The Inter-american Regional System 3 While Declarations are not in general considered to be legally binding, the Inter-American Commission and Court have both indicated that they consider the American Declaration to have full legal force. In White and Potter v United States, the Commission expressed the view that, as a consequence of the State’s agreement to be bound by the provisions of the Charter of the OAS, “the provisions of other instruments and resolutions of the OAS on human rights [including the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man], acquired binding force.”463 In an Advisory Opinion solicited by the Colombian Government, the Inter-American Court stated that none of the provisions of the American Convention can be interpreted as “excluding or limiting the effect that the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and other international acts of the same nature may have.”464 The requirement of humane treatment of detainees is given detail in Article 5 of the IACPPT, which provides in part: “3. Punishment shall not be extended to any person other than the criminal. 4. Accused persons shall, save in exceptional circumstances, be segregated from convicted persons, and shall be subject to separate treatment appropriate to their status as unconvicted persons. 5. Minors while subject to criminal proceedings shall be separated from adults and brought before specialized tribunals, as speedily as possible, so that they may be treated in accordance with their status as minors. 6. Punishments consisting of deprivation of liberty shall have as an essential aim the reform and social readaptation of the prisoners.” Thus, rather than interpreting the Convention in light of non-binding international instruments such as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Inter-American Court can find a direct violation of the Convention in cases where a number of these rules are not respected. White and Potter v United States, IACommHR, Resolution 23/81, Case 2141, 6 March 1981, §16. See also Roach and Pinkerton v United States, IACommHR Resolution 3/87, Case 9647, 22 September 1987, §48. 464 Interpretation of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man within the Framework of Article 64 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Advisory Opinion OC-10/89 of 14 July 14 1989, IACHR (Series A) No. 10, §36(b). This position was controversial given that the Declaration is, as the Court itself recognised, “not a treaty” (§23). 463 100