The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is very useful internationally : it testifies to the scale of the problem by questioning states, making visits in the field and mobilizing civil society and the UN. That can mean allowing the release of people held without trial contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the WGAD took place on November 2011, at the Arab World Institute in Paris.

Mrs Birtukan Mideska, a former victim of arbitrary detention in Ethiopia, recommends boosting the working group's visibility: "The group should familiarize people about its power of action and its works especially with people living in a repressive system. Unlike what you might think, tyrants and autocrats are sensitive to the opinion of the international community."