Rights of Persons with Disabilities17 and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.18 12. In the framework of the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights, Mexico is a State Party to the American Convention on Human Rights19 (ACHR) and its Protocols on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights20 and the Death Penalty,21 as well as the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture,22 the Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons,23 the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention Belém do Pará)24 and the Inter-American Convention on Disabilities.25 13. The most relevant obligations to the exclusionary rule are contained in the ICCPR (Articles 7 and 14), UNCAT (Articles 2, 15 and 16), ACHR (Articles 5 and 8) and IACPPT (Articles 6 and 10). III. THE DUTY TO PREVENT TORTURE 14. The prohibition of torture is universally recognised and enshrined in the main international and regional human rights instruments.26 It is an absolute prohibition and admits no derogations under treaty law.27 International and regional courts and monitoring mechanisms have also supported this non-derogability. 28 15. Under customary international law, the prohibition of torture has jus cogens status. As a result, no State may recognise as lawful a situation occurring from a violation of the prohibition of torture. It also imposes obligations erga omnes, and as such, every State has a legal interest in the protection of such obligations which are owed to the international community as a whole. 29 16. Under international law, States have a general duty to prevent human rights violations. In Velasquez Rodriguez v Honduras, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognised that as a consequence of the obligation to ensure the free and full exercise 17 Ratified 17 December 2007. Ratified 18 March 2008 (not yet into force). 19 Acceded 2 March 1981 (Source: Organization of American States – see: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/tresigsu.html) 20 Ratified 8 March 1996. 21 Acceded 28 June 2007. 22 Ratified 11 February 1987. 23 Ratified 28 February 2002. 24 Ratified 19 June 1998. 25 Ratified 6 December 2000. 26 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5); ICCPR (Article 7); American Convention on Human Rights (Article 5); African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Article 5); Arab Charter of Human Rights (Article 13); UNCAT; IACPPT; and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 27 The prohibition of torture enshrined in international and regional human rights instruments is excluded from derogation. See UNCAT (Article 2); ICCPR (Article 4(2)); UN Torture Declaration (Article 3); European Convention of Human Rights (Article 15); American Convention on Human Rights (Article 27(2)). 28 See e.g. Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 29 (2001); Inter-Am.Ct.H.R.: Castillo Petruzzi et al. v Peru (1999): Cantoral Benavides v Peru (2000); Maritza Urrutia v Guatemala (2003); EctHR: Tomasi v France (1992); Aksoy v Turkey (1996); Chahal v the United Kingdom (1996). 29 See e.g. Prosecutor v Delalic and others, ICTY Trial Chamber, Case No. IT-96-21-T, judgment of 16 November 1998, at § 454; Prosecutor v Furundzija, ICTY Trial Chamber, Case No. IT-95-17/1-T, judgment of 10 December 1998, at §§. 151 and 153-154; Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, UN doc. E/CN.4/1986/15, at §3 (19 February 1986); Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.116, Doc.5 rev 1 corr., at §155 (22 October 2002). 18 4