France
15 June 2021
Objection to the reservation to Article 33 of the Convention made by Oman upon accession:
... the Government of the French Republic has carefully examined the reservation made by the Sultanate of Oman upon its accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, expressed as follows: “the Government of the Sultanate of Oman does not recognize the competence of the Committee in cases of enforced disappearances provided in article 33 of the aforementioned Convention.”
The object and purpose of the Convention is to prevent enforced disappearances and to combat impunity for the crime of enforced disappearance. By virtue of article 26 of the Convention, a Committee on Enforced Disappearances, consisting of 10 experts elected by the States Parties, is established to implement the provisions of the Convention. The Committee is a core mechanism of the Convention.
The reservation made by the Sultanate of Oman thus relates to a core function of the Committee – indeed, one that is operational and practical in nature– in preventing and combatting impunity for the crime of enforced disappearance. Moreover, States Parties that are to be visited by the Committee retain the option of asking the Committee to postpone or cancel the visit. There are therefore no grounds for rejecting, by means of the reservation, a cooperation mechanism intended to fulfil the purposes of the Convention.
The Government of the French Republic recalls that, according to customary international law as codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 23 May 1969, a reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention shall not be permitted.
The Government of the French Republic therefore objects to the reservation made by the Sultanate of Oman. The present objection does not, however, prevent the entry into force of the Convention between the French Republic and the Sultanate of Oman.