The Committee on Enforced Disappearances Tuesday concluded its consideration of the initial report of Samoa on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Committee Experts praised the absence of cases of enforced disappearance in Samoa and raised questions on the cases of two missing persons from the State party and extradition in the context of enforced disappearance.
Matar Diop, Committee Vice Chair and Country Rapporteur for Samoa, said to date, no case of enforced disappearance had been reported or brought before the courts in Samoa, which was excellent news.
Marija Definis, Committee Rapporteur and Country Rapporteur for Samoa, asked if there was any progress regarding investigations in the cases of two missing persons from 2019 and 2020? Why did the State party take the position that neither of these cases were classified as enforced disappearance? Another Expert asked what search processes were being conducted for these people?
Diop also noted that in the report, the State party indicated that the Samoan police force did not provide specific training on the expulsion or return of foreigners. How did the police force implement the Conventional obligations of the State party in the absence of specific human rights training? Was there legislation which indicated that no one should be expelled, returned or expedited from Samoa to another country if there was a chance they were in danger of enforced disappearance?
Introducing the report, Peseta Noumea Simi, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Samoa and head of the delegation, said Samoa was a small island developing State with a population of over 200,000 people. At present, Samoa had not recorded any confirmed cases of enforced disappearance, but had established safeguard measures through criminal legislation, individual oversight bodies, and judicial protections.
Regarding the two cases raised by the Committee of two males, one missing since 2019 and the other since 2020, the delegation said the 2019 case was widely publicised, and an investigation had been opened by the police and corrective services. He remained missing to this day.
Regarding the case in 2020, this was a situation of a prisoner who had escaped. For these reasons, neither case was considered as one of enforced disappearance. These investigations remained open.
The delegation also said that currently, there were no trainings conducted on extradition as this was not something which occurred regularly in the State party. Cases were rare, and when they did arise, they were dealt with by the Office of the Attorney General, in consultation with other ministries.
There was a provision within Samoa’s domestic law which gave the court discretion to make the decision not to extradite the person if it was seen to be unjust. It was a limited provision, but Samoa could look to develop this going forward.
In concluding remarks, Simi said that as a small island developing State, Samoa faced challenges in building and sustaining institutional capacity but reinforced its commitment to uphold human rights. Samoa stood ready to continue engaging with the Committee and working with partners to eradicate enforced disappearance.
In his concluding remarks, Juan Pablo Albán Alencastro, Committee Chairperson, thanked Samoa for its participation in the dialogue with the Committee. The Committee looked forward to Samoa’s continued commitment moving forward.
The delegation of Samoa consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development; the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour; the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration; the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; the Samoa Embassy to Belgium; the Samoa Law Reform Commission; the Office of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly; the Public Service Commission; the Samoa Bureau of Statistics; the Samoa Law Reform Commission; the Office of the Attorney General; and the Permanent Representative of Samoa to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
