30 August 2023
On the UN International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties reiterates our call for the State to ratify the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearances (CED), and to ensure the excavations at the former mother and baby institution in Tuam align with international human rights law.
It is paramount that the Tuam excavations uphold human rights law standards to protect the rights and dignity of the victims and their families, including the right to know the truth. There is also a State obligation to search and identify mass disappeared persons, including those who were buried unidentified while in institutional care. ICCL is calling for all possible information about the circumstances and causes of the babies’ deaths to be given to family members of the children. Enforced disappearance is recognised as a continuous crime in international human rights law, meaning that the human rights violations remain ongoing until the identity of the person is known.
ICCL has previously called for the ratification the UN CED. If ratified, the State would be obliged to prevent the withholding of information related to disappeared persons, to impose sanctions on those who have information and do not share it, and to hold perpetrators criminally accountable. Ratification of the CED would signal to survivors and the families of victims that the State is committed to a transparent process of truth, justice and accountability.Human rights law standards should also be applied to any future excavations, such as at the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork.