Why is there a need for a Convention?
At present, the international bodies tasked to address the issue of
enforced are the following:
• United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
(UNWGEID);
• European and Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the African
Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights;
• International Criminal Court (ICC) - It is applicable only in cases of
disappearances happening as part of a widespread and systematic practice
and for States that have ratified the Rome Statute);
• United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) and
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
These bodies, however, have their own respective
limitations.
The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
(UNWGEID) established in 1980, for instance, lacks any binding power as
well as judicial competence. Its mandate is essentially humanitarian and
despite much valuable work, it has not been able to stop the spread of
enforced disappearance.
The other mechanisms are only competent for Europe,
Latin America and Africa respectively.
On the other hand, the ICC is a Court of international criminal law which
establishes criminal responsibility of individuals for crimes against
humanity, genocide, and war crimes. Victims of enforced disappearances and
their relatives do not have direct access to this international tribunal,
for it is so created so as to condemn international criminals and not to
primarily protect the rights of the victims. It may take years until a
perpetrator is convicted.
For its part, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) serves
as the monitoring body of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) for all States that have ratified it and its
First Optional Protocol. As many States are Parties to the Covenant, it
has a colossal workload and a huge backlog that is almost paralyzing its
action. The HRC is a quasi-judicial body and its views on individual
communications lack a binding power. Families have always insisted that
the Convention should be a fully bodied instrument in its own right with
its own monitoring organ.
The ICRC works to guarantee the implementation of the Geneva Conventions
and their Additional Protocols. However, its competence is limited to
situations of conflict and to international humanitarian law. Further, the
ICRC lacks any binding or
judicial power and all its actions are highly confidential and strictly
humanitarian.