A/HRC/22/45
of approval of the present report (November 2012), the report for 2011 of the
Working Group (A/HRC/19/58/Rev.1) had been translated into Arabic only.
B.
Reparations and enforced disappearances
79.
The Working Group emphasizes that victims of enforced disappearances have
the right to reparation. The concept of reparation for enforced disappearance entails
restitution, rehabilitation, compensation, satisfaction and guarantees of nonrepetition. The Working Group recommends that Member States:
(a)
Ensure that victims of enforced disappearance have the right to obtain
reparation and prompt, fair and adequate compensation;
(b)
Make provisions in their legal systems for victims of enforced
disappearance or their families to seek fair, prompt and adequate reparation;
(c)
Adopt, for the purpose of reparation, a broad definition of victim that
includes all those who have suffered harm as a result of a disappearance;
(d)
Guarantee the right to truth and justice as an essential elements to
ensure non-repetition;
(e)
Ensure that both individual and collective reparations may be granted,
given that they have different purposes and not are not mutually exclusive;
(f)
Adopt a gender-sensitive approach to the formulation and
implementation of reparation programmes, and ensure the participation and
empowerment of women to determine themselves the forms of reparation best suited
to their situation;
(g)
Provide for specific reparation measures in cases of enforced
disappearances, including the adoption of a national plan for searching for
disappeared persons; the creation of specialized units to investigate cases of enforced
disappearance; the elaboration of a protocol for the collection and identification of
bodily remains; the creation of a psychosocial assistance programme for individuals
who are found and their relatives, and for the relatives of those who remain
disappeared; public access to State files and archives containing relevant information;
and the provision of human rights education and training to law enforcement officials
as well as military and security forces;
(h)
Consider symbolic measures, such as memorial sites and
commemorative acts, recognizing the suffering of victims and restoring their dignity
and reputation;
(i)
Strengthen prevention measures as a form of reparation, including the
adoption of effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent,
punish and eradicate acts of enforced disappearance.
C.
Twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance
80.
The Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
was the first instrument to characterize all acts of enforced disappearance of persons
as “very serious offences” and to set forth standards designed to punish and prevent
their commission. The General Assembly stated 20 years ago, when adopting the
Declaration, that it was “deeply concerned that, in many countries, often in a
20