Judicial Body: UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID)

TRIAL International and the FOCODE denounce with a common voice the widespread crimes in Burundi to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances (WGED).

 

An unbearable climate for civilians

 The climate of tension and insecurity prevailing in Burundi is such that simply living in opposition-leaning or “anti-third mandate*” areas can get you arrested – although arrests strongly resemble kidnapping.

The party in power will crush whoever defies its authority: many reported cases of enforced disappearance have targeted activists (real or perceived), political opponents or members of the former Burundian armed forces. Journalists and human rights defenders are even worst off: their muzzling has been all but systematic since 2015.

 

Crimes against humanity?

In their report, TRIAL International and the FOCODE demonstrate that these enforced disappearances occur across the territory and follow the same pattern. Such “widespread” and “systematic” attacks “targeting the civilian population” could therefore amount to a crime against humanity.

“The methods and victims’ profile are similar in the whole country” explains Janvier Bigirimana, General Secretary of the FOCODE. “Additionally, the authorities’ complacency gives the carte blanche to commit these crimes.”

The report highlights that these crimes are mainly committed by the representatives of the State, and by members of the party’s youth branch, the Imbonerakure**.

 

A step towards an ICC inquiry?

The recognition by the WGED of enforced disappearances a as a crime against humanity could push the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an inquiry. Last month, the UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Burundi also emitted recommendations in that sense.

The total absence of prosecution for the criminals would also satisfy the complementarity criteria necessary for the ICC to be competent.

 “An increasing number of actors are calling for the opening of an inquiry in Burundi. With mere weeks to go before the country formally leaves the Rome Statute, we hope our report will contribute to that effort” concludes Pamela Capizzi. “The victims have placed their hopes in the international community: it is our duty not to fail them.”

 

* Political upheaval has begun when the current president Pierre Nkurunziza embarked on his third mandate, which is prohibited by the Burundian Constitution.
** The Imbonerakure have been referred to as “a militia” by the United Nations and have imposed themselves as “the State’s main tool of repression”.

That Mexico is in the midst of a human rights crisis is no news. But one often-overlooked group of victims are children. Today, TRIAL International and a coalition of local NGOs denounced the abuse they face to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).

 

Over 5’500 children and adolescents between the ages of 0 and 17 have been disappeared in Mexico since 2006. They represent a shocking 18% of the total number of registered disappearances, and the real figure could be much higher.

These figures cover a broad range of situations, including migrant children who were disappeared trying to cross Mexico and reach the United States of America. Likewise, both disappearances at the hands of the State and of non-State actors are registered there. “But even when non-State actors are to blame, the rampant impunity often makes it impossible to rule out the involvement, direct or indirect, of State agents”, clarifies Gabriella Citroni, TRIAL International’s Senior Legal Advisor and expert on enforced disappearance.

What that number excludes are the children whose relatives have been disappeared, which is significantly higher. They, too, are considered victims of enforced disappearance as they suffer its dire consequences.

 

Specific ailments call for specific measures

Children or adolescents with a disappeared relative are subjected to a multiple violation of their fundamental rights. Oftentimes the disappeared was the breadwinner, so children replace them in the household, forced to leave the school and begin to work. Hence, these youth suffer grave violations of their rights to education, health, social security and property.

Over half of young victims (59%) are girls. Due to gender roles embedded in history, and tradition, they are more likely to experience hardship – including assuming parental responsibility and dropping out of school – than boys. Their vulnerability calls for specific measures, yet at the moment, Mexico’s policies incorporate no gender perspective whatsoever.

To avoid these forms of re-victimization, Mexico must ensure early and comprehensive access to social support and reparation. Reparative measures must include access to health-care, food and education, so that children do not have to become bread-winners. Psycho-social support is also key, as young victims are more prone to social isolation and psychological distress.

 

Insufficient and inoperative policies

At the moment, Mexico has no effective public policy to attend children and adolescents victims of disappearance. The country does have two programs of alert and search, but they are seldom applied and their activation is overly complicated.

“For example, the alert can only be activated if an imminent and grave risk can be demonstrated in relation to the disappearance of a child” explains Gabriella Citroni. “Authorities often consider that this requirement is not met, without taking into account the situation of generalised violence in the country.”

In their report to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), TRIAL International and its partners recommend that processes are consistently simplified, in order to launch the search operations without delay.

Read the executive summary
Read the report (in Spanish)

Watch the story of Kimberley and Heber
Watch the story of Marcela

Four representatives of Burundian NGOs visited Geneva. Pierre-Claver MBONIMPA (President of the APRODH), Armel NIYONGERE (President of ACAT-Burundi and Director of SOS-Torture Burundi), Janvier BIGIRIMANA (Secretary general of FOCODE) and Gordien NIYUNGEKO (Executive Secretary of FOCODE) spoke to TRIAL International about the grim situation in their country.  

It is a pleasure to be here in Geneva and to personally meet our partners, including TRIAL International. We are here to inform the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances of the alarming situation in Burundi, namely the cases documented by our organizations. But meeting up with international actors is equally important in the pursuit of our cause. We need partners and institutional stakeholders to relay our fight.

We are extremely satisfied that the United Nations has set up a Commission of Inquiry. Its very existence is proof of an underlying problem that the Burundian authorities stubbornly deny.

Our government’s refusal to cooperate with the international community is both an admission of weakness and a testament to their lack of arguments. It also proves that the leadership fears the consequences of their actions.

 

 

Hard living conditions

All four of us live in exile today. During the first months of the crisis, we stayed to expose the abuses taking place. But as well-known within the community, we are in the government’s direct line of sight. The screws were tightening and we had to flee with our families.

Many human rights activists still live in Burundi. They are lesser-known figures but their safety is precarious nevertheless. We are in contact on a daily basis, over WhatsApp and other social networks.

As exiles, our role is to collect evidence and bear witness to the human rights violations before the international community.

Our struggle is tough and victories scarce. But each visit to Geneva is our opportunity to shed a light on the Burundian crisis.

We cannot give up. No matter how long the night, the sun will eventually rise!

 

TRIAL International and six NGOs denounce the ordeal of thousands of relatives of disappeared persons in Mexico in their attempt to obtain assistance and redress.

On paper, Mexico is equipped with both the legislative tools and the institutional venues to guarantee social assistance and reparation to relatives of disappeared persons. But behind this façade, the bleak reality is that thousands of families are left to deal alone with the emotional upheaval of enforced disappearance, exacerbated by material deprivation.

When men are forcibly disappeared, women and children often suffer too, because the head the household and main breadwinner is no longer around. The disappearance of a single individual therefore results in the disruption of entire families. Guarantees of employment or property are crucial not only to cover the expenses of the search for their loved ones, but also to ensure their sheer survival.

 

An inhumane bureaucratic maze

Under international law, States have the obligation to provide adequate reparation and social assistance to the families of disappeared persons.

But in Mexico, they often find themselves trapped in a bureaucratic maze. The institutions supposed to help them actually hinder their attempts: officers in charge frequently prove unwilling or unable to adequately attend victims and their families.

Worse still, episodes of re-victimisation may occur, effectively discouraging relatives to uphold their rights. A group of wives of disappeared persons was told that they should find a job instead of “begging for support”, since their husbands would not return anyway.

Similarly, many relatives applying for medical and psychological assistance have been turned down as they were unable to demonstrate the trauma they had been subjected to. Other cases of mistreatments include false information or the loss of files.

Adding insult to injury, relatives of disappeared persons are often requested to anticipate expenses to cover their basic needs, such as medical support. As a result, some families are forced to apply for loans or mortgages. Now the Mexican authority in charge of social support is failing to reimburse these expenses, furthering their humiliation, economic hardship and marginalisation.

 

Foreigners have even fewer rights

The situation is even worse when the relatives of the disappeared person reside outside of Mexico and this is particularly grave knowing that thousands of migrants – mainly from Central America – disappeared in Mexico in their attempt to reach the USA or Canada. Although the law entitles also foreign relatives of disappeared persons to social support and reparation, practical obstacles make it almost impossible to fulfil these rights.

On the one hand, appointing a representative in Mexico can prove very hard for relatives living abroad. On the other, relatives themselves are unable to travel there for lack of a visa and economic means to cover their travel.

The few that manage to formally register as “victims” – and are thus entitled to social support – may in practice be unable to access said support. Ms. E.D. lived in El Salvador when her son disappeared in Mexico in 2011. It took her 4 years to be formally recognised as a victim in Mexico. She was requested to come to Mexico to obtain medical and psychological support, only to be told upon arrival that she did not fit all the requirements. She was sent back to El Salvador empty-handed, with still no answer as to her son’s fate. Countless mothers, fathers and siblings face the same fate every day.

In November 2016, TRIAL International and six Mexican NGOs denounced these inhumane situations to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID). The report illustrates with examples the obstacles faced by thousands of relatives of disappeared persons.

The WGEID is now expected to seek explanations from Mexico and transmit recommendations to the State.

 

Read the full report (in Spanish)

Read the executive summary (in English)

An op-ed by Gabriella Citroni

TRIAL International and six NGOs denounce the ordeal of thousands of relatives of disappeared persons in Mexico in their attempt to obtain assistance and redress.

On paper, Mexico is equipped with both the legislative tools and the institutional venues to guarantee social assistance and reparation to relatives of disappeared persons. But behind this façade, the bleak reality is that thousands of families are left to deal alone with the emotional upheaval of enforced disappearance, exacerbated by material deprivation.

When men are forcibly disappeared, women and children often suffer too, because the head the household and main breadwinner is no longer around. The disappearance of a single individual therefore results in the disruption of entire families. Guarantees of employment or property are crucial not only to cover the expenses of the search for their loved ones, but also to ensure their sheer survival.

 

An inhumane bureaucratic maze

Under international law, States have the obligation to provide adequate reparation and social assistance to the families of disappeared persons.

But in Mexico, they often find themselves trapped in a bureaucratic maze. The institutions supposed to help them actually hinder their attempts: officers in charge frequently prove unwilling or unable to adequately attend victims and their families.

Worse still, episodes of re-victimisation may occur, effectively discouraging relatives to uphold their rights. A group of wives of disappeared persons was told that they should find a job instead of “begging for support”, since their husbands would not return anyway.

Similarly, many relatives applying for medical and psychological assistance have been turned down as they were unable to demonstrate the trauma they had been subjected to. Other cases of mistreatments include false information or the loss of files.

Adding insult to injury, relatives of disappeared persons are often requested to anticipate expenses to cover their basic needs, such as medical support. As a result, some families are forced to apply for loans or mortgages. Now the Mexican authority in charge of social support is failing to reimburse these expenses, furthering their humiliation, economic hardship and marginalisation.

 

Foreigners have even fewer rights

The situation is even worse when the relatives of the disappeared person reside outside of Mexico and this is particularly grave knowing that thousands of migrants – mainly from Central America – disappeared in Mexico in their attempt to reach the USA or Canada. Although the law entitles also foreign relatives of disappeared persons to social support and reparation, practical obstacles make it almost impossible to fulfil these rights.

On the one hand, appointing a representative in Mexico can prove very hard for relatives living abroad. On the other, relatives themselves are unable to travel there for lack of a visa and economic means to cover their travel.

The few that manage to formally register as “victims” – and are thus entitled to social support – may in practice be unable to access said support. Ms. E.D. lived in El Salvador when her son disappeared in Mexico in 2011. It took her 4 years to be formally recognised as a victim in Mexico. She was requested to come to Mexico to obtain medical and psychological support, only to be told upon arrival that she did not fit all the requirements. She was sent back to El Salvador empty-handed, with still no answer as to her son’s fate. Countless mothers, fathers and siblings face the same fate every day.

In November 2016, TRIAL International and six Mexican NGOs denounced these inhumane situations to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID). The report illustrates with examples the obstacles faced by thousands of relatives of disappeared persons.

The WGEID is now expected to seek explanations from Mexico and transmit recommendations to the State.

 

Read the full report (in Spanish)
Read the executive summary (in English)

 

Gabriella Citroni, Senior Legal Advisor

 

 

 

An Op-Ed by Gabriella Citroni

40 years of struggle against enforced disappearances have resulted in meaningful progress, but the phenomenon remains on the rise.

In the late seventies, the relatives of disappeared people in Latin America started a campaign to prevent and eradicate this crime. In this context, the Argentinean National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons gave them reason in 1984 when it published its final report, entitled “Never again!”, highlighting the imperative to avoid any repetition of such a tragedy – whereby thousands were subjected to enforced disappearance. Since then, several truth commissions across the world used the same title for their final reports and “Never again!” became the rallying cry of civil society against enforced disappearance.

As we celebrate the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances today, exactly how far have we gone to prevent and eradicate this practice?

 

Encouraging signs from States and international bodies

Undeniable progress have recently been witnessed, such as States strengthening their domestic legal framework: Peru enacted its Law on the Search of Disappeared Persons, to finally make light on the fate and whereabouts of the thousands of disappeared during the 1980-2000 conflict. Efforts to adopt comprehensive legislation on this crime are also underway in Tunisia and Mexico.

After years of civil society advocacy, the Supreme Court of El Salvador declared unconstitutional the 1993 amnesty law granting impunity for human rights violations in the 1980-1992 conflict. This historic verdict paves the way for accountability and revived the hope of victims and their families.

Other States have improved their institutional structures, setting up support mechanisms for relatives of the disappeared. In Nepal, the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons was finally established and is expected to uphold the rights to truth, justice and reparation of victims and their families, blatantly ignored since the end of the armed conflict in 2006. In Mexico, a Specialised Unit for the Investigation of Crimes against Migrants and a Transnational Mechanism of Search of Missing Migrants will for the first time address the abuse suffered by migrants, including enforced disappearance.

International bodies are also paving the way forward. In March, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)adopted its first decision ever and took position on yet under-explored issues, such as State obligations when a prisoner is transferred from one place of detention to another, and the rights of their relatives to be informed on the detainee’s whereabouts and on the progress of the investigations.

 

Often too little, always too late

All aforementioned examples are important and welcome achievements. Not one of them, however, addresses the root of the problem: the commission of enforced disappearances in the first place. Despite our efforts, enforced disappearances are still on the rise. In the last three years, the number of urgent actions registered before the CED jumped from 4 to a staggering 294. The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is overwhelmed with new cases virtually every day.

It is high time for domestic authorities and the international community to adopt new strategies and implement existing instruments not just to redress, but to prevent these abuse. Unless States live up to their responsibilities and make this issue their first priority, ‘Never again!’ will remain two wishful words and there will be no ground for celebration on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Gabriella Citroni, Senior Legal Advisor

 

 

In March 2015 TRIAL and 8 associations from Mexico and Central America submitted a follow-up report to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) on the level of implementation of the recommendations formulated by the latter in 2011, on the occasion of its visit to Mexico.

In January 2016 TRIAL, the Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado democrático de derecho and two associations of relatives of disappeared persons from El Salvador and Honduras submitted a report to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) on the obstacles faced by relatives of disappeared migrants in the struggle for justice, truth and reparations. The report aims at illustrating the unique challenges faced by migrants and their relatives, in view of the thematic study on “disappearances in the context of migrations” that the WGEID is currently drafting.

In November 2014, TRIAL and 13 local associations working with women victims of rape or other forms of sexual violence during the war submitted a follow-up report to the Special Rapporteur to assess the level of implementation of her recommendations. Unfortunately, much remains to be done to fully guarantee access to justice and redress to women who were subjected to sexual violence during the war.

In October 2014, TRIAL and three international and local organizations submitted an additional note of allegations to the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-recurrence and to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to update them on alarming developments, including the flight of a war criminal, related to the automatic retrial without remand of persons already sentenced for war crimes.

In February 2014, TRIAL and a coalition of five Bosnian associations of relatives of disappeared persons submitted a follow-up report to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to assess the status of implementation of the recommendations issued after the country visit and to highlight the remaining obstacles faced by relatives of disappeared persons and their associations.

In May 2011, TRIAL submitted a General Allegation to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).

In May 2011, TRIAL also filed twenty individual communications before the WGEID.

In July 2011, twenty new cases were filed before the WGEID.

In November 2012, twenty new individual cases were filed before the WGEID.

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearancesundertook a country visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina form 14 to 21 June 2010 and met with the government, national and local authorities, international institutions, as well as with human rights NGOs and associations of families of victims. 

TRIAL, whose June 2009 general allegation prompted the Working Group to request the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina to invite it to for the first country visit after 13 years of absence, also met with the Working Group on Monday June 14.

Lejla Mamut, Advocacy Center TRIAL (ACT) representative in Sarajevo, Gabriella Citroni, ACT legal adviser and Philip Grant, ACT Director, met with members of the Working Group to explain in details the legal and practical problems faced by relatives of victims of enforced disappearances, whatever their ethnic background may be. Absence of information regarding investigations and searches for the bodies; lack of prosecuting of those responsible for such acts; absence of a comprehensive reparations scheme: almost 15 years since the war ended, numerous victims’ relatives are still waiting to recover the remains of their loved ones and to obtain justice and redress.

ACT also organised trainings with members of its partner organisations to prepare them for the meetings these associations would be having with the Working Group.

The Working Group will issue a thorough report on its visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina by the end of the year and make recommendations to the government. The report will be discussed before the UN Human Rights Council in March 2011. TRIAL will closely monitor all upcoming developments and will intervene before local and national authorities to see that the Working Group’s recommendations are fully implemented.

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TRIAL submits a General Allegation on Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

Under its mandate, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) can transmit to the governments concerned a summary of allegations received from relatives of disappeared people and NGOs with regards to obstacles encountered in the implementation of the 1992 UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, inviting them to comment thereon if they so wish.

At the end (1996) of the armed conflict that marked the struggle for independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), between 25,000 and 30,000 people were reported as “missing”. Almost 15 years have passed, and about 13,000 people remain disappeared to date, while their relatives endure a permanent state of anguish, frustration, distress and uncertainty.

RTEmagicC_bosnie_1.jpgIn the past, the UNWGEID closely followed the situation of disappeared people in BiH. However, from 2000, the issue was basically left to domestic authorities and to initiatives undertaken by other actors working in the field. Some exhumations have been carried out and a number of legislative initiatives have been undertaken. Nevertheless, significant obstacles to the full implementation by BiH of the 1992 Declaration remain and should be addressed, as the rights of victims of enforced disappearance and their relatives continue to be impaired.

TRIAL (through it’s Advocacy Center) submits to the UNWGEID a general allegation about the existing obstacles to the implementation of 1992 Declaration in BiH, requesting the Group to transmit the allegations to the government, inviting it to comment thereon and to undertake all necessary measures to address existing problems.

In particular, TRIAL analyzes the existing legal framework on enforced disappearances as well as the administrative and judicial initiatives undertaken by BiH and their compatibility with the 1992 Declaration. Accordingly, TRIAL appeals to the UNWGEID to:

a) call on BiH to take all necessary measures to ensure the right to know the truth of relatives of disappeared people, to investigate the cause and circumstances of the disappearance, as well as to provide information relating the burial sites, to locate, respect and return the mortal remains;

b) evaluate the compatibility of the Law on Missing Persons (2004) with Article 3 of the 1992 Declaration, which establishes that States shall adopt effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent and terminate acts of enforced disappearance in any territory under its jurisdiction; RTEmagicC_bosnie_2.jpg

c) call on BiH to implement without delay all the provisions of the Law on Missing Persons (in particular those concerning the setting up of the Central Records of Missing Persons in BiH and the creation of the Fund for Missing Persons to provide financial and medical assistance to relatives of disappeared people);

d) evaluate the compatibility of Bosnian Criminal Code with the requirements of Article 4 of the 1992 Declaration and to remind Bosnian authorities that the crime of enforced disappearance shall be an offence and included in criminal law as an autonomous crime, and not incorporated in domestic legislation as part of other offences or only if committed as a part of a widespread and systematic practice directed against any civilian population;

e) evaluate the compatibility of Bosnian Criminal Code with the requirements of Article 18 of the 1992 Declaration, which establishes that persons who have or are alleged to have committed an enforced disappearance shall not benefit from any special amnesty law or similar measures that might have the effect of exempting them from any criminal proceedings or sanction;

f) remind Bosnian authorities that the crime of enforced disappearance is ongoing and shall not be subjected to statutes of limitations for criminal proceedings until the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared person are established with certainty;

g) evaluate the compatibility of the “declaration of death” of victims of enforced disappearance with the requirements of the 1992 Declaration and to remind to BiH that the continuous nature of the crime of enforced disappearance has direct consequences on the impossibility to apply statutes of limitation to criminal proceedings and on the right to know the truth and to obtain integral reparation of the relatives, as well as on the obligation of the State to continue the relevant investigations;

h) remind BiH of its ongoing obligation to carry out a thorough, prompt, impartial and independent investigation over cases of enforced disappearance; and to identify, judge and sanction those responsible, as established under Articles 3, 5, 9, 13 and 14 of the 1992 Declaration;

i) evaluate whether the present lack of implementation of the decisions on disappeared people delivered by the Constitutional Court of BiH and the inactivity of the Prosecutor’s Office are compatible with Articles 3, 5, 9, 13 and 14 of the 1992 Declaration;

j) remind to BiH that, under Article 13.5 of the 1992 Declaration it shall take all necessary steps to ensure that any ill-treatment, intimidation or reprisal or any other form of interference on the occasion of the lodging of a complaint or during the investigation procedure over cases of enforced disappearance is appropriately punished;

k) evaluate the compatibility of the measures adopted by BiH with Article 19 of the 1992 Declaration which provides that the victims of acts of enforced disappearance and their family shall obtain redress and shall have the right to adequate compensation, including the means for as complete a rehabilitation as possible; and

l) remind to BiH that the right to obtain integral reparation must be granted without any further delay and shall not be treated as a welfare tool and shall not be subjected to the condition of not having received other forms of financial support.

Finally, TRIAL suggests that a country visit of the UNWGEID to BiH would greatly contribute to maintaining the subject of enforced disappearances on the agenda, until relatives of disappeared people are granted their rights to justice, truth and integral reparation. Therefore, TRIAL requests the UNWGEID to solicit an invitation to carry out such visit to the government of BiH.

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