A/HRC/31/57/Add.4 III. Legal framework A. International level 7. Brazil is a party to the main United Nations human rights treaties prohibiting torture and ill-treatment, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the two Optional Protocols thereto; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Optional Protocol thereto; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees; and the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Brazil is also a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. B. Regional level 8. At the regional level, Brazil is a party to the principal human rights treaties of the Organization of American States, including the American Convention on Human Rights; the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture; the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons; the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women; and the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance. The State also recognizes the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. C. 1. National level Constitution 9. The federal Constitution is the main political and legal instrument of Brazil. Each of the 26 states also has its own constitution, established by article 25 of the federal Constitution, and the federal district has its own Organic Law, as per article 32 of the Constitution. 10. Civil, penal and procedure codes are federal, and states are subject thereto, with no authority to create their own. However, states have their own security systems, courts and prosecution authorities. 11. Article 5 of the Constitution provides that no one shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment (para. III); acts of torture are not subject to bail, grace or amnesty (para. XLIII); cruel punishment is prohibited (para. XLVII); and prisoners have the right to physical and moral integrity (para. XLIX). Rights and guarantees articulated in the Constitution are not exclusive (para. II). International human rights treaties have special constitutional status: once ratified by the federal Congress, they are immediately applicable. 2. Legislation 12. Article 1 of Law No. 9.455 of 1997 (Law on Torture) defines the crime of torture as the act of constraining someone with the employment of violence or serious threat thereof, causing them physical or mental suffering (a) with the intent of obtaining information, or a 5