authorities to delay the exercise of one of these rights, in order to protect
the interests of justice or public order, should be clearly defined by law, and
its application should be strictly limited in time and subject to appropriate
procedural safeguards.
2. In addition to the rights listed above, persons deprived of their liberty
are entitled to take court proceedings through which the lawfulness of their
detention shall be speedily decided and release ordered if that detention is
not lawful. Persons arrested or detained in relation to the commission of an
offence must be brought promptly before a judge, and they have the right
to receive a trial within a reasonable time or to be released pending trial, in
accordance with the Court’s case law.
3. States should take effective measures to safeguard against the risk of
serious human rights violations by the keeping of records concerning the
date, time and location of persons deprived of their liberty, as well as other
relevant information concerning the deprivation of liberty.
4. States must ensure that officials carrying out arrests or interrogations
or using force can be identified in any subsequent criminal or disciplinary
investigations or proceedings.
V. The duty to investigate
1. Combating impunity requires that there be an effective investigation in
cases of serious human rights violations. This duty has an absolute character.
The right to life (Article 2 of the Convention)
The obligation to protect the right to life requires, inter alia, that there should
be an effective investigation when individuals have been killed, whether by
state agents or private persons, and in all cases of suspicious death. This duty
also arises in situations in which it is uncertain whether or not the victim has
died, and there is reason to believe the circumstances are suspicious, such as
in the case of enforced disappearances.
The prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment (Article 3 of the Convention)
States are under a procedural obligation arising under Article 3 of the
Convention to carry out an effective investigation into credible claims that a
person has been seriously ill-treated, or when the authorities have reasonable
grounds to suspect that such treatment has occurred.
Appendices ► Page 123
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