Long-term international mobilization
For more than twenty-five years, organizations of families of the disappeared, human rights NGOs, legal experts and a number of States worked tirelessly to achieve a historic moment: the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. This process, marked by perseverance and collective commitment, was long and fraught with difficulties.
The beginnings: pioneering initiatives and family mobilization
As early as 1981, the Paris Bar Institute for Human Rights organized a pioneering symposium on the need for an international convention against disappearances. Between 1980 and 1983, families of the disappeared in Latin America drew up a first draft text, which they presented to the UN. This militant and visionary work laid the foundations for an international legal instrument.
In 1988, a first formal draft was presented by the Sub-Commission on Human Rights. It was not until 1992, however, that the General Assembly adopted a Declaration on Protection from Enforced Disappearance - a crucial step, albeit not legally binding.
Towards a legally binding instrument
It was not until 2001 that negotiations for a truly binding text were initiated by the former Commission on Human Rights. After several years of debate and consultation, the process culminated in an agreement on September 23, 2005, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Under the chairmanship of French Ambassador Bernard Kessedjian, Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group, the draft Convention was submitted for approval. No State objected, and the text was adopted by consensus. This major step forward was then unanimously validated by the Human Rights Council (June 2006), the Third Committee of the General Assembly (November 2006), and then the General Assembly itself, on December 20, 2006. By this date, 103 States had co-sponsored the text.
Unanimous adoption, but implementation still incomplete
Despite the enthusiasm generated by the unanimous adoption of the text, many uncertainties persist as to the real willingness of certain States to translate this progress into concrete action. This is why civil society organizations are called upon to play a central role in speeding up ratification and ensuring the effective implementation of the Convention.
International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED)
Aware of the importance of collective mobilization, civil society around the world has formed the International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED). This initiative, in which the FEMED - a member of its Steering Committee - plays an active part, aims first and foremost to promote the rapid ratification and full application of the Convention. Eventually, the Coalition may also extend its actions to other areas linked to the eradication of enforced disappearances.
More information on the Coalition: www.icaed.org
International Day of the Disappeared: mobilization in Paris
On August 30, 2008, to mark the International Day in Memory of the Disappeared, FEMED, in partnership with its member associations representing families of the Moroccan and Algerian disappeared, organized an awareness-raising event at Place de la Bastille in Paris.
Through several activities - distribution of documentation, screenings of documentary films on disappearances in Morocco and Algeria, and photographic exhibitions on cases of disappearances in these two countries as well as in Turkey - the event aimed to inform the public and mobilize awareness.
Targeted diplomatic action
As part of the international campaign for ratification of the Convention, launched by ICAED, FEMED has also made diplomatic representations to several Paris-based embassies of states in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The aim: to make officials aware of the realities of enforced disappearances in the region, and encourage them to ratify an essential instrument to put an end to them.
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