CCPR/C/115/D/2064/2011 Territorial Defence Army around 16 June 1992. Since then, Božo Mandić’s family has been looking for him, in vain. The Committee further notes the author’s claim that according to an eyewitness, Božo Mandić was arbitrarily killed on or around 24 June 1992 and that an official of the Bosnian Territorial Defence Army ordered the witness to bury Božo Mandić’s remains.27 The Committee notes the author’s claim that the facts occurred within the context of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population and that it is therefore reasonable to presume that his father became a victim of an extrajudicial execution by the Bosnian Territorial Defence Army in June 1992, subject to further investigation. No ex officio prompt, impartial, thorough and independent investigation has been carried out by the State party to clarify his fate and whereabouts and to bring the perpetrators to justice. The Committee recalls its general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, according to which a failure by a State party to investigate allegations of violations and to bring to justice perpetrators of certain violations (notably torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, summary and arbitrary killings and enforced disappearances) could in and of itself give rise to a separate breach of the Covenant. 8.3 Although the acts of the Bosnian Territorial Defense Army are not directly attributable to the State party, the Committee notes the authors’ claim that these acts were committed in the State party’s territory by the Bosnian Defense Territorial Army and that the State party remains under an ongoing obligation to locate, exhume, identify and return the victim’s mortal remains to the family as well as to identify, prosecute and sanction those responsible for the crimes. In this connection, the Committee recognizes the difficulties that a State party may face in investigating crimes that may have been committed on its territory during a complex armed conflict in which multiple forces were involved. Therefore, while acknowledging the gravity of the alleged crimes and the suffering of the author because the location of the remains of his missing father has not yet been clarified and the culprits have not yet been brought to justice, that in itself is not sufficient to find a breach of article 2 (3) of the Covenant in the circumstances of the present communication. 8.4 However, the author claims that more than 19 years after the alleged events concerning Božo Mandić, and more than 5 years after the judgement of the Constitutional Court of 15 December 2005, the investigative authorities have not provided him with relevant information regarding the fate and whereabouts of his father. The Committee notes that the first time the author was contacted by the authorities regarding his father’s case was in February 2007, almost 15 years after the relevant events when, following a request made by the Office for Tracing Detained and Missing Persons of the Republika Srpska in March 2005,28 the Office of the Cantonal Prosecutor sent the author a letter stating that exhumations had been carried out in Lukavička Road between September and November 1998 and noting the similarity between his father’s case and another case. The author claims that after this letter, he did not receive additional information from the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office or the Bosnia and Herzegovina Prosecutor’s Office on the progress of the investigation, despite having requested updated information on several occasions.29 On 6 February 2006, the author applied to the Constitutional Court and requested it to adopt a ruling establishing that the authorities had failed to enforce its decision of 15 December 27 28 29 14 The information provided by the author (see para. 2.3) differs from the declaration provided by the alleged witness, Mr. Pešić, on 13 October 2011 to INTERPOL in Montenegro and submitted by the State party (see para. 6.1), according to which Božo Mandić was killed in June 1992 by the Bosnian Territorial Defence Army and buried by Mr. Pešić the day after. See paras. 2.5 and 2.6. See paras. 2.6 and 5.3.