Enforced disappearances

Recommendation 1719 (2005)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 3 October 2005 (25th Sitting) (see Doc. 10679, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur : Mr Pourgourides). Text adopted by the Assembly on 3 October 2005 (25th Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Parliamentary Assembly, referring to its Resolution 1463 (2005), invites the Committee of Ministers to express its support for the adoption, by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, of a binding international instrument for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance.

2. It invites the Committee of Ministers to stress, in particular, the need for the future instrument to provide for :

2.1 a clear definition of enforced disappearances wide enough to cover also non-state actors ;

2.2 the recognition of close relatives as victims in their own right and to grant them a “right to the truth” ;

2.3 effective measures against impunity ;

2.4 appropriate preventive measures ;

2.5 a comprehensive right to reparation including restitution, rehabilitation, satisfaction and compensation ;

2.6 a strong international monitoring mechanism, including an urgent intervention procedure.

3. The Assembly further invites the Committee of Ministers to examine the future UN instrument in due course with a view to ascertaining whether the essential elements presented in paragraph 2 have been duly taken into account, and if need be, to envisage appropriate action in the framework of the Council of Europe in order to fill any remaining gaps.

4. Finally, it urges the Committee of Ministers to revert to the issue of the disappearances in Belarus and decide on stronger and more effective measures than those referred to in its reply to Recommendation 1657 (2004).