UN Group on missing to visit Sri Lanka

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has confirmed the dates of its visit to Sri Lanka this year.

The Working Group, which is currently meeting to review almost 400 cases of enforced disappearance from 30 countries, said it will visit Sri Lanka from 3 – 12 August 2015.

The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances had sought approval from the former Government to visit Sri Lanka but the visit was never approved.

However the new Government approved the visit for August this year. Meanwhile the expert body, which is now meeting in Geneva, is to exchange information on individual cases and other relevant issues with State delegations, relatives of those who have disappeared, civil society representatives and national human rights institutions.

The Group’s five independent experts will also discuss thematic issues related to enforced disappearances, and examine allegations received regarding obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

The Working Group was established by the then UN Commission on Human Rights in 1980 to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of disappeared relatives. (Colombo Gazette)