Twenty Years Protecting People From Arbitrary Detention

(Monday 14 November 2011 – 20th Anniversary of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention)

GENEVA / PARIS (11 November 2011) – Aung San Suu Kyi, Xanana Gusmao, Carmen Julia Arias Iglesias, Manouchehr Karimzadeh, Haitham al-Maleh, Qi Dafeng, Pham Cong Canh – the list of cases investigated by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is long. Some of the names are internationally renowned, others less so, but for two decades this panel of independent experts has followed up on many such cases of individuals from around the world, expressed its opinion on the illegality of their detentions, and helped secure their freedom.

On Monday 14 November, the Working Group will commemorate 20 years of achievements and reflect on the many challenges ahead with a special one-day event in Paris. At the event, a special free-access database will be launched in English, French and Spanish containing over 600 individual Opinions adopted since the Working Group’s establishment in 1991.

“The Working Group has developed extensive jurisprudence on many different forms of deprivation of liberty in the context of international human rights norms and standards,” said El Hadji Malick Sow, who currently heads the expert panel.

“All that and more will be freely available to the victims, legal practitioners, States, national human rights institutions, academics, civil society and journalists through the new database,” he added.

Two former detainees whose cases were investigated by the Working Group will share their experiences at the event in Paris. Haitham al-Maleh is from the Syrian Arab Republic and Birtukan Mideksa from Ethiopia. Aung San Suu Kyi will deliver a video message.

The Paris event will also bring together former Working Group members, including founding members Roberto Garretón and Louis Joinet, academics, Government officials and NGO representatives.

“We look forward to this significant event as an opportunity for dialogue, to collect best practices and to reflect on the important role of the Working Group in combatting the global and disturbing phenomenon of arbitrary deprivation of liberty,” Mr. Sow said.

Other speakers on the day will be experienced jurists and experts on international law from Algeria, Hungary, the United States of America and Venezuela.

The event will be opened by representatives from the Governments of France and Norway, the Human Rights Council, the UN human rights office and the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme of France. A publication on the outcome of the event is expected for 2012.

The Working Group was established by the former Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Its mandate was clarified and extended by the Commission to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants. In 2010, the Human Rights Council confirmed the scope of its mandate and extended it for a further three-year period. The Working Group is comprised of five independent expert members from various regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Mr. El Hadji Malick Sow (Senegal) and the Vice-Chair is Ms. Shaheen Sardar Ali (Pakistan). Other members include Mr. Mads Andenas (Norway), Mr. Roberto Garretón (Chile) and Mr. Vladimir Tochilovsky (Ukraine).

Learn more about the mandate and activities of the Working Group, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Detention/Pages/WGADIndex.aspx

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