5 13. In this context, this report is premised, as was the previous Report on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, on the Inter-American Commission’s firmly held belief that respect for the human rights of persons deprived of liberty is one of the major challenges faced by OAS Member States, and that the excessive use of pretrial detention is one of the issues requiring closer attention. 14. Accordingly, this report is intended to aid in reducing the numbers of individuals subject to pretrial detention in OAS Member States, by helping States fulfill their international obligations using the standards and recommendations set forth herein. Additionally, this report aims to serve as a useful tool for the work of institutions or organizations engaged in the promotion and defense of the rights of persons deprived of liberty. 15. This study is also presented in the context of the request made by the OAS General Assembly to the IACHR to “continue reporting on the situation of persons under any form of detention or imprisonment in the Hemisphere and, using as a basis its work on the subject, to continue making reference to the problems and best practices it 14 observes.” B. Underlying principles, fundamental standards and content 16. The core underpinning of this report is the principle of the presumption of innocence, which as the IACHR has already established, is the starting point of any analysis regarding the rights and treatment afforded to persons held in 15 pretrial detention. This fundamental right implies, among other things, that when deprivation of liberty is necessary during the course of judicial proceedings, the legal 16 presumption is that the defendant is innocent. The presumption of innocence is perhaps the most elemental of all the judicial guarantees in the context of criminal proceedings, as expressly enshrined without any reservation or exception in several international human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 11.1), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 14.2), the American Declaration (Article XXVI) and the American Convention (Article 14 OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2668 (XLI-O/11), approved on June 7, 2011, operative item 3; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2592 (XL-O/10), approved on June 8, 2010, operative item 3; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2510 (XXXIX-O/09), approved on June 4, 2009, operative item 3; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2403 (XXXVIII-O/08), approved on June 13, 2008, operative item 3; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2283 (XXXVII-O/07), approved on June 5, 2007, operative item 3; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2233 (XXXVI-O/06), approved on June 6, 2006, operative item 3; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2125 (XXXV-O/05), approved on June 7, 2005, operative item 11; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2037 (XXXIV-O/04), approved on June 8, 2004, operative item 3; and OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 1927 (XXXIII-O/03), approved on June 10, 2003, operative item 3. 15 16 IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, Ch. VII, para. 32. IACHR, Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Paraguay, OEA/Ser./L/VII.110. Doc. 52, approved on March 9, 2001 (hereinafter “Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Paraguay”), Ch. IV, para. 33.