the information received did not fulfil the established requirements, in order to permit the source
to provide all relevant information.
Communication with Governments
In transmitting cases of disappearance, the Working Group deals exclusively with
Governments, basing itself on the principle that Governments must assume responsibility for any
violation of human rights on their territory.
Perpetrators
The Working Group operates on the basis that, and in accordance with the definition
contained in the Preamble of the Declaration, for purposes of its work, enforced disappearances
are only considered as such when the act in question is perpetrated by State actors or by private
individuals or organized groups (e.g. paramilitary groups) acting on behalf of, or with the
support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government. Based on the above, the
Working Group does not admit cases when they are attributed to persons or groups not acting on
behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government,
such as terrorist or insurgent movements fighting the Government in its own territory.
Standard procedure
Reported cases of disappearances are placed before the Working Group for detailed
examination during its sessions. Those which fulfil the requirements outlined above are
transmitted, upon the Group’s specific authorization, to the Governments concerned with the
request that they carry out investigations in order to clarify the fate or whereabouts of the
disappeared person, and inform the Group about the results. These cases are communicated by
letter from the Group’s Chairman to the Government concerned through the Permanent
Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Any substantive additional information which the sources submit on an outstanding case is
placed before the Working Group and, following its approval, transmitted to the Government
concerned.
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