United Nations A/RES/64/167 Distr.: General 19 March 2010 General Assembly Sixty-fourth session Agenda item 69 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/64/439/Add.2 (Part II))] 64/167. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance The General Assembly, Reaffirming its resolution 61/177 of 20 December 2006, by which it adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, Recalling its resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992, by which it adopted the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances as a body of principles for all States, Recalling also its resolution 63/186 of 18 December 2008, as well as relevant resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council, including resolution 10/10 of 26 March 2009, 1 in which the Council took note of the report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances 2 and the recommendations contained therein, Deeply concerned, in particular, by the increase in enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world, including arrest, detention and abduction, when these are part of or amount to enforced disappearances, and by the growing number of reports concerning harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared, Recalling that the Convention sets out the right of victims to know the truth regarding the circumstances of the enforced disappearance, the progress and results of the investigation and the fate of the disappeared person, and sets forth State party obligations to take appropriate measures in this regard, Acknowledging that acts of enforced disappearance are recognized in the Convention as crimes against humanity, in certain circumstances, _______________ 1 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/64/53), chap. II, sect. A. 2 A/HRC/10/9 and Add.1. 09-47185 Please recycle *0947185* A/RES/64/167 Acknowledging also the valuable work of the International Committee of the Red Cross in promoting compliance with international humanitarian law in this field, Recognizing that the entry into force of the Convention, as soon as possible, through its ratification by twenty States, and its implementation, will be a significant contribution to ending impunity and to the promotion and protection of all human rights for all, 1. Welcomes the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; 3 2. Also welcomes the fact that eighty-one States have signed the Convention and eighteen have ratified or acceded to it, and calls upon States that have not yet done so to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the Convention as a matter of priority, as well as to consider the option provided for in articles 31 and 32 of the Convention regarding the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, with a view to its entry into force by December 2009; 3. Further welcomes the report of the Secretary-General; 4 4. Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue with their intensive efforts to assist States to become parties to the Convention, with a view to achieving universal adherence; 5. Requests United Nations agencies and organizations, and invites intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, to continue undertaking efforts to disseminate information on the Convention, to promote understanding of it, to prepare for its entry into force and to assist States parties in implementing their obligations under this instrument; 6. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session a report on the status of the Convention and the implementation of the present resolution. 65th plenary meeting 18 December 2009 _______________ 3 4 Resolution 61/177, annex. A/64/171. 2