No impuNity for eNforced disappearaNces - Amnesty International

34No Impunity for Enforced DisappearancesChecklist for effective implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from EnforcedDisappearanceArticle 15States Parties shall cooperate with each other and shall afford one another the greatest measure ofmutual assistance with a view to assisting victims of enforced disappearance, and in searching for,locating and releasing disappeared persons and, in the event of death, in exhuming and identifyingthem and returning their remains.Article 15 imposes on states parties a two-part obligation. First, they must cooperate witheach other assisting victims of enforced disappearance, including the greatest measure ofmutual legal assistance, which necessarily includes assistance to victims in seekingreparations in civil or in criminal proceedings. Second, they must assist victims in searchingfor, locating and releasing disappeared persons and, in the event of death, in exhuming andidentifying them and returning their remains. 95 In many instances, this will require not onlyreform of law and practice, but amending or entering into new bilateral or multilateral treatiesof mutual legal assistance (see Article 14).States parties should ensure, in law and practice, as well as in treaties, that their authorities providefull cooperation to victims of enforced disappearance and in searching for, locating and releasingdisappeared persons and, in the event of death, exhuming and identifying them and returning theirremains.8.1 EXTRADITIONArticle 131. For the purposes of extradition between States Parties, the offence of enforced disappearanceshall not be regarded as a political offence or as an offence connected with a political offence or asan offence inspired by political motives. Accordingly, a request for extradition based on such anoffence may not be refused on these grounds alone.2. The offence of enforced disappearance shall be deemed to be included as an extraditable offencein any extradition treaty existing between States Parties before the entry into force of thisConvention.3. States Parties undertake to include the offence of enforced disappearance as an extraditableoffence in any extradition treaty subsequently to be concluded between them.4. If a State Party which makes extradition conditional on the existence of a treaty receives aVictims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and serious Violations of Internationalhumanitarian Law, UN Doc. A/RES/60/147, Princ. 5. That Principle provides in part: “. . . Moreover,where it is so provided for in an applicable treaty or other international legal obligations, States shouldfacilitate extradition or surrender offenders to other States and to appropriate international judicialbodies and provide judicial assistance and other forms of cooperation in the pursuit of internationaljustice, including assistance to, and protection of, victims and witnesses, consistent with internationalhuman rights legal standards and subject to international legal requirements such as those relating to theprohibition of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”95Article 12 of the 1994 Inter-American Convention on the Enforced Disappearance of Personsprovides: “The States Parties shall give each other mutual assistance in the search for, identification,location, and return of minors who have been removed to another state or detained therein as aconsequence of the forced disappearance of their parents or guardians.”Amnesty International November 2011 Index: IOR 51/006/2011