A/76/168 holding to account of State officials and individuals involved in such crimes is the most effective measure of prevention and a deterrent against reoccurrence. C. Accountability beyond the juridical sphere 29. Accurately understood as involving an obligation to explain and justify conduct, 27 as well as to redress and repair violations, accountability extends beyond the legal sphere and can be pursued and realized in non-juridical forums. Beyond the legal process and the court system, various other accountability processes and platforms can help effectively to uphold the virtues of continuous accountability, as well as the values of transparency, good governance and the rule of law. In the political arena, robust mechanisms enabling the legislature to hold members of the executive to account, and allowing the electorate to hold its elected representatives to account, are vital accountability tools, as is a thriving free press and civil society. 30. Some States have adopted various forms of non-judicial mechanisms of complaints and investigation within the security sector. For example, in Portugal, the Inspectorate General of Home Affairs 28 was established as an independent body of external control of police activity, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, conducting inspections and investigations to ensure the respect of fundamental rights of citizens and police compliance with the law. In Mexico, the Special Prosecutor ’s Office created a specialized unit for the investigation of the crime of torture. Those mechanisms, although in some cases lacking financial and human resources to effectively perform their mandates, pave the way for a culture of accountability for torture and ill-treatment. 31. However, in many situations marked by widespread and systematic allegations of torture and ill-treatment, there is no prospect of domestic investigation due to a lack of political will. In such circumstances in particular, national human rights institutions, civil society and media actors may be vital in documenting, investigating and pursuing accountability for the torture and ill-treatment. For example, the national inquiry conducted by the National Human Rights Commission in Mexico on the “Iguala case”, 29 in which 6 people lost their lives, 42 were injured and 43 st udents disappeared, found a clear link between authorities and organized crime, including collusion of federal, local and municipal authorities to promote, allow or refrain from acting in the face of such links. This inquiry was instrumental in establishin g the truth for families of victims in the face of lack of transparency of the State authorities’ investigation. Likewise, a number of international and Belarusian non -governmental organizations have created the International Accountability Platform for Be larus to collect and preserve evidence of torture for future use, and to support human rights and universal jurisdiction claims. The Human Rights Council subsequently decided to create a United Nations investigative mechanism, which is expected to become operational in 2022. 32. The Special Rapporteur also refers to his predecessor’s findings on the utility and significance of commissions of inquiry as valuable mechanisms for the investigation of widespread infliction of torture and ill-treatment. Such commissions can serve to pursue accountability for grave abuses with a focus on truth, acknowledgement and reparation going beyond the establishment of individual (or institutional) legal liability. Commissions of inquiry could consist of national and international commissions of inquiry and truth commissions, as well as investigations __________________ 27 28 29 21-09914 Mark Bovens, “Two concepts of accountability: accountability as a virtue and as a mechanism” , West European Politics, vol. 3, No. 5 (2010), p. 946. www.igai.pt/en/Pages/default.aspx. https://www.cndh.org.mx/sites/default/files/documentos/2019-03/Com_2019_089.pdf. 11/23