GENEVA - The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will hold its 137th session from 15 to 24 September 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, and examine 1317 cases from 44 countries, as well as eight cases concerning acts tantamount to enforced disappearances perpetrated by non-state actors.
The independent experts will meet with relatives of forcibly disappeared persons, State representatives, civil society groups and other stakeholders to exchange information on individual cases and structural issues and challenges related to enforced disappearances.
During the session, the experts will also examine allegations received regarding obstacles to the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, such as legislation, practices, or systemic failures to address cases of enforced disappearance and related acts.
The Working Group will also discuss internal matters and future activities, including a thematic report on Memorialisation and enforced disappearances and the follow-up report to its country visit to Uruguay conducted in 2022. The Working Group will also advance preparations for its 139th session, to be held in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire in May 2026.
The session of the Working Group will coincide with the presentation of its annual report to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council on 16 September 2025. The experts will also report to the Human Rights Council on the country visit conducted to Lithuania in November 2024, and present the follow-up report to the recommendations made during its visit to Cyprus in 2022. They will also present a study on universal criminal jurisdiction in cases of enforced disappearance, as well as a thematic report on enforced disappearances in the context of the defence of land, natural resources, and the environment. An event to launch this report will be hosted by the Working Group on 22 September 2025, in Room IX of the Palais des Nations.
On the margins of the session, the Working Group will also co-host a parallel event with the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, to present their Joint statement on so-called short-term enforced disappearances. The event, co-organised with the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, will take place on 23 September 2025 at 13h00, in Room IX of the Palais des Nations.
The decisions made by the Working Group during the 137th session will be reflected in its next post-sessional report. Sessions are held in private.
