A/HRC/45/13/Add.2 implications of ratifying the Convention were being studied. The Coordination Council on Human Rights does not, however, have this issue on its agenda. 15. The Working Group underscores that ratification of the Convention would help cement the progress that Kyrgyzstan is already making to counter enforced disappearance. Moreover, the Convention contains useful guidance for States to build a more solid and robust legal and institutional framework to prevent disappearances and would help Kyrgyzstan overcome the few remaining gaps discussed in the present report. Prompt ratification would also send a clear message that Kyrgyzstan is committed to providing full protection against enforced disappearance of any duration. 16. Article 382 of the Criminal Code that came into force on 1 January 2019 introduces the autonomous crime of enforced disappearance and recognizes that even a single act of enforced disappearance amounts to a crime against humanity. Criminalization of enforced disappearance is a commendable development and is welcomed by the Working Group. 17. The Working Group is concerned, however, that this provision will be applied only to lengthy disappearances. The definition of the crime contained in the Criminal Code essentially reproduces the definition contained in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which includes the element of the intention of removing a person from the protection of the law for a prolonged period. 4 The fusion of definitional elements of an enforced disappearance in international human rights law and in international criminal law creates the risk of excluding cases of short-term disappearance and ensuring impunity for the seemingly widespread practice of disappearing individuals for short periods following their apprehension (see paras. 25–27 below). The Working Group underscores that victims of enforced disappearance are exposed to the greatest dangers of torture and other illtreatment, as well as death, in the first few hours after they have been deprived of their liberty and that there is no minimum timeframe for an enforced disappearance to occur. 18. The new criminal law provisions have not yet been tested in practice. It is thus important that legal professionals be properly trained so that the constitutive elements of the crime, as defined in article 382 of the Criminal Code, including the temporal element, are construed in conformity with the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Exchanges with judges, prosecutors, investigators and lawyers during the visit have demonstrated the need for training to ensure a broader understanding of the nature, elements and continuous character of the act of enforced disappearance, the concept of a victim of enforced disappearance and other precepts of the crime. 19. It is commendable that the crime of enforced disappearance is considered as one of a serious nature, as the Criminal Code provides for a punishment of up to 15 years’ imprisonment and does not permit amnesties. The Working Group welcomes the fact that the Criminal Code covers different modes of participation in acts of enforced disappearance, such as committing, ordering, soliciting, organizing, instigating the commission of and attempting to commit the crime. Since a single act of enforced disappearance is considered a crime against humanity, no statute of limitations applies. 20. The Working Group notes that competency for investigating cases of enforced disappearance rests with the State Committee for National Security, which is a hybrid agency with both law enforcement and intelligence powers. This raises concerns, given that the intelligence services should not assume any functions related to the maintenance of law and order, such as investigations of suspected crimes, especially given the infamous past of this agency (for more details, see para. 30 below). The Code of Criminal Procedure (art. 153) envisions that cases of enforced disappearance allegedly committed by State Committee officers are to be investigated by the military prosecutor. 21. The Working Group recalls that all victims of enforced disappearance, including the family members of those forcibly disappeared, have the right to full reparation, which includes compensation, satisfaction, restitution, rehabilitation and guarantees of non4 See article 7 (2) (i) of the Rome Statute. The only element of the provision in international criminal law that is lacking from the Constitution is that of context. In other words, in accordance with article 7 (1) (i) of the Rome Statute, enforced disappearance amounts to a crime against humanity if it is committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack. 5