Court, Article 7(1) (see sub-section The international frameworks above). This approach may be followed by establishing: Obligation to prevent and protect from ED The basic starting point is that States shall take necessary measures to prevent acts of ED, including by adopting legislation, policies and practices that promote the protection of human rights. Under this duty, States must take necessary measures to prevent acts of ED, including by ratifying conventions and adopting suitably detailed and comprehensive legislation, policies and practices that promote the protection of human rights and expressly recognise and address ED, putting a framework in place that ensures that the deprivation of liberty is carried out in accordance with human rights standards, providing the necessary training to relevant authorities, and ensuring that ED constitutes an offence under domestic criminal law. • two separate offences, as it is the case in Panama and Uruguay; or • one offence that is sufficiently broad to cover both isolated and widespread acts, as in, for example, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico, among others.304 The explicit characterisation of ED as a continuous offence in Guatemala, Uruguay and Nicaragua’s domestic legislation has enabled tribunals to convict in cases where the offence had begun before the offence was codified.305 However, as established at sub-section The national frameworks above, at the time of writing, only a small number of African States have passed, or are proposing to pass domestic legislation criminalising ED, and even where such legislation does exist, the definition of ED often does not align with that of the ICPPED and is missing certain key elements, such as the characterisation of ED as a continuous offence. There is clearly a demonstrative legal gap to States fulfilling their obligations to prevent ED. States shall also, in accordance with their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, protect those in their territory or under their jurisdiction against unlawful violence, including ED.300 States shall similarly protect victims and those assisting them from harassment or any other form of intimidation.301 The obligation to protect is wide-ranging and encompasses a broad range of rights that must be protected, such as inter alia the right to life, the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment, right to liberty and security of the person, right to a fair trial and right to liberty. The obligation to search and co-operate Articles 4, 6 and 7 of the ICPPED prescribe steps for States to take to prevent ED. According to Article 4, States shall adopt laws to criminalise ED. Articles 6 and 7 oblige States to adopt laws to hold perpetrators accountable and ensure that penalties reflect the seriousness of the offence.302 The definition of ED adopted should be compatible with the elements of Article 2 of the ICPPED.303 The ICPPED provides the obligation to adopt appropriate measures to search for, locate and release disappeared persons, and, in the event of death, to locate, respect and return their remains.306 In terms of best practice, the search should begin without delay as soon as there is an indication that a person has been disappeared and should continue until the victim is found or his or her whereabouts are known.307 Further, the search should be independent and impartial and should not be carried out by individuals who may have been involved in the commis- Best practice as identified by the UN includes ensuring that ED is codified as a crime even where it does not amount to a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal 300 This obligation links to the obligation under Article 6 of the African Charter, see sub-section 6.2.3. above. 301 See discussion of African Charter, Article 5 (Prohibition of torture and ill-treatment) and Article 6 (the right to liberty and security of the person) of the African Charter in sub-sections 6.2.3 and 6.3.2 above; and ACHPR, Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa, Part 1(b), 2015. 302 CED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 303 ICPPED, Concluding observations on the report submitted by Spain under article 29, para. 1 of the Convention, CED/C/ESP/CO/1, 12 December 2013, para. 9; ICPPED, Concluding Observations on the report submitted by Belgium, CED/C/BEL/CO/1, 24 September 2014, para. 11; and ICPPED, Concluding Observations on the report submitted by Germany on, CED/C/DEU/CO/1, 10 April 2014, Para. 7. 304 Report of the WGEID, Best practices on enforced disappearances in domestic criminal legislation, A/HRC/16/48/Add.3, 28 December 2010, para. 19. 305 Ibid, para. 34. 306 ICPPED, Article 24 (3). 307 ICPPED, Guiding Principles for the search for the disappeared, supra note 256. 45