VI. RECORDS OF DETAINEES, TRANSPARENCY IN PRISON OPERATIONS, AND MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION ON THE USE OF PRETRIAL DETENTION A. Records of detainees 296. One of the basic tenets of international human rights law regarding the treatment of persons deprived of liberty is the State’s duty to keep records of the individuals held in its custody. This duty, which was originally circumscribed in a very specific manner to the protection of such rights as the right to life and personal integrity has evolved to the point to be considered a necessary element for ensuring the right to personal liberty and the right to due process, and has even become an indispensable component in the design of criminal and prison policies. 297. Treaty law contains two binding provisions that are of relevance to the OAS member States in connection with keeping records of arrests: Article 17.3 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced 393 and Article XI of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance, 394 In addition, there are specific provisions in other Disappearance of Persons. international instruments that have been broadly acknowledged and accepted as valid by the international community, such as the Minimum Rules for the Treatment of 395 Prisoners (Rule 7.1), the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (Principle 12), the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (Rule 21), and, most particularly, the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the 396 Americas (Principle IX). 393 UN, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and adhesion by the General Assembly by means of resolution A/RES/61/177, December 20, 2006. Eighteen OAS member states are parties to this instrument: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela. 394 OAS, Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, adopted in Belém do Pará, Brazil, June 9, 1994, at the twenty-fourth regular period of sessions of the General Assembly. This has been ratified by fourteen member states: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. 395 In his recent report on the Minimum Rules review process, the Special Rapporteur on Torture reiterated the importance of an official registry as one of the fundamental safeguards against torture or other ill-treatment and outlined a series of elements that any new version of this international instrument should include to address the matter. UN, Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, A/68/295, published August 9, 2013, para. 43. 396 This provision states that: “The personal data of persons admitted to places of deprivation of liberty shall be recorded into an official register, which shall be made available to the person deprived of liberty, his or her representative, and the competent authorities. The register shall include, as a minimum the following information: a. Personal information including, at least, the following: name, age, sex, nationality, address and name of parents, family members, legal representatives or defense counsel if applicable, or other relevant data of the persons deprived of liberty; b. Information concerning the personal integrity and the state of health of the persons deprived of liberty; c. Reason or grounds for the deprivation of liberty; d. The authority that ordered or authorized the deprivation of liberty; e. The authority that conducted the person Continues…