Committee on Enforced Disappearances: Inaugural session attracts significant NGO interest

The inaugural meeting of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (the Committee) saw the induction of the Committee’s ten new members, and launched discussion on the body’s programme of work and rules of procedure. The session took place in Geneva from 8 to 11 November 2011, when meetings were held with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), State Parties,1 and with the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Enforced Disappearances. All meetings, except those with NGOs and State Parties, and the opening of the session, were closed to the public. While there is arguably a need for new committees to first establish themselves in closed sessions, it became clear during the Committee’s
meeting with NGOs that there is a great deal of interest in its work, and confusion about the new body’s mandate. An increased number of public sessions would have assisted all stakeholders to become more familiar with the new Committee.