GENEVA - The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) today issued its findings on Benin, Montenegro*, and Sri Lanka, after reviewing the three States Parties in its latest session.
The findings contain the Committee's main concerns and recommendations on the implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as well as positive aspects. Key issues include:
Benin
The Committee welcomed the delegation's statement about the State Party's plan to include enforced disappearance in its Criminal Code as a separate offence with penalties matching its gravity. The Committee, however, stressed urgency because the current definition covered only crimes against humanity of a "prolonged" nature, and the lack of a standalone offence hindered investigation, prosecution and punishment. It recommended that Benin criminalise enforced disappearance as an autonomous offence with appropriate penalties. It also asked the State Party to review enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity in its Criminal Code, removing the condition of "prolonged period" from this provision and expressly covering "any other form of deprivation of liberty".
On secret detention and fundamental legal safeguards, the Committee took note of the guarantees for people deprived of liberty in the Constitution and the Criminal Code. It was, however, concerned by allegations that these safeguards were not consistently applied in practice, particularly regarding detainees' access to legal counsel and relatives, as well as timely information about detention or transfer. The Committee called on Benin to ensure that people deprived of their liberty are informed of all their rights and have access to them in practice, in all places and circumstances, and that their relatives and representatives are informed without delay of their fate and whereabouts. It also asked the State Party to guarantee all those deprived of their liberty, including those in police custody and in alleged cases of enforced disappearance, their relatives and representatives, the right to seek a prompt judicial ruling on the lawfulness of their detention.
Montenegro*
The Committee welcomed the adoption by the State Party of the "Guidelines for the Search for Missing Persons" and the "2024 -2027 War Crimes Investigation Strategy". However, it was concerned about the limited progress of the clarification of the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared, the identification of human remains, and the excessive delays in the investigation and prosecution related to war crime cases. The Committee recommended that the State Party strengthen regional cooperation to facilitate information and evidence sharing in support of searching for and identifying disappeared persons, investigating all cases, prosecuting alleged perpetrators, and supporting victims.
The Committee raised its concern that the existing reparation measures were limited to compensation, and victims had to initiate civil proceedings to obtain it. It was also concerned about the delay in implementing the Law on Compensation of Victims of Violent Crimes, and the obstacles faced by relatives of disappeared persons as victims of war crimes in seeking compensation. It asked Montenegro to ensure that any individual who has suffered harm from enforced disappearance has access to a comprehensive reparation programme, even if no criminal proceedings have been initiated. The State Party should expedite the implementation of the Law on Compensation of Victims of Violent Crimes and remove barriers that restrict access to compensation for relatives of disappeared persons.
Sri Lanka
The Committee was concerned about the lack of a comprehensive register of disappeared persons and the limited progress in clarifying their fate and whereabouts, noting that the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) had only traced 23 disappeared persons out of the 16,966 received cases. It also stated its concern about the high level of impunity, reflected in the lack of progress in the investigation and prosecution of alleged enforced disappearances, including those that occurred during the armed conflict. The Committee asked Sri Lanka to consolidate a comprehensive and updated register of all disappearance cases and to strengthen the OMP to search for disappeared persons, investigate the alleged disappearance and ensure accountability in all registered cases. The Committee further called for including war crimes and crimes against humanity in its legislation, and speeding up the establishment of an independent Public Prosecutor Office.
The Committee was concerned about the accidental discovery of at least seventeen mass graves. It underscored the limited forensic capacity among competent authorities and the absence of centralised ante-mortem and post-mortem databases as well as a national genetic database. It urged the State Party to strengthen the capacity of competent national institutions to locate and identify mass graves, seek and conduct exhumations, and develop a comprehensive strategy for the search for, identification, excavation, and investigation of identified burial sites. The State Party should build forensic capacity across all competent authorities for the identification, safekeeping and dignified return of identified bodies and human remains to their families, ensuring the secure preservation of the human remains and their chain of custody. Sri Lanka should also create a centralised, comprehensive ante-mortem and post-mortem database and establish a genetic one.
In addition to country reviews, the Committee also examined the situation in Mexico under Article 34 of the Convention. The next steps of the procedure will be communicated with all stakeholders and made public in due course.
The Committee also adopted its periodic report on urgent actions, analysing trends in the 144 newly registered cases since the last session. Enforced disappearances are not numbers, they are human beings torn from their families, their communities and life in society. Each case reflects this unacceptable reality but also highlights the importance of the urgent action procedure: as of 16 September 2025, 537 disappeared persons for whom urgent action had been initiated have been located, including 420 found alive.
The above country review findings, officially known as Concluding Observations, and the urgent actions report, as well as documents related to Mexico under Article 34, are all available online on the session page.
