CAT/OP/MEX/1/Add.2 25. To date, extension and modernization work has been carried out at the federal prison facilities of El Altiplano in Mexico state, El Salto in Jalisco, Matamoros in Tamaulipas, Tepic in Nayarit, Cuautla in Morelos and Islas Marías. 26. The Congress of the Union is analysing the Public Security Act, which lays down security levels, types of security and operational methods for every penitentiary, including with respect to internal security. It also provides for the rights of inmates with links and adopts a surveillance authority approach to the prevention of criminal activities inside prisons. 27. The Mexican Government considers that, despite the progress made, greater efforts are required in the area of training to achieve the full implementation of existing international norms and standards for the prevention and eradication of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and for the punishment, in accordance with that legal framework, of those guilty of such conduct in the national territory. 28. As the Subcommittee is aware, Mexico is a federation composed of 32 autonomous states. As such, the Government continues to face the huge challenge of harmonizing across the entire country the standards for preventing, eradicating and penalizing this deplorable practice in accordance with those established by the international system. Other challenges are set out in the final chapter of the present report. II. Legislative and regulatory developments in the area of torture prevention A. Federal legislation 1. Human rights constitutional reforms 29. On 10 June 2011, amendments to 11 articles of the Constitution of Mexico dealing with human rights (1, 3, 11, 15, 18, 29, 33, 89, 97, 102 and 105) were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation with a view, inter alia, to eradicating the practice of torture in the country. 30. These amendments: • Establish a new ranking for human rights treaties within the Mexican legal system by laying down that all persons shall enjoy the human rights recognized in the Constitution and in treaties to which Mexico is a party (art. 1); • Incorporate the pro homine principle, which requires judges to interpret human rights norms in the broadest possible manner for the benefit of the individual (art. 1); • Incorporate the four human rights principles of universality, interdependence, indivisibility and progressiveness, which have to be followed by legislators and judicial and administrative authorities (art. 1); • Include the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the list of prohibited categories already appearing in article 1; • Provide for the observance of human rights as a principle of the education provided by the State (art. 3); • Establish the right of every person to seek asylum for political reasons or to apply for refugee status on humanitarian grounds (art. 11); GE.13-41196 (EXT) 7