The report of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) contained in document A/HRC/48/57, was presented during the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held from September 13 – October 1, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. The report focuses in particular on enforced disappearances in the context of transnational transfers, which encompass extraterritorial abductions and forced returns, including expulsions, often undertaken in undercover operations in cooperation between two or more States, on the pretext of combating terrorism and protecting national security.
The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances firmly criticizes the conclusion of bilateral security cooperation agreements with the Government of Turkey, which often contain broad and vague references to combating terrorism and transnational crime, in order to facilitate transnational transfer operations. In almost all the instances reported to the Working Group, the arrests seem to have been carried out without any legal basis; the arresting officers did not identify themselves; no arrest warrants were presented; no explanations were provided to clarify or justify the arrests; the persons were taken by force from their home or in the street; and in a number of cases, they were blindfolded, hooded and handcuffed
