The Geneva Human Rights Platform Accompanied the Adoption of a UN Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoptions

4 October 2022

On 29 September 2022, two United Nations (UN) treaty bodies – the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), –, three UN Special Rapporteurs – on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children and on Trafficking in Persons – and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances have issued a Joint Statement on illegal intercountry adoptions.

In order to facilitate this joint process of adoption, the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) in collaboration with the CRC and CED, organized two joint meetings in March and September 2022 as part of the GHRP Treaty Body Members Platform initiative.

‘We congratulate all the mechanisms involved in the drafting of this important new document, which promotes a human rights-based and gender-sensitive approach to preventing and eradicating illegal intercountry adoptions’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

‘The Joint Statement does so by identifying the rights which are violated through illegal intercountry adoptions and by clarifying states’ obligations under international human rights law. It represents an excellent example of cooperation between UN treaty bodies and among UN human rights mechanisms, illustrating the cross-committee and systemic approach recently promoted within the 2020 Treaty Body Review process at the UN General Assembly’ he adds.