Overview of anti-torture legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean b. Amnesties, and statutes of limitation APT/CTI Guide on antitorture legislation Page: 62 Primary elements National legislation on amnesties and immunities are to preclude torture. Amnesties are generally considered incompatible with the duty of States to investigate acts of torture. The CAT has stated: “In order to ensure that perpetrator of torture do not enjoy impunity, (States parties must) ensure the investigation and, where appropriate, the prosecution of those accused of having committed the crime of torture, and ensure that amnesty laws exclude torture from their reach”.123 The constitutions of Ecuador and Brazil expressly provide that amnesties will not be considered for the National legislation is not to crime of torture. In Mexico the anti-torture law stipulates that extend statute of limitations amnesties are not possible for the crime of torture.124 to the crime of torture. In relation to statutes of limitations, likewise the CAT has stated that no statutes of limitations should be available for the crime of torture, taking into account the extreme gravity of the crime and that many victims do not come forward until much later. The Criminal Code of El Salvador provides that the crime of torture shall not have statutes of limitations; while the Constitutions of Bolivia125 and Paraguay126 include that torture bears no statute of limitations. 123 CAT, Concluding Observations on Azerbaijan, UN Doc. A/55/44, 1999, §69(c). See also CAT, Concluding Observations on Senegal, UN Doc. A/51/44, 1996, §117. 124 Article 17, General Law to Prevent, Investigate and Punish Torture 125 Article 111 Constitution of Bolivia (2009). 126 Article 5, Constitution of Paraguay (1992). 22