43 a) On Offenders 100. In accordance with the general obligation of protection, the States have the duty to investigate, prosecute, try and punish those responsible for human rights violations. This obligation is also applicable to any illegal act violating human rights that is not directly committed by a government official but, for example, by a private individual acting with the support or acquiescence of the State. Thus, criminal punishment must be imposed on all persons who commit acts that constitute forced disappearance. 101. In order to guarantee full protection against forced disappearance pursuant to Articles 1 and 2 of the American Convention and I(b) of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance, domestic criminal law must ensure that all “persons who commit the crime of forced disappearance of persons, their accomplices and accessories” are punished, whether they are agents of the state or “persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the State.” 102. Article 320 of the Peruvian Criminal Code restricts forced disappearance offenders to “public officials or servants." This statutory definition does not contain all forms of criminal involvement included in Article II of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons; therefore, it is incomplete. b) Refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty and to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the detained person 103. Forced disappearance is characterized by refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or to provide information about the fate or whereabouts of detained persons and by leaving no trace or evidence.71 This element must be present in the statutory definition of the crime in order to distinguish it from others, to which it is usually related, such as manstealing or abduction and murder, so that appropriate standards of proof may be applied and punishment according to the seriousness of the offense may be imposed on all persons involved in the crime. 104. In the instant case, the Court has noticed that Article 320 of the Peruvian Criminal Code does not include the aforesaid element; therefore, the State has the duty to adapt its domestic legislation so as to comply with its international obligations. c) "due proof” of the forced disappearance 105. The specific language of Article 320 of the Criminal Code, which provides that the forced disappearance must be "duly proven", complicates statutory construction thereof. Firstly, it is not possible to know whether such “due proof” must precede the criminal report or complaint and, secondly, it is not clear therein who should produce such proof either. 71 In effect, this Court has pointed out that “forced disappearance frequently involves the secret and extrajudicial execution of detained persons, followed by the concealment of the body to eliminate any material evidence of the crime and ensure the impunity of the perpetrators.”