Geneva, 15 September 2026 – The Committee for Justice (CFJ) participated in the launch event for the thematic report of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), entitled “Enforced Disappearances and Memorialization” (A/HRC/63/28/Add.1). The event took place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva during the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The event examined States’ legal obligations concerning memorialization; practical and inclusive approaches led by States, victims and civil society; and the challenges, threats and protection needs affecting families, civil society actors, memorial sites and commemorative initiatives.
The event was moderated by Ms. Ana Lorena Delgadillo Perez, Vice-Chair of WGEID. Introductory remarks were delivered by H.E. Ms. Céline Jurgensen of the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations Office at Geneva. Ms. Grażyna Baranowska, Chair-Rapporteur of WGEID, presented the thematic report.
The panel on international and regional perspectives brought together Ms. Katia Irene Rosenblat of Association Jardin des Disparus; Mr. Usame Mehmetoglu of the Committee for Justice; and Mr. Ugo Cedrangolo of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP).
Representing CFJ, Usame Mehmetoglu presented lessons from The Gambia based on CFJ’s joint contribution with the Women’s Association for Women and Victims’ Empowerment (WAVE-Gambia). He emphasized that memorialization is not merely about remembering the past, but also about protecting truth in the present and preventing recurrence in the future.
The intervention highlighted victim- and family-led initiatives, including public demonstrations in Banjul in 2018 and the Greater Banjul area in 2020, during which families carried photographs of victims and demanded truth, investigations, accountability and justice for enforced disappearances, killings, torture and other serious violations committed during the rule of former President Yahya Jammeh.
CFJ stressed that memorialization must never substitute for the search for disappeared persons, investigations, prosecutions, reparations or institutional reform. States should protect family- and civil society-led initiatives, guarantee safe and meaningful access to relevant information, archives and sites, and ensure that victims and families participate from the beginning in decisions concerning how their loved ones are remembered.
CFJ further called on international and regional mechanisms to continue monitoring restrictions on memorialization, protecting families and human rights defenders, and encouraging cooperation in disappearance cases that cross national borders.