No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance. The Convention also affirms that enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity when practised in a widespread or systematic manner (art. 5). Among the measures intended to prevent enforced disappearances, the Convention mentions the express prohibition of secret detention and the maintenance of official registers of persons deprived of their liberty. It also establishes that, when an alleged perpetrator of an enforced disappearance is present in any territory under the jurisdiction of a State party, that State shall take the necessary measures to establish its jurisdiction over the offence. Article 24 includes, in the definition of a victim of enforced disappearance, “the disappeared person and any individual who has suffered harm as the direct result of an enforced disappearance”, such as family members. The same article also establishes the right to the truth “regarding the circumstances of the enforced disappearance, the progress and results of the investigation and the fate of the disappeared person”. Although this right had been recognized in humanitarian law and by some international bodies, the Convention is the first international human rights instrument to expressly state it. The Convention requires State parties to criminalize acts of enforced disappearance, to conduct investigations and to take effective legislative and other measures to prevent such acts from happening (arts. 6–17, 25). The Convention also accords special protection to children who are direct victims of enforced disappearance, whose parents or legal guardians are subjected to enforced disappearance, or who are born during the captivity of a mother subjected to enforced disappearance (art. 25). The Convention establishes under article 26 the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, to which State parties must periodically report on the measures they have taken to give effect to the Convention. Individuals may submit complaints to the Committee, provided that the relevant State has accepted the competence of the Committee under article 31. Article 32 gives competence to the Committee to entertain inter-State complaints. 17