CCPR/C/112/D/2132/2012 the right to life. Noting that the Kerouane brothers have been missing since 1994 and 1996, which makes the chances of finding them alive virtually zero, the authors submit that article 6 has been violated in respect of these victims of enforced disappearance and that the State has not met its obligation to conduct a thorough investigation into the disappearance. Lastly, the authors claim that the adoption, retention and implementation of Ordinance No. 06-01 constitutes a violation of article 6 of the Covenant, read in conjunction with article 2, paragraph 3: by providing for impunity for those responsible for the crime of enforced disappearance and curtailing effective remedy, the Ordinance is not consistent with the positive obligation of the State party to take specific and effective measures to prevent the disappearance of individuals, to establish effective facilities and procedures to investigate thoroughly cases of missing and disappeared persons and to bring the perpetrators to justice. The authors ask the Committee to find that Algeria has violated its positive obligations under article 6, read alone and in conjunction with article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant, in respect of Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane. 3.3 The authors refer to the Committee’s established jurisprudence 3 to the effect that enforced disappearance constitutes a violation of article 7 in respect of both the victim and the victim’s family. Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane were arbitrarily arrested by State officials on 12 April 1996, 20 May 1994 and 22 February 1996 respectively. Since then they have been held incommunicado, deprived of all contact with the outside world, and unaware of what was happening with their families. Their detention does not seem to have been recorded in any public register, and no steps have been taken to inform their families of their situation. Furthermore, they were deprived of any legal means of challenging their imprisonment. As to Mohamed Kerouane, besides being the victim of enforced disappearance, in itself a violation of article 7, he has apparently been subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The authors ask the Committee to find that the State party has violated article 7 of the Covenant in respect of Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane. 3.4 The authors note that they and the other members of the Kerouane family have had no news of their brothers and grandsons for 18 and 20 years. Their fruitless efforts to find the three brothers, prompted by deep anxiety, have added to their anguish and distress. The impunity protecting the perpetrators of the disappearances is a further source of humiliation. The authors refer to the Committee’s jurisprudence4 and ask the Committee to find that the anguish and distress felt by Kamela Allioua and Fatima Zohra Kerouane, and by all the Kerouane brothers’ relatives, together with the State party’s refusal to squarely face up to its past and make effective inquiries to establish the fate of the disappeared persons, amount to a violation of article 7 of the Covenant in respect of the two authors. 3.5 Referring to the Committee’s jurisprudence, 5 the authors argue that, read in conjunction with article 3, paragraph 2, of the Covenant, article 7 imposes on States parties the obligation to put an immediate stop to all the acts prohibited under article 7, to guarantee the right to lodge complaints against such acts, and to take action on those complaints by having the competent authorities conduct prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations in order to render the remedies effective. Adel and Tarek Kerouane, who have been missing for 20 years, and Mohamed Kerouane, who has been missing for 18 years, are victims of a crime of a continuing nature. 6 Thus the obligation to put a stop to the 3 4 5 6 GE.14-22477 Communication No. 449/1991, Mojica v. Dominican Republic, Views adopted on 15 July 1994. Communication No. 1781/2008, Berzig v. Algeria, Views adopted on 31 October 2011. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 20 (1992) on article 7, on the prohibition of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted on 20 December 2006 and signed by Algeria on 6 February 2007, art. 8. 7