A/HRC/4/41 page 14 45. On 26 August 2006, to commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared on 30 August, the Working Group issued a press release reiterating its solidarity with all those who suffer from enforced disappearance and paying tribute to human rights defenders working on behalf of disappeared persons and their relatives. 46. The Working Group issued statements on 30 March and 28 June 2006 and 3 November 2006 urging the approval of the draft international convention for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance. 47. At its seventy-fifth session, the Working Group decided to prepare a comparative study on the criminal law treatment of enforced or involuntary disappearances in States around the globe. Article 4 of the Declaration requires that States treat all acts of enforced disappearance as “offences under criminal law punishable by appropriate penalties which shall take into account their extreme seriousness”. 48. The Working Group sent a note verbale inviting all Governments to provide information concerning the treatment of enforced or involuntary disappearances within their national law as part of input into the comparative study. Many of the 18 Governments which responded to the invitation provided very detailed information. A preliminary analysis reveals that outside of Latin America, very few States have created a specific criminal offence of enforced disappearance. Work on the comparative study is continuing. III. INFORMATION CONCERNING ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES REVIEWED BY THE WORKING GROUP Afghanistan Number of outstanding cases at the beginning of the period under review 3 Cases transmitted to the Government during the period under review Cases sent under Cases sent under the standard the urgent action procedure procedure 0 Number of cases on which the Government has replied 0 General allegation Prompt intervention letter Working Group request for a visit 0 Cases clarified during the period under review by: Government Non-governmental sources 0 Multiple replies on some cases N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 Number of outstanding cases at the end of the year under review 3 Number of cases of possible clarification by Government (6-month rule) N/A Government response Government response Government response N/A N/A N/A 49. There was no activity during the period under review. A summary of the situation in the country is in the previous report (E/CN.4/2006/56 and Corr.1).