CAT/C/39/2 page 88 the Committee Against Torture to receive and evaluate denunciations of violations of the provisions of the Convention. The realization of the declaration provided for in article 22 was made possible after the necessary prior approval by the National Congress by means of Legislative Decree no. 57, of April 17 2006. 385. The acceptance of the competence of the Committee to receive and evaluate individual petitions reinforces the recognition by Brazil of the legitimacy of the international concern for human rights and the superior interest of possible victims, who now can count on an additional mechanism for protection against eventual violations. The recognition of that competence also responds to recommendations form the former Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations, Sir Nigel Rodley, and of the Committee itself, following the examination of the initial report by Brazil on compliance with the Convention, in 2001. 386. It is important to stress that even before Brazil made the declaration provided for in article 22 of the Convention against Torture, any individual who considered himself (or herself) to be a victim of torture of cruel and inhuman treatment attributable to the Brazilian State could already count on international protection mechanisms. As already mentioned, Brazil is a Party to the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture since June 1989. Since September 1992 Brazil is also a Party to the American Convention on Human Rights. Its article 5.2 prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The combination of both regional instrument guarantees to any individual or group the right to petition before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in case of alleged violations related to torture and other prohibited treatment or punishment. In the regional system, possible victims have the additional possibility of communicating in the national language, Portuguese, an official language of the Organization of American States. 387. Since December 10 1998, when Brazil recognized the contentious jurisdiction of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights, it became possible for individual petitions to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights to be brought before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. -----