Dr Grażyna Baranowska visits Honduras as member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

From 20 to 29 March 2023, Hertie School postdoctoral researcher Grażyna Baranowska visited the Central American country of Honduras as part of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. The working group’s main task is to help families determine the fate or whereabouts of their family members who were secretly detained by the state. During their visit, the group met with relatives of disappeared persons, NGOs, governmental authorities and representatives of the legal profession in the capital Tegucigalpa, as well as in the cities of La Paz, El Progreso and Tela.  

The visit ended with a press conference during which the working group presented their preliminary findings. Among other issues, the working group expressed concern at the almost total impunity in cases of enforced disappearance and called for the classification of enforced disappearance as a crime in its own right, as well as the establishment of specialised units for the search, investigation, prosecution and adjudication of these crimes. Regarding disappearances of migrants, the working group urged Honduras to intensify cooperation with other states in the region.

The working group will summarise their conclusions and recommendations from the visit in a report that aims to assist the Honduran government in identifying factors which may contribute to enforced disappearances and to provide practical solutions to implement international standards. The report will be made publicly available and will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2023.

The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is made up of five independent human rights experts. Dr Grażyna Baranowska, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hertie School’s Centre for Fundamental Rights, was appointed to this role in July 2022. The working group carries out two country visits a year, which provide the members with a first-hand account of the situation concerning enforced disappearances, including institutional and legislative factors that contribute to such practices. Visits are undertaken at the invitation of a country’s government.