GENEVA - The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) will hold its 29th session from 22 September to 2 October, during which it will review Montenegro, Benin, and Sri Lanka.
The session will begin with a public meeting, including a space of tribute to victims of enforced disappearance, featuring a video of the first World Congress on Enforced Disappearances which took place earlier this year in Geneva.
The above three countries are among the 77 States parties to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. They are required to undergo periodic reviews of their reports by the Committee of 10 independent international experts on how they are implementing the Convention.
The Committee, which has received respective country reports and other submissions from non-governmental organisations, will discuss a range of issues with the three State delegations through public dialogues on the following dates at Geneva time:
Montenegro*
22 September 15:00 - 18:00
Benin
23 September 15:00 - 18:00
24 September 10:00 - 13:00
Sri Lanka
26 September 10:00 - 13:00; 15:00 - 18:00
The above country review dialogues will be held in the First Floor Conference Room, Palais Wilson, Geneva. All public meetings are open to accredited press and livecast on UN Web TV.
In addition, the Committee will review and adopt its periodic report on urgent actions, which highlights the trends observed in cases of enforced disappearance addressed over the reporting period. The number of urgent actions registered by the Committee over the last five years has increased by about 120%, growing from 969 to 2,132, including 144 new cases since the Committee's last session. The Committee will also further pursue its discussions on its forthcoming General Comment, which aims at providing guidance on interpreting the Convention regarding women, girls and enforced disappearances. It will also consider the information received under Article 34 of the Convention concerning Mexico.
