28 continuing and multiple offense nature of forced disappearance of persons is reflected in Articles II and III of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, which, in this regard, establish the following: For the purposes of this Convention, forced disappearance is considered to be the act of depriving a person or persons of his or their freedom, in whatever way, perpetrated by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the State, followed by an absence of information or a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the whereabouts of that person, thereby impeding his or her recourse to the applicable legal remedies and procedural guarantees. […] This offense shall be deemed continuing or permanent as long as the fate or whereabouts of the victim has not been determined. 107. The need to consider the offense of forced disappearance in toto, as an autonomous offense of a continuing or permanent nature with multiple intricately interrelated elements arises not only from Articles II and III of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, but also from the travaux préparatoires for this Convention,64 and from its preamble. 65 108. Likewise, the Court observes that Article 1(2) of the 1992 United Nations Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Forced Disappearance indicates that forced disappearance constitutes: [A] violation of the rules of international law guaranteeing, inter alia, the right to recognition as a person before the law, the right to liberty and security of the person and the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It also violates or constitutes a grave threat to the right to life. 109. Moreover, Article 17(1) of this Declaration indicates that the forced disappearance of persons must be considered “a continuing offence as long as the perpetrators continue to conceal the fate and the whereabouts of persons who have disappeared and these facts remain unclear.” Article 8(1)(b) of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Forced disappearance, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2006, contains a similar text.66 64 Cf. Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 1987-1988, Chapter V.II. This offense “will be considered continuing or permanent as long as the whereabouts or the fate of the victim has not been established.” (OEA/CP-CAJP, Report of the President of the Working Group responsible for examining the draft Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, doc. OEA/Ser.G/CP/CAJP-925/93 rev.1, of January 25, 1994, p. 10). 65 Cf. Preamble to the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, in which it is considered “that the forced disappearance of persons violates numerous non-derogable and essential human rights enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights, in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” 66 In this regard, Article 8(1)(b) of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Forced Disappearance establishes that: […] A State Party which applies a statute of limitations in respect of forced disappearance shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the term of limitation for criminal proceedings: […] Commences from the moment when the offences of forced disappearance ceases, taking into account its continuous nature. […]”