ICCPR List of Issues Submission

Joint NGO Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee prior to the Adoption of the List of Issues for the review of Bangladesh

Joint submission by:

International organisations:

FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights): FIDH is a non-governmental federation of human rights organizations around the world. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the oldest international human rights organisation in the world, and today brings together 176 member organisations in over 100 countries. Its core mandate is to promote respect for all the rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

OMCT (World Organisation Against Torture): OMCT is the main coalition of international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) fighting against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and all other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. With 311 affiliated organisations in its SOS-Torture Network and many tens of thousands correspondents across the world, OMCT is the largest network of NGOs working for the protection and the promotion of human rights in the world. World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP): WCADP is an alliance of more than 150 NGOs, bar associations, local authorities and unions. The aim of the WCADP is to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty. Its ultimate objective is to obtain the universal abolition of the death penalty.

Regional organisations:

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD): AFAD is a federation of human rights organizations working directly on the issue of involuntary disappearances in Asia. Envisioning a world without desaparecidos, AFAD was founded on June 4, 1998 in Manila, Philippines. Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC): ALRC is an independent regional NGO holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.

Bangladeshi organisation:

Odhikar: Odhikar is a human rights organisation based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It holds special consultative status with the ECOSOC of the United Nations.

New publication: Practical Guide on the Committee on Enforced Disappearances

Justice and Peace Netherlands and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) have published a practical guide for relatives of disappeared persons and NGOs: The Committee on Enforced Disappearances - Addendum to the Manual Using Law against Enforced Disappearances. The Addendum provides a clear overview of the working methods of the Committee, that monitors the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearances. With this initiative NHC and Justice and Peace have joined forces to raise awareness of the Committee and of the actions which relatives and civil society actors can undertake in interaction with the Committee. The Addendum is available in English, at the website of Justice and Peace Netherlands or you can download the text here.

MAI PIU’ SPARIZIONI FORZATE, BASTA INGIUSTIZIA SOCIALE ED ECONOMICA!

10 dicembre 2015 – Nel giorno dell’anniversario dall’adozione della Dichiarazione Universale sui Diritti Umani, la Federazione Asiatica contro le Sparizioni Forzate (AFAD) condanna con forza ogni forma di violenza da parte dello Stato, che sistematicamente viene commessa nei confronti dei propri cittadini in tutte le parti del nostro pianeta. Lo sfrenato perseguimento della ricchezza e del progresso per pochi, avviene a discapito della sofferenza di milioni di cittadini deprivati dei propri diritti. Anche in questa occasione, AFAD promette di lavorare costantemente al fine della promozione e della protezione dei diritti umani, con una specifica attenzione al diritto per tutte le persone di non essere soggette al fenomeno delle sparizioni forzate.

Dal momento dell’adozione della Dichiarazione Universale dei Diritti Umani, il rapimento e il conseguente allontanamento di decine di migliaia di madri, padre, mogli, mariti, figli, sorelle, fratelli e amici dai loro cari e dalle loro abitazioni è continuato imperterrito. Il Gruppo di Lavoro sulle Sparizioni Forzate dell’ONU riporta di 42.889 casi ricevuti, che coinvolgono 84 Stati, un numero destinato tuttavia a salire, se si contano tutte le altre situazioni di sparizioni forzate non regolarmente denunciate. La continuazione di questo deplorevole fenomeno ha fatto sì che le Nazioni Unite adottassero un documento specifico: la Convenzione Internazionale per la Protezione di Tutte le Persone dalle Sparizioni Forzate. Infine, il giorno 30 agosto, è stato proclamato “Giorno Internazionale degli Scomparsi”.

END ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES, END SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INJUSTICE!

10 December 2015 - On this 67th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) condemns all forms of State violence that are systematically committed against peoples all over the world. The global structure that perpetuates wealth and progress for the few comes at the price of the suffering of millions— of peoples displaced, dispossessed and made disposable.   On this occasion, AFAD vows to work fully for the promotion and protection of human rights, with emphasis on the right not to be subjected to enforced disappearances.

Tens of thousands of mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children, sisters, brothers and friends have been snatched away from their loved ones and from their lives since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) reports of 42,889 active cases it has received from 84 states, a number that only foreshadows thousands of other cases that have not yet been reported.   This global malady had urged the United Nations to adopt the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances and to officially recognize August 30 as the International Day of the Disappeared.