(iii) Failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress the
commission of an enforced disappearance or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation
and prosecution;
(c) Subparagraph (b) above is without prejudice to the higher standards of responsibility applicable under
relevant international law to a military commander or to a person effectively acting as a military commander.
2. No order or instruction from any public authority, civilian, military or other, may be invoked to justify an
offence of enforced disappearance.
Article 7
1. Each State Party shall make the offence of enforced disappearance punishable by appropriate penalties which
take into account its extreme seriousness.
2. Each State Party may establish:
(a) Mitigating circumstances, in particular for persons who, having been implicated in the commission of an
enforced disappearance, effectively contribute to bringing the disappeared person forward alive or make it
possible to clarify cases of enforced disappearance or to identify the perpetrators of an enforced disappearance;
(b) Without prejudice to other criminal procedures, aggravating circumstances, in particular in the event of the
death of the disappeared person or the commission of an enforced disappearance in respect of pregnant
women, minors, persons with disabilities or other particularly vulnerable persons.
Article 8
Without prejudice to article 5,
1. A State Party which applies a statute of limitations in respect of enforced disappearance shall take the
necessary measures to ensure that the term of limitation for criminal proceedings:
(a) Is of long duration and is proportionate to the extreme seriousness of this offence;
(b) Commences from the moment when the offence of enforced disappearance ceases, taking into account its
continuous nature.
2. Each State Party shall guarantee the right of victims of enforced disappearance to an effective remedy during
the term of limitation.
Article 9
1. Each State Party shall take the necessary measures to establish its competence to exercise jurisdiction over
the offence of enforced disappearance:
(a) When the offence is committed in any territory under its jurisdiction or on board a ship or aircraft registered
in that State;
(b) When the alleged offender is one of its nationals;
(c) When the disappeared person is one of its nationals and the State Party considers it appropriate.
2. Each State Party shall likewise take such measures as may be necessary to establish its competence to
exercise jurisdiction over the offence of enforced disappearance when the alleged offender is present in any
territory under its jurisdiction, unless it extradites or surrenders him or her to another State in accordance with
3