39 amended to include both government officials and non-government agents as possible offenders. Said obligation is embodied in Article 2 of the American Convention and in Article I of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance. Arguments by the representatives 88. The representatives stated that the Peruvian State has not complied with the obligations set out in Article 2 of the American Convention and in Article I of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance inasmuch as it failed to have Article 320 of the Criminal Code in force in Peru meet the standards set in the aforementioned conventions, in relation to the statutory definition of forced disappearance and the appropriate punishment of those responsible. Arguments by the State 89. In this regard, the State alleged the following: a) the issues raised by the Commission regarding the difficulties posed by the expression “duly proven” included in the statutory definition of the crime under consideration, do not generate much controversy. Basically, because any condition or requirement regarding proof of the disappearance is foreign to the statutory description provided by the lawmaker. Otherwise, we would no longer be talking only about the occurrence of “forced disappearance” but about its concurrence with other criminal acts such as second-degree or first-degree murder (according to the concurrent circumstances); b) what really matters, for the purposes of the classification of the act, is whether there has been an illegal deprivation of freedom of movement or transit and that such deprivation has been caused by a public official or servant. Apparently, this would amount to abduction, but it differs from it in that forced disappearance also entails the refusal of information regarding the victim’s detention or whereabouts; c) in sum, according to the language used in the definition of forced disappearance under Article 320 of the Criminal Code there is no impediment or obstacle to the investigation or prosecution of an act that may be considered and punished as forced disappearance; d) on October 4, 2002, the State created, by means of Law No. 27,837, the Comisión Especial Revisora del Código Penal (Special Commission for the Review of the Criminal Code) to review the text of the Criminal Code and to adapt its provisions to international standards. In April 2004, said Special Commission presented the citizenry with the “Anteproyecto de la Parte General del Código Penal” (Draft Bill on the General Provisions of the Criminal Code), which clearly includes a series of amendments resulting from the developments in case law and legislation on the matter as well as in domestic and international jurisprudence, and

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