KURT JUDGMENT OF 25 MAY 1998 18 Article 18 By means of ratification or accession to this Convention the States parties adopt the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Resolution 663 C [XXIV] of the Economic and Social Council, of 31 July 1957) as an integral part of their domestic law.” D. Case-law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 67. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights had considered the question of enforced disappearances in a number of cases under the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights and prior to the adoption of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons: Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras, judgment of 29 July 1988 (Inter-Am. Ct. H. R. (Ser. C) no. 4) (1988)); Godínez Cruz v. Honduras, judgment of 20 January 1989 (Inter-Am. Ct. H. R. (Ser. C) no. 5) (1989)); and Cabellero-Delgado and Santana v. Colombia, judgment of 8 December 1995 (Inter-Am. Ct. H. R.). E. Submissions of Amnesty International 68. In their written submissions to the Court, Amnesty International identified the following elements of the crime of “disappearances” from their analysis of the relevant international instruments addressing this phenomenon: (a) a deprivation of liberty; (b) by government agents or with their consent or acquiescence; followed by (c) an absence of information or refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the person; (d) thereby placing such persons outside the protection of the law. 69. According to Amnesty International, while “disappearances” often take the form of a systematic pattern, they need not do so. Furthermore, a “disappearance” is to be seen as constituting a violation not only of the liberty and security of the individual but also of other fundamental rights. They refer to the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras case (judgment of 29 July 1988) wherein that court affirmed that “the phenomenon of disappearances is a complex form of human rights violation that must be understood and confronted in an integral fashion.” This complex of rights includes the right to life and the right not to be subjected to ill-treatment. The gravity of the violations of the rights attendant on a disappearance has led the United Nations Human Rights Committee to conclude in relation to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that State Parties should take specific and effective measures to prevent the disappearance of individuals and should establish facilities and procedures to investigate