A/HRC/10/9 page 94 (c) Place of arrest or abduction, or where the disappeared person was last seen (indication of town or village, at least); (d) Parties, acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, presumed to have carried out the arrest or abduction or to be holding the disappeared person in unacknowledged detention; (e) Steps taken by the family to determine the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, or at least an indication that efforts to resort to domestic remedies were frustrated or have otherwise been inconclusive; (f) A case should be submitted to the Working Group by a reliable source, which, if other than a family member, must indicate whether the reported victim's family has given their direct consent that this case be submitted to the Working Group on their behalf. If a case is not admitted, the Working Group sends a response to the source indicating that the information received did not fulfil the established requirements, in order to permit the source to provide all relevant information. Communication with Governments In transmitting cases of disappearance, the Working Group deals exclusively with Governments, basing itself on the principle that Governments must assume responsibility for any violation of human rights on their territory. Perpetrators The Working Group operates on the basis that, and in accordance with the definition contained in the Preamble of the Declaration, for purposes of its work, enforced disappearances are only considered as such when the act in question is perpetrated by State actors or by private individuals or organized groups (e.g. paramilitary groups) acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government. Based on the above, the Working Group does not admit cases when they are attributed to persons or groups not acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, such as terrorist or insurgent movements fighting the Government in its own territory. Standard procedure Reported cases of disappearances are placed before the Working Group for detailed examination during its sessions. Those which fulfil the requirements outlined above are transmitted, upon the Group’s specific authorization, to the Governments concerned with the request that they carry out investigations in order to clarify the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, and inform the Group about the results. These cases are communicated by letter from the Group’s Chairman to the Government concerned through the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva. Any substantive additional information which the sources submit on an outstanding case is placed before the Working Group and, following its approval, transmitted to the Government concerned.

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