A-HRC-13-42

A/HRC/13/42
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81. In Nepal, a number of suspected members of the Maoist Communist Party, which had
declared a “people’s war” in February 1996, were held in secret detention. 128 In the late 1990s,
the increasing pattern of disappearances and secret detentions was communicated to the Working
Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances by numerous non-governmental
organizations. It was reported that police officers in civilian clothes were forcing people into
vehicles and taking them to unofficial places of detentions, such as the Maharajgunj Police
Training Centre. 129
82. In Sri Lanka, the protracted conflict between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has perpetuated the use of secret detention. 130 In general, Sri Lankan army
officials, dressed either in military uniform or civilian clothes, would arrest ethnic Tamils and
hold them in secret places of detention for a week or longer. One such location mentioned in the
report of the Special Rapporteur on torture was an army camp located off Galle Road,
Kollupitiya, Colombo. The detainees were often interrogated under torture, the purpose of which
was to make them confess their involvement with the LTTE. 131 In 1992, the Government adopted
a law giving more power to the armed forces and authorizing the use of secret detention
camps. 132 Although the emergency regulations subsequently issued in June 1993 outlawed secret
detention, there were reliable reports indicating that people continued to be held in undisclosed
places where torture was practised, and no action was taken against the perpetrators. 133
83. In the Philippines, the practice of secret detention or “safe houses” was not formally
banned until the establishment of the Presidential Committee in 1986. 134 These practices were
not uncommon in the preceding years during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, especially
when martial law was in force.
5. Secret detention in Europe
84. In Cyprus, enforced disappearances occurred during the inter-communal clashes
of 1963/64 and the military intervention of 1974. Enforced disappearance as a phenomenon
128 See, inter alia, the report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, opinion No. 5/2001
(E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.1).
129 E/CN.4/2001/68.
130 E/CN.4/1992/18/Add.1.
131
E/CN.4/1995/34, paras. 668-673.
132 Tulio Scovazzi and Gabriella Citroni, The Struggle against Enforced Disappearance and the
2007 United Nations Convention, Leiden, Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007, p. 69.
133
Statement by Mr. Bhagwati, Human Rights Committee, fifty-fourth session, summary record
of the 1436th meeting (CCPR/C/SR.1436).
134 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture (E/CN.4/1987/13). See also the report of the
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (E/CN.4/1987/15), para. 77.