Cabinet on Wednesday approved the submission of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) to Parliament for consideration.

The convention is a universally binding treaty of the United Nations (UN) that deals with the violation of human rights through the enforced disappearance of people.

“The convention defines the enforced disappearance to include abduction, arrest, detention or any other forms which may result in the perpetrator’s refusal to acknowledge or even conceal the whereabouts of the victim,” said Minister in The Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, during a post Cabinet media briefing on Thursday.

“Once acceded to be domesticated into our laws, South Africa will be expected to report every two years to the UN on how it is giving effect to the convention.

“The convention provides preventative measures the member countries need to put in place to prevent the enforced disappearance of persons in their respective countries,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, Cabinet also approved the submission of the fourth Country Report on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The UN Universal Periodic Review will review the report later this year.

Since being a signatory to the UN Human Rights Convention, South Africa has been reviewed three times, with the last review done in September 2017.

The report provides an update on the 187 accepted recommendations from the 2017 review process.

Inputs were drawn from verified data, information from relevant departments, Chapter 9 institutions and relevant civil-society organisations.

“Cabinet is pleased with the progress made in implementing the recommendations and also with those areas that are still work in progress. The report will be made public once it has been tabled to the UN in August 2022,” said Gungubele.

Source: South African Government News Agency