14
orphanages. 60 In different reports reference has also been made to the conditions of
detention at centers where migrants are held. 61
E.
Methodology and terms used
40.
As part of building this report, the IACHR published a questionnaire that
was sent to the member States of the OAS and other relevant actors involved in the issue.
The questionnaire was answered by 20 member States of the OAS, and by a large number
of civil society organizations, experts, and academic institutions. In addition, a Regional
Seminar on Best Prison Practices was held in Buenos Aires from November 12 to 16, 2007,
that included the participation of non‐governmental organizations, universities and
academic centers, international organizations, and representatives from 16 Latin American
62
States.
41.
With respect to the factual basis of the issues addressed in this report,
primary consideration has been given to the direct observations by the IACHR during its on‐
site visits, and by its Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the course
of its working visits. Consideration has also been given to all those situations and trends
observed by the IACHR in the exercise of its competence with respect to petitions and
cases; and in the context of its immediate monitoring mechanisms, and press releases and
requests for information from the States, made based on the authority vested in the IACHR
by Article 41 of the American Convention. In addition, note is taken of the pronouncements
on persons deprived of liberty by the IACHR in Chapter IV of its Annual Reports, on
countries that pose major challenges in ensuring respect for the human rights of the
persons under their jurisdiction.
42.
Also relevant is the information obtained by mechanisms of the United
Nations in its missions to States of the Americas, in particular by the Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention, 63 the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment of the United Nations (hereinafter also “UN
Rapporteur on Torture”), 64 and the Subcommittee against Torture (hereinafter also
“SPT”). 65 In other words, this report is constructed fundamentally on the basis of actual
situations directly observed.
60
Precautionary Measures MC‐554‐03, “Michael Roberts,” Jamaica.
61
See, in general, see in general the official website of the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Migrant
Workers and Their Families: available at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/Migrantes/Default.htm.
62
The reports and conclusions of the Latin American Seminar on Good Prison Practices are available at:
http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/ppl/actividades/seminario.asp.
63
It has made eight monitoring visits in the Americas to the following states: Colombia (2008);
Honduras (2006); Nicaragua (2006); Ecuador (2006); Canada (2005); Argentina (2003); Mexico (2002); and Peru
(1998).
64
He has made seven visits to the following states: Uruguay (2009); Paraguay (2006); Brazil (2000);
Chile (1995); Colombia (1994); Mexico (1997); and Venezuela (1996).
65
To date it has published three reports on monitoring visits to countries of the region: Honduras
(2009), Paraguay (2009), and Mexico (2008).
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