PART II     5 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS No exceptions or excuses shall be allowed for unlawful use of force; Use of force is always to be proportional to lawful objectives; Restraint is to be exercised in the use of force; Damage and injury are to be minimized. For more information on limits on the use of force by law enforcement officials, consult the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, which the OSCE participating States have committed themselves to observe.20 Extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions are grave violations of human rights. Individual complaints of such violations are extremely serious matters and would be appropriate issues for follow-up by OSCE field operations. 5.1.3 ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES The UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (1992) defines victims of enforced disappearances as people:  Who have been taken into custody by state agents;  Yet whose whereabouts and fate are concealed and whose custody is denied. An enforced disappearance is most likely to occur when:  Individuals are arrested, detained, or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches and levels of the government or by organized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the direct or indirect support, consent, or acquiescence of, the government; and  This is followed by the government’s refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the person concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty. There have been numerous reports of disappearances in the OSCE area in recent years. In conflict or post-conflict situations in particular, countries may be faced with a sizeable number of disappearances. In some instances, the fate of missing individuals becomes a highly charged political issue that can complicate conflict resolution or reconciliation. The issue of disappearances has also been taken up at OSCE Human Dimension Meetings, including by spouses of missing persons who have attended and spoken. 20 Concluding Document of the Vienna Third Follow-up Meeting, 19 January 1989, Paragraph 23.3. 44