The University of Cambodia

GROUP MEMBERS

Mey Sokleap
Ouch Sonita
Kheng Ratanak
Sorn Chanmouy
Im Akrunkonghong
Keoun Sreypov

1|Page Lecturer: Ching Sreytouch

The University of Cambodia

Contents:

I. Introduction......................................................................................................................

II. How does this convention go to force?............................................................................

III. Why was this convention adopted?..................................................................................

- Benefits

IV. The impact of enforced disappearance............................................................................

V. How was the convention implemented?..........................................................................

VI. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................

VII.

2|Page Lecturer: Ching Sreytouch

The University of Cambodia

I. Introduction

• The Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance aims to
criminalize and combat the grave human rights violation of enforced disappearance. • Enforced
disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political
organization or by a third party with the authorization, support or acquiescence of a state or
political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person’s fate and whereabouts,
with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of law.

• This convention was adopted by UN General Assembly on 20 December 2006 and came
into force on 23 December 2010. Switzerland ratified the convention on 2 December 2016 where
it came into force on 01 January 2017. This convention has 3 parts and is divided into 45 articles.

II. How does this convention go to force?

The international convention for the protection of all people is an international human rights
instrument of all united nation and intended to prevent forced disappearance defined in the
international law, crimes against humanity.

“ Enforced disappearance “is defined in Article 2 of the Convention as the arrest ,detention,
abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state or by persons or
group of person acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the state follow by a
refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts
of the disappeared person ,which place such a person outside the protection of law .

Party to the convention undertake to

 Investigate acts of enforced disappearance and bring those responsible to justice

 Ensure the enforced disappearance constitute an offence under the criminal law, etc.
The convention will be governed by a committee on Enforced disappearance elected by
parties, parties are obliged to report to this committee on the step they have taken to
implement it within two years of becoming subject to it.

3|Page Lecturer: Ching Sreytouch

The University of Cambodia

III. Why is the convention important?

Unlike other human rights violations, such as torture, enforced disappearances were not
prohibited by a universal legally binding instrument before the Convention come into force in
2010. Before that only the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (which came into
force in 2002) provided for prosecution and award of reparation to victims in cases where
enforced disappearance amounted to crimes against humanity.

The crime of enforced disappearances was also prohibited prior to 2010 by the 1992 UN
Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the 1996 Inter-
American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons Rights and customary international
humanitarian law. However, this previously existing framework exhibited both serious gaps and
ambiguities, and has proven to be insufficient as a protection mechanism. The Convention,
despite its own flaws, corrects some of the existing gaps in the legal framework.

Firstly, the Convention makes enforced disappearance criminal under international law
and recalls the right of every person not to be subject to it, even under exceptional circumstances,
such as the state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public
emergency.

Secondly, it is an important treaty because it obliges states to implement it into national

law – therefore, ensuring that impunity shall not prevail for enforced disappearance.

Thirdly, it guarantees the rights of victims or their relatives to have access to justice and
full and effective reparation.

IV. The impact of enforced disappearance

An enforced disappearance of an individual has a tremendous effect on the lives of his or her
loved ones and their communities. The brother of Sanjeev Kumar Karna, a victim of enforced
disappearance in Nepal, described the far-reaching impact of an individual’s disappearance in an
interview with Amnesty International, stating that “[w]hen a member of a family is disappeared,
that family is completely destroyed.” Families are often emotionally unable to find closure and
come in terms with the disappearance of their loved ones. Many suffer from severe
4|Page Lecturer: Ching Sreytouch
The University of Cambodia

psychological distress, sometimes resulting in physical illness as well. Children are not immune
from such anguish; disappearance of a parent, sibling, or other members of the family often
adversely affects their educational performance and social behavior. Furthermore, families
frequently face enormous economic consequences, especially when the victim was the principal
bread-winner of the family. Even if this was not the case, many families find themselves in dire
economic straits during the course of their search for the victim. The societal and cultural
isolation faced by the families frequently go undocumented. For example, while widows in
certain cultures have a well-established support system within communities, wives of
disappeared victims are at times left in limbo.

V. How was the convention implemented?

As early as 1980 the UN Commission on Human Rights constituted a working group to

address the problems arising from missing and disappeared persons, and in 1992 the General
Assembly agreed on a declaration for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance.
In 2002, the Commission on Human Rights mandated a working group with elaborating a draft
of a convention which was then presented in September 2005. During its first meeting in June
2006, the newly created Human Rights Council adopted the draft treaty unanimously and
forwarded it to the General Assembly which agreed on it on 20 December 2006.

VI. Conclusion

The Convention will be governed by a Committee on Enforced Disappearances elected

by its parties. Parties are obliged to report to this committee on the steps they have taken to
implement it within two years of becoming subject to it.

The Convention includes an optional complaints system whereby citizens of parties may
appeal to the Committee for assistance in locating a disappeared person. Parties may join this
system at any time, but may only opt out of it upon signature.

5|Page Lecturer: Ching Sreytouch