Overview of anti-torture legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean I. Status of ratification of human right treaties regarding the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment Torture is a severe violation of human rights. It is absolutely prohibited as a peremptory norm of international law, and reinforced by, inter alia, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; UNCAT; the American Convention on Human Rights; the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (IACPPT) and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará). This section presents the extent of ratification of the international and regional treaties on torture and ill-treatment. For more detailed information, please refer to the status of ratification provided in Annex 1. a. Latin American States All Latin American States (17) covered by this research have ratified the UNCAT, and with the exception of Colombia, El Salvador and Venezuela, they have all ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). Moreover, 16 of them have ratified the IACPPT. Honduras has signed the IACPPT but has not ratified it yet. All 17 States have ratified the Convention of Belém do Pará. b. Caribbean States This research focuses on 14 States from the Caribbean. Amongst them, 67 have ratified the UNCAT. The Bahamas has signed the treaty but has not yet ratified it. A number have committed, through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), to ratify the UNCAT; and several have started to work closely with the CTI to make this happen. From the 14 States studied, 2 of them have ratified the IACPPT (Dominican Republic and Suriname)8. 13 out of 14 States covered by this research have ratified the Convention of Belém do Pará. II. The prohibition of torture in the national legislation This section focuses on States varying approaches to ensuring that the prohibition against torture is incorporated into their national system: some States possess a constitutional prohibition, while other States have criminalised torture, either through a specific antitorture legislation, or through amendments to existing laws. Regardless of which of the latter two legislative approaches is adopted, a review of related laws is ordinarily still required to avoid overlap or uncertainty as to the applicability of particular laws. The following map provides an overview of national approaches that Latin American and Caribbean countries have taken to prohibit and criminalise torture and ill-treatment. 7 8 Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. IACHR, Annual Report (2015), available at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/annual/2015/doc-en/InformeAnual2015introduccion-EN.pdf 5