United Nations A/RES/55/103 General Assembly Fifty-fifth session Agenda item 114 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/55/602/Add.2 and Corr.1)] 55/103. Question of enforced or involuntary disappearances The General Assembly, Guided by the purposes and principles set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 the International Covenants on Human Rights 2 and the other relevant international human rights instruments, Recalling its resolution 33/173 of 20 December 1978 concerning disappeared persons and its previous resolutions on the question of enforced or involuntary disappearances, in particular resolution 53/150 of 9 December 1998, Recalling also its resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992 proclaiming the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance as a body of principles for all States, Expressing concern that, according to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the Commission on Human Rights, the practice of a number of States can run counter to the Declaration, Deeply concerned, in particular, by the intensification of enforced disappearances in various regions of the world and by the growing number of reports concerning the harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared, Emphasizing that impunity with regard to enforced disappearances contributes to the perpetuation of this phenomenon and constitutes one of the obstacles to the elucidation of its manifestations, Taking note with interest of the initiatives taken at the national and international levels in order to end impunity, Bearing in mind Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/37 of 20 April 2000, 3 1 Resolution 217 A (III). Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. 3 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2000, Supplement No. 3 and corrigendum (E/2000/23 and Corr.1), chap. II, sect. A. 2 00 56557 Distr.: General 2 March 2001