18 February 2017
Información para la Prensa N°: 041/17

The Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister, Pedro Villagra Delgado, attended the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, held by the United Nations General Assembly.

The UN panel featured the participation of the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary General’s Chief of Staff and a message from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

This Convention is the result of intensive work by the victims, their families and civil society organizations that have been working for decades towards the adoption of measures to prevent, hinder and punish the practice of enforced disappearances.

Argentina and France, which were driving forces behind the Convention and are committed to it, were represented by Deputy Minister Villagra Delgado and Secretary of State Matthias Fekl, who announced the launching of a new campaign to achieve universal ratification of the Convention.

In December 2016, the representatives of both countries, Leandro Despouy and Elisabeth Laurin, co-chaired the first Conference of States Parties, which decided to maintain the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

Argentina also announced the candidacy to the committee of expert Horacio Ravenna, who also participated in a thematic panel, in the context of the commemoration, on the importance of the Convention and future challenges.