A/HRC/4/41 page 9 9. Urgent actions. Cases that reportedly occurred within the three months preceding receipt of the report by the Working Group and otherwise fulfil the requirements for standard cases are transmitted directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the country concerned by the most direct and rapid means. The Working Group provides the source with a copy of the summary of each urgent action, thus helping it to enter into communication with the authorities on the case concerned. 10. Follow-up on cases. All cases of enforced disappearance remain under active consideration by the Working Group until they are clarified. The crime of enforced disappearance, as defined in the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, is a continuous crime until the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person becomes known. 11. Clarification. A case is clarified when information is provided which can clearly establish the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person. In general, the Working Group has found information sufficient to clearly establish a person’s whereabouts when the Government provides the address where the person is currently living, whether the address of the person’s home or that of the place where the person is being imprisoned or detained. As information establishing a person’s fate, i.e. when the person is reported dead, in general, a copy of a death certificate has been sufficient. 12. Six-month rule. In all cases where the Working Group considers that a government reply contains sufficient information on the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person that could constitute a clarification, it applies the six-month rule. This means that if the source does not respond within six months of the date on which the reply was communicated to it, or if it contests the Government’s information on grounds that are considered to be unreasonable by the Working Group, the case is considered clarified. 13. Prompt intervention actions. The Working Group also takes prompt intervention actions in connection with acts of intimidation, persecution or reprisal against relatives of missing persons and private individuals or persons who seek to discover the fate or whereabouts of disappeared persons. Prompt intervention letters are sent to the Government concerned with the appeal that it take immediate steps to protect all the fundamental rights of the persons affected. 14. General allegations. In addition to dealing with individual cases of disappearance, the Working Group also reports upon general allegations. These general allegations derive from a summary of allegations received from relatives of missing persons and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with regard to obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Declaration in their respective countries, inviting them to comment. The Working Group transmits the general allegations to Governments for their response. C. Disappearance as a global problem 15. The Working Group was initially formed to address the legacy of disappearance arising from authoritarian rule in Latin America. Now, however, disappearance is a global problem.