CCPR/C/112/D/2132/2012 to establish what happened to them. The Committee notes that, according to the authors, the chances of finding Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane alive are virtually zero and that their prolonged absence and the testimony of a friend who said he had seen Mohamed’s body at the morgue suggest that they died in detention. The Committee also notes that incommunicado detention entails a high risk of violation of the right to life, since victims are at the mercy of their jailers, who, by the very nature of the circumstances, are subject to no oversight. It recalls that, in cases of enforced disappearance, the deprivation of liberty, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that fact or by concealment of the fate of the disappeared person, removes that person from the protection of the law and places his or her life at serious and constant risk, for which the State is accountable. In the case at hand, the Committee notes that the State party has produced no evidence to indicate that it has fulfilled its obligation to protect the lives of Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane. It therefore concludes that the State party has failed in its duty to protect the lives of Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane, in violation of article 6 of the Covenant.22 7.5 The Committee recognizes the degree of suffering involved in being held indefinitely without contact with the outside world. In this context, the Committee recalls its general comment No. 20 (1992) on article 7, on the prohibition of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which recommends that States parties should make provisions against incommunicado detention. The Committee notes that, according to the authors, Adel Kerouane was wounded and arrested on 12 April 1994 on the Batna road by security service officials, Tarek Kerouane, aged 16, was arrested on 20 May 1994 on his way home from school and Mohamed Kerouane, aged 15, was arrested on 22 February 1996 in the street by officers from the Hamma gendarmerie, where he was held for a month. Mohamed Kerouane’s body, according to information corroborated by several individuals, was recognized three months after his arrest among other bodies piled at the side of a road in the Ghorab region, and then identified at the morgue by a family friend, who saw traces of torture and ill-treatment. In the absence of any satisfactory explanation from the State party, the Committee finds a multiple violation of article 7 of the Covenant in respect of Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane.23 7.6 The Committee takes note of the anguish and distress caused to the authors and their family by the disappearance of Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane and by the continued uncertainty concerning their fate. It is therefore of the opinion that the facts before it reveal a violation of article 7 of the Covenant with regard to the authors. 24 7.7 As to the complaints of a violation of article 9, the Committee takes note of the authors’ claims to the effect that Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane were arrested on 12 April 1994, 20 May 1994 and 22 February 1996, respectively, by State officials, without explanation. The State party’s authorities have at no time provided any information to the family on the fate of Adel, Tarek and Mohamed Kerouane. The three brothers were not informed of the criminal charges against them and were not brought before a judge or other judicial authority, which would have enabled them to challenge the legality of their detention; and no official information was given to the authors and their family regarding the victims’ whereabouts or their fate. In the absence of satisfactory explanations from the 22 23 24 GE.14-22477 Aouali et al. v. Algeria, para. 7.4. Communications No. 1295/2004, El Alwani v. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Views adopted on 11 July 2007, para. 6.5; and No. 1422/2005, El Hassy v. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Views adopted on 24 October 2007, para. 6.2. See Mezine v. Algeria, para. 8.6; Khirani v. Algeria, para. 7.6; Berzig v. Algeria, para. 8.6; communication No. 1640/2007, El Abani v. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Views adopted on 26 July 2010, para. 7.5; and El Hassy v. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, para. 6.11. 13