tion on ED and a definition aligned to that of the ICPPED.280 as at 2016 fails to provide that ED is a continuous offence.284 • A draft bill to update the Moroccan Penal Code, including by criminalising ED, is currently in the process of being finalised (proposals for amendments to the draft code were tabled in January 2020).281 • Whilst Libya has implemented laws criminalising ED, its definition of ED lacks several key elements of the ICPPED’s definition (see the table below). Further, even in States where relevant laws exist to criminalise ED, in practice, the procedural safeguards relating to arrest and detention are often violated, meaning that the risk of those in State custody being subjected to ED continues to exist. • Tunisia previously reported that it would be establishing a committee to draft a bill on ED, however, to date it has not succeeded in implementing ED into domestic criminal law.282 Progress in this area is slow, and even in States where specific laws do exist or have been proposed, the definition of ED often does not align with that of the ICPPED.283 For example: The below table sets out the position of ED under the national laws of the four countries which are the focus of this report. Of these countries, only Sudan has recently ratified the ICPPED but has not yet deposited an instrument of ratification,285 and Algeria has signed but not ratified the Convention. • The draft bill to update the Moroccan Penal Code Country Extent to which national legislation deals with ED Sudan Sudan does not have explicit criminal laws prohibiting ED. The Criminal Procedure Act 1991, while explicitly prohibiting torture of an accused person, does not provide a definition of torture nor an appropriate penalty.286 While the Criminal Procedure Act 1991 now recognises that torture can be inflicted both physically and psychologically and provides some safeguards to prevent ED, including registration of the arrest and informing the judge or relevant authority within 24 hours of the arrest,287 practical and procedural safeguards are still inadequate.288 Algeria In Algeria, the Constitution does not specifically prohibit torture or ED. The criminal code of Algeria, while prohibiting torture, does not provide a definition aligned with the Convention against Torture.289 Penalties for the commission of torture range from 5 to 10 years but if committed before murder, the sentence increases to between 10 and 20 years’ imprisonment. If torture is committed by a public official, then penalties range from 10 to 20 years or life imprisonment.290 280 United Nations, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, Committee on Enforced Disappearances Twelfth session, Replies of Senegal to the list of issues in relation to the report submitted by Senegal under article 29 (1) of the Convention, paragraph 11. 281 Amnesty International, UPR Working Group, Submission for the UN Universal Periodic Review, 27th Session of the UPR Working Group, April/May 2017; Medias 24, Projet de code depos: Les amendements enfin deposes, 12 January 2020 282 CED/UN Country report, 2014; ICJ, Accountability Through the Specialized Criminal Chambers: The Adjudication of Crimes Under Tunisian and International Law, 2019) 283 “… the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such person outside the protection of the law.” It is, however, worth noting that Senegal has stated that it is in the process of reforming its Criminal Code to include a new section on ED and a definition aligned to that of the ICPPED. The definition of ED under the Criminal Code of Burkina Faso as amended in 2018 broadly follows the wording in the ICPPED. 284 Amnesty International, Morocco: Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee 118th Session, 17 October-14 November 2016, p. 6. 285 REDRESS, Sudanese Government Approves Ratification of Key Treaties on Torture and Enforced Disappearance, February 2021. 286 REDRESS, Further Historic Changes Made to Sudanese Laws, 16 July 2020. 287 African Center for Justice and Peace Studies, Enforced Disappearance in Africa: Baseline Study for Sudan, September 2020, p. 26. 288 REDRESS, Further Historic Changes Made to Sudanese Laws, supra note 286. 289 MENA Rights Group, Waiting for Redress: The Plight of Victims of Enforced Disappearances in Algeria (Baseline Study), supra note 103. 290 US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Algeria. 43