Rabat Appeal adopted by unanimity

During the Second Euromediterranean Meeting of Families of the Disappeared organised by FEMED in cooperation with FIDH, in Rabat, the participants adopted by unanimity the Rabat Appeal.

Rabat Appeal

We, families of the disappeared from Algeria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Cyprus, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey and human rights organisations representing various regions of the world, gathered in Rabat on 12, 13  and 14 June 2008 at the occasion of the Second Euromediterranean Meeting of Families of the Disappeared, welcome the creation and development of the Euromediterranean Federation against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED).

During these three days, we discussed about the phenomenon of enforced disappearances in our respective countries.

Once again, we observed the destructive effects of this practice on civil society and human dignity.

We welcome with great expectations the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearances by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2006.

This Convention acknowledges the extreme seriousness of the practice of enforced disappearance as a multiple violation of human rights, which, in some circumstances, may amount to a crime against humanity.

It recognises that the right not to be subjected to enforced disappearance is absolute and non-derogable, whatever the circumstances, including during the state of war or emergency.

For States, the Convention will serve as a major tool for the prevention and repression of this crime and will facilitate international cooperation at the judicial as well as humanitarian level.

The Convention recognises all victims in their sufferings, as well as their right to justice, the truth and reparation.

It sets up a treaty body – the Committee against enforced disappearances, which will provide victims with an effective remedy.

By ratifying the Convention, States will equip themselves with an effective and deterrent tool for the fight against enforced disappearances. They will send the clear message that this inhuman practice and the impunity of its authors must come to an end.

Therefore, we urge all States to:

• Sign – for those which have not done so yet – and ratify as soon as possible the Convention ;
• Refrain, upon ratification, to lodge reservations that might be contrary to the object and purpose of the convention ;
• Recognise the competence of the Committee against enforced disappearances to receive and consider complaints ;
• Adopt immediately the domestic legislation necessary to implement the Convention.
  

Done in Rabat on 14 June 2008

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Read here the Rabat appeal in English, French and Arabic

The Second Euromediterranean Meeting of Families of the Disappeared was entitled "The International Convention against Enforced Disappearances, a challenge for the Euromediterranean region" and it took place on 12, 13 and 14 June in Rabat (Morocco).

This second meeting gathered more than one hundred persons including representatives of associations of families of the disappeared from the Euromediterranean region (Algeria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Cyprus, Spain, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Serbia, Syria and Turkey) as well as experts, professors, activists and organisations from other regions (AFAD, FEDEFAM, ICTJ, ICMP, HRW, etc.). The meeting counted with testimonies and presentations related to the stakes of the ratification of the international convention against enforced disappearance. A session was also dedicated to an exchange of views on the experience of the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission.