56
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
The authority that conducted the person deprived of liberty to
the institution;
The authority legally responsible for supervising the deprivation
of liberty;
Time and date of admission and release;
Time and date of transfers to another place and the destination;
Identity of the authority who ordered the transfer and of the
one who is responsible for it;
Inventory of personal effects; and
Signature of the persons deprived of liberty, or where this is
impossible, an explanation about the reasons thereof. 196
153.
Regarding the crucial importance of keeping records of arrests, the IACHR
stated in its Fifth Special Report on Human Rights in Guatemala (2001) that:
One of the most essential components of a properly functioning criminal
justice system is an effective system for registering arrests and
detentions. This obviously provides a crucial protection for the rights of
the detainee, as well as facilitating a myriad of other functions, including,
inter alia, the tracking of accurate statistics for use in policy development
and implementation. […] Such a registry must contain information
identifying the detainee, the reasons for the detention and legal
authority therefore, the precise time of admission and release, and
information as to the order of commitment. A centralized, accurate and
197
promptly accessible registry is a fundamental minimum safeguard.
154.
In fact, the IACHR discovered that there is no effective central registry
system for keeping track of detainees in Guatemala. 198 Thus, in connection with the “White
Van” (Paniagua Morales et al) case, the Inter‐American Court ruled that the Guatemalan
State had to adopt legislative, administrative, and any other necessary measures to
guarantee the accuracy and disclosure of the registry of detainees, in the understanding
that it would include the identity of each detainee, the grounds for detention, the
196
In the Universal System of Human Rights there are correlative provisions in the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Article 17.3); the Standard Minimum
Rules for the Treatment (Rule 7.1); the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Under Any Form of
Detention or Imprisonment (Principle 12); and particularly, with regard to childs and adolescents, the United
Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (Rule 21). Moreover, the Handbook on
Prisoner File Management (2008), published by the United Nations Office for Drug and Crime (UNODC) has a
practical guide for maintaining efficient systems for the registry of prisoners. That document is available at:
http://www.unodc.org/documents/justice‐and‐prison‐reform/Prison_management_handbook.pdf.
197
IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, Ch. VII, para. 18. Furthermore,��
this States’ duty to keep registries of the detentions is also consecrated in the Constitutions of Bolivia (Article 23),
Chile (Article 19.7), and Mexico (Article 16).
198
IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, Ch. VII, paras. 18‐19.
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