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approximate 15 members states of the system, constitutes a fact of special importance
for the protection of human rights, not only at the domestic but also at the
international level.
4. The forced disappearance of Renato Ticona Estrada is among the facts that were
considered to be violations in this case. It is not necessary to repeat now the
characteristics of the forced disappearance as a violation of several rules of the
Convention, since it is a continuous or permanent violation inasmuch as the
deprivation of liberty does not cease and the luck of the victim is established. In turn,
we deem it is appropriate to emphasize that there is forced disappearance – meaning,
a violation of very serious human rights—regardless of the fact that it may committed
within the context of systematic violations or if it occurs only one time, in isolation.
5. International human rights Law does not establish a distinction regarding the last
concept – which could be relevant for other purposes- and considers any type of forced
disappearance to be a violation. Regarding this issue, it seems clear and obvious the
description contained in Article II of the Inter-American Convention on this regard, of
June 9, 1994. In that description, which has intended to expand -- and not reduce-the protection of human rights, the existence of disappearance is not conditional upon
the context in which the unlawful act occurs.
6. The foregoing has been the constant characterization expressed by different bodies
that protect human rights, at the international and the Inter-American level. As a
result of that, it has been possible to process cases of forced disappearances in
circumstances of very different and several contexts allowing, in this way, a broader
and more strict sphere of protection. Hence, the definition created in the `80 by the
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the first mechanism
developed for the international system for the protection of human rights to face this
phenomenon (1980),140 was oriented to inform, in detail, on the different elements of
the institution of forced disappearance, without including the motive of the
perpetrators, the context or whether the violation was systematic or massive. It is
similar the definition expressed by the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons
from Enforced Disappearances of the United Nations, 1992
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and the definition of the
Resolution Nº 20 (XXXVI) of February 29, 1980, of the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
United Nations Assembly General, Resolution 47/133 of December 18, 1992. In the declaration, forced
disappearance"… occur, in the sense that persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or
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