UN members sign treaty on ‘forced disappearances’
FRANCE: Some 60 UN member states signed a convention against
so-called forced disappearances, the state kidnap and secret detention
of political opponents.
Championed jointly by France and Argentina — where thousands of
people vanished under the 1976-1983 military dictatorship — the
convention is the fruit of 25 years of international negotiations.
It was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December, and needs the
signature of 20 states in order to come into force.
In 1992, the United Nations adopted a declaration condemning forced
disappearances, which are also classed as a crime against humanity under
the statutes of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
But the UN’s International Convention on the Protection of All
Persons from Forced Disappearance goes one step further, by giving
states binding obligations towards both offenders and victims.
Signatory states will be obliged to investigate and prosecute any
cases of illegal detention or sequestration, carried out by civil
servants of groups linked to the state.
The treaty outlaws secret places of detention or trial, and
establishes the right to truth and compensation for the victims and
their families.
“This text fills a legal vacuum by making it a crime, in times of
peace or war, for a state to carry out forced disappearances, meaning
for it to kidnap a person, directly or indirectly, without that person’s
relative ever being informed,” said French foreign ministry spokesman
Jean-Baptiste Mattei.
“It is a considerable step forwards. This is the first complete and
specific international text on forced disappearances,” said Patrick
Baudouin, honorary chairman of the Paris-based International Federation
of Human Rights.
Once it comes into force, a committee of 10 experts, named for a
four-year period, will oversee the treaty’s application in all signatory
states.
Earlier fifty-eight countries agreed for the first time to take steps
to prevent children from being recruited as soldiers in conflicts,
French officials said.
“For the first time countries are solemnly committing to apply and
respect these principles to combat the recruitment and use of children
in armed conflicts,” a foreign ministry official said at the end of a
two-day conference in Paris.
Among signatories to the Paris Principles are 10 of the 12 countries
where the United Nations says there are child soldiers, including Sudan,
Chad, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The other two — Myanmar and the Philippines — did not take part in
the conference, which also brought together donor countries, aid
agencies and the UN children’s organisation UNICEF. The US was not
present.
The UN estimates there to be some 250,000 child soldiers in the
world, mainly in Africa and Asia.
Under the Paris principles, which have no juridical status, countries
promise to “fight against impunity, and investigate and prosecute in an
effective manner persons who illegally recruit children of under 18
years in armned groups or forces.”
“Peace agreements or other arrangements aimed at ending hostilities
should not include amnesties for those who commit crimes against
international law, notably those carried out against children,” the text
reads.
Paris, Wednesday, AFP
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