The Human Rights Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) completed a two-day training in Baghdad for Iraqi judicial, security and law enforcement officials on ‘Cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights System on Protection from and Prevention of Enforced Disappearances’.
Participants included 25 representatives, including eight women, from the Ministries of Defence, Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs, and the High Judicial Council respectively. The training was delivered by a team of expert speakers including two members of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances and a representative of the United Nations Human Rights Training and Documentation Center for South-West Asia and Arab Region.
Key topics covered during the inter-active training included: Iraq’s international human rights obligations to protect all persons from enforced disappearance; the centrality of providing accountability and redress for victims, including through effective efforts to search for the missing; improving engagement between the Government and United Nations mechanisms to promote the protection of all persons from enforced disappearances; international best practice in conducting effective investigations into enforced disappearances; and the importance of enacting comprehensive national legislation to prevent enforced disappearances in accordance with Iraq’s international human rights obligations.
Speaking at the event, Mr Rupert White, the Officer in Charge of UNAMI Human Rights Office emphasized that,
“This training marks a welcome step in developing closer cooperation and coordination between Iraq and the United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms which will enable the issue of enforced disappearances to be addressed through a process grounded in Iraq’s international human rights obligations, based on a shared desire to uphold the rights of those most affected.”
The training forms part of UNAMI Human Rights Office’s ongoing support to the Government of Iraq to improve its capacity to investigate allegations of enforced disappearances in Iraq and provide accountability and redress for victims.