The international community stands up against enforced disappearances and acknowledges that this unbearable practice violates all human rights and even denies the identity of the disappeared while planning oblivion. We have the duty to prevent this in the future, to restore the hope of truth of families and to bring victims back to life in our collective memory. This is part of the on going fight against barbarism.
I pay tribute to the families of victims and their associations, such as the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), which tirelessly remind the world of the disaster that constitutes the disappearance of a loved one. Is there a worst form of violence?
In the negotiation group of the Commission on Human Rights drafting a new International Convention for the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances, these associations have been a driving force, both vigilant and responsible. They have told their suffering and claimed the right to know the truth, their right to justice, their right to reparation. We think about all the victims, about their fight that we share, about their hope that we do not want to disappoint anymore, and we know we need to meet their expectations at last.
Bernard KESSEDJIAN
Ambassador of France, Geneva, Switzerland
Chairperson of the Inter-sessional
Open-Ended Working Group to Elaborate a Draft
Legally-Binding Normative Instrument for the
Protection of All Persons From Enforced
or Involuntary Disappearances.
