| Families of the Disappeared create a regional federation in Beirut | Date: 29-05-2007 |
| Author: Solida | |
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Families of the Disappeared create a regional federation in Beirut
The Euro Mediterranean region is widely affected by the phenomenon of enforced disappearances that is firmly condemned by human rights defenders and, from now on, also by the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances adopted on December 21st, 2006 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. Organisations fighting against this pratice in the Euro Mediterranean region have met in Beirut on May 26th and 27th, 2007 to constitute the Euromed Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED). The founding organisations of FEMED are the Coordination Committee of families of the disappeared in Morocco, the Collective of Families of the Disappeared in Algeria / « SOS Disparus » (Algeria), The Kurdish organisation « Mothers for Peace » (Turkey) and the Lebanese Centre for Human Rights (CLDH). This constitutive meeting was held in presence of representatives of the FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights Leagues), of Human Rights Watch, the EMHRN (Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network), HOM (Netherlands Humanist Committee on Human Rights), and the Parents Committee of Persons Abducted and Disappeared in Lebanon. A network of organisations of families of the disappeared has existed informally since 2000 following a first meeting of families of disappeared organised in Paris by the FIDH. This network allowed families of disappeared to exchange information and experiences and to conduct their first joint actions. This ongoing collaboration raised the organisations’ wish for more structure in order to increase their strength in the fight against enforced disappearances in the region. The founding general assembly that met in Beirut has decided to locate its legal and operational base in Beirut. It elected a bureau composed of Mrs Nassera Dutour (Algeria) as Chairperson, Mr. Rachid EL Manouzi (Morocco) as General Secretary, and Mr.Wadih Al-Asmar (Lebanon) as Treasurer. The FEMED will permanently act for the strengthening of organisations involved in the struggle against enforced disappearances in the whole Euro mediterranean Region. It will act relentlessly in pursuit of truth, justice, rehabilitation and reparation that all victims of enforced disappearances deserve, and for the definitive eradication of this practice in the entire region.
FEMED, for now composed of organisations from four countries, being Turkey, Algeria, Morocco and Lebanon, will be joined soon by other organisations from the numerous countries affected by disappearances with whom strong ties already exist. The action of FEMED bases itself on a legal frame including the Universal Human Rights Charter, the International C onvention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, on the spirit of the Rome Statute, that recognises in its article 7 the practice of enforced disappearances as a crime against humanity, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and on the Convention Against Torture. This meeting could take place thanks to the assistance of the Dutch Organisation HOM, whose programme « Linking Solidarity » supports the formation of regional organisations fighting against enforced disappearances. Beyrouth, May 29th 2007. For the FEMED Nassera Dutour President Press contact: Marie Daunay: (+961) 3 887 108 |
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