UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will pay an official visit to Pakistan in September this year, the UN announced Friday.
No date was given, but UN sources said that it will be fixed through official channels.
The visit to Pakistan was confirmed at a week-long session of the five-member Group, which ended Friday.
During the session, the Group, comprising human rights experts, reviewed more than 200 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances concerning over 30 countries, including Pakistan, the UN said in A news release.
It also reviewed responses from various Governments to prompt intervention letters, urgent appeals and general allegations during the session, which began on Monday.
The panel held meetings with representatives of the Governments of Algeria, Japan and South Korea to exchange views on individual cases and on the issue of enforced disappearance in general.
It also met with non-governmental organizations and family members of disappeared individuals. Members of the Working Group also held informal bilateral meetings with States to exchange information with a view to enhancing cooperation.
In the session, the Working Group discussed two draft general comments on the provisions of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance with regard to the impact of enforced disappearance on women and children.
Besides Pakistan, the Group examined cases concerning Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Georgia, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Libya, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Created in 1980, the Working Group currently comprises Chair-Rapporteur Olivier de Frouville (France); Ariel Dulitzky (Argentina); Jasminka Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Osman El-Hajje (Lebanon), and Jeremy Sarkin (South Africa). Its members are independent and report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.