GENEVA – The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is conducting a country visit to Lithuania from 20 to 26 November 2024. The Working Group’s delegation comprising human rights experts Gabriella Citroni (Chair-Rapporteur) and Grażyna Baranowska (Vice-Chair) will travel to Vilnius and meet state officials, the National Human Rights Institution, NGOs, civil society organisations and human rights defenders working on enforced disappearance. The delegation will examine matters related to the Working Group’s mandate, including the institutional and legislative framework, and the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. The experts will look into the principle of universal criminal jurisdiction in cases related to enforced disappearance, as well as the rights of victims to truth, justice and reparation in the context of enforced disappearances; efforts towards the preservation of memory; and measures aimed at preventing enforced disappearances. The experts plan to visit the Pabradė Foreigners Registration Centre, as well as the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights and other sites of remembrance. The experts will share their preliminary observations at a press-conference on Tuesday, 26 November at 12:00 p.m. local time at the Congress Avenue Hotel, Gedimino pr. 12, Vilnius, 01103. Access will be strictly limited to journalists. The Working Group will present a final report containing its findings and recommendations at the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in September 2025. *The experts: The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances comprises five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Ms. Gabriella Citroni (Italy); and the Vice-Chair is Ms. Grażyna Baranowska (Poland); other members are Aua Balde (Guinea-Bissau); Ms. Ana Lorena Delgadillo Perez (Mexico); and Mr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi (Iraq). The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. UN Human Rights, country page – Lithuania For inquiries and media requests, please contact: Sergii KURNOSENKO, Human Rights Officer, sergii.kurnosenko@un.org. For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) John Newland (john.newland@un.org). Follow news related to the UN"s independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts