Asian Federation Against 
What's Happening
ICAED Statement on the 4th Anniversary of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances
Today, 23 December 2014 marks the 4th anniversary of the entry into force of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Convention) after the 20th instrument of ratification was deposited by Iraq. Four years after the entry into force of the Convention, this treaty, whose provisions originate from the concrete sufferings of the families of the disappeared, has garnered 44 ratifications and 94 signatories, with Slovakia being the most recent State Party and Angola as the most recent signatory. Yet of the 94 States Parties, only 18 States have recognized the competence of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED).
With the 84 states having outstanding cases submitted to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, universal ratification of the Convention is far from being realized. The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID) reports of 42,889 active cases it has received from 84 states. Multiplied by the number of family members, relatives and friends who suffer from the effect of enforced disappearance, each case is not just part of statistics but it signifies tremendous human sufferings caused by states which are supposed to be protectors of human rights.
End the List! Sign and Ratify the Convention Against Enforced Disappearance!
Nothing to Celebrate
On December 10, 2014, the world celebrates International Human Rights Day. But for the families of the disappeared in the Philippines, there is very little to celebrate. Hundreds of victims of enforced disappearance from previous regimes remain disappeared. Perpetrators have yet to be brought to justice. And now, under the current Aquino regime, the atrocity that is enforced disappearance still persists with no end in sight.
Protect the Asian Peoples from Enforced Disappearance. Sign and Ratify the Convention Now!
Sixty-six years ago today, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a common standard for all peoples and nations to achieve and enjoy in terms of their civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Since then, nine human rights treaties have been adopted and ratified by many States Parties to make human rights claims legally binding and enforceable.
The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CAED), which entered into force on 23 December 2010 is one of these nine treaties where a new right is recognized:
The Right Not to be Disappeared. As of 12 September 2014, the Committee on Enforced Disappearance reported that this treaty has 43 States Parties and 94 signatories. In Asia, only Cambodia, Iraq and Japan ratified the Convention while Laos, Lebanon, Mongolia and Thailand signed it. Of these said Asian States Parties, only Japan recognized the competence of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances in terms of inter-state complaints.
