A/HRC/22/45 F. Press releases and statements 32. On 11 November 2011, the Working Group, jointly with the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, issued a press release on the occasion of the first meeting between the two bodies held on Wednesday 8 November 2011.2 33. On 30 August 2012, the Working Group and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances issued a joint statement to mark the second International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. The Working Group observed that, while 20 years had passed since the adoption of the Declaration, the practice of enforced disappearance was still used in certain countries to repress individuals and to intimidate people claiming their rights. The experts also observed that, in other countries, situations of the past had not been dealt with in an appropriate manner, and emphasized that all families of the disappeared, even though those disappearances occurred decades before, should enjoy the right to the truth, the right to justice and the right to reparation.3 34. On 25 October 2012, on the occasion of the address made by the ChairpersonRapporteur of the Working Group to the General Assembly, a press release, jointly with the Chairperson of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, was issued.4 35. On 8 November 2012, the Working Group issued a joint statement with the Committee on Enforced Disappearances on their meeting held on 1 November 2012. At that meeting, the members of the two United Nations bodies working on the issue of enforced disappearance exchanged information on their respective activities and discussed the coordination of common initiatives. The Working Group and the Committee reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate and coordinate in the discharge of their respective mandates. They agreed on the principle of sharing information on a permanent basis. They held discussions on the complementarity of their procedures, on the interpretation of international law in the field of enforced disappearances and on country visits. The two bodies recalled that coordination and coherence were essential to guarantee the effective protection of victims of enforced disappearances, and that the Working Group and the Committee acted in a complementary and mutually reinforcing way to prevent and combat the heinous crime of enforced disappearance5. 36. During the reporting period, the Working Group also issued press releases concerning China, Colombia, Mexico and Spain. 37. On 23 December 2011, the Working Group, jointly with three other special procedures mechanisms, issued a press release concerning the alleged continued secret detention of Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer who was reportedly arrested in 2006 in relation to his work advocating against human rights violations in China. Mr. Gao was allegedly charged with subversion of State power, although this was never proven in a court of law. At the time when the press release was issued, Mr. Gao‘s whereabouts had been unknown for 20 months6. 38. On 8 February 2012, the Working Group, together with another mandate holder, issued a press release concerning the trial of Judge Baltasar Garzón in Spain and its effects on the process to investigate and deal with more than 100,000 cases of enforced disappearances that reportedly occurred during the Spanish civil war and under the Franco 2 3 4 5 6 Available from www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=11595&LangID=E. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12472&LangID=E. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12701&LangID=E. Seewww.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12754&LangID=E. Seewww.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=11741&LangID=E. 7