ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES Persons who resist what they view as unlawful orders or who cooperate in the investigation of torture or ill-treatment, including by superior officials, also need to be protected against retaliation.483 Investigations The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture emphasised that it is the State who bears the burden of evidentiary proof to rebut the presumption of its responsibility for violations of the right to life and for inhumane treatment committed against persons in its custody.484 Accordingly, ‘the obligation on the authorities to account for the treatment of an individual in custody is particularly stringent’ in the case of death and exists irrespective of whether a complaint is filed or not.485 In this context, the Essex group highlighted that Rule 71(1) unequivocally requires an investigation into any case of death. They emphasised that this includes what is often termed as cases of death due to ‘natural causes’, and that a natural cause does not necessarily mean unavoidable. This includes cases of deaths in custody due to lack of medical care.486 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has emphasised that ‘the fact that evidence might initially suggest the possibility of a suicide does not exempt the competent authorities from undertaking a serious and impartial investigation in which all logical lines of inquiry are pursued’.487 The experts noted that the SMR deliberately omit guidance on the course and modalities of investigations because these have to be conducted by an independent (i.e. external) body. As the SMR are intended as a standard specifically addressing prison administration and prison staff, they focus on the obligations and role of prison authorities when such cases arise. Initiation of an investigation The Essex group examined Rule 71 and Rule 57,488 which incorporate the obligation of the prison director to ‘report, without any delay, any custodial death, disappearance or serious injury to a judicial or other competent authority that is independent of the prison administration and mandated to conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into the circumstances and causes of such cases’. CAT SMR revision observations, CAT/C/51/4, para. 45. 483  The burden of proof on the state in case of death of a person detained, but also when their physical condition worsens, has also been maintained by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, for example in I/A Court. Case of Mendoza et al., 2013, para. 219; I/A Court. Case of Vera Vera v. Ecuador, 2011, para. 88; I/A Court. Case of Cabrera García and Montiel Flores v. Mexico, 2010, para. 134; I/A Court. Case of Montero Aranguren et al (Detention Center of Catia) v. Venezuela, 2006, para. 80; I/A Court Case of Bulacio v. Argentina, 2003, para. 127; I/A Court. Case of Juan Humberto Sánchez v. Honduras, 2003, para. 111. 484  Special Rapporteur on Torture report 2013, A/68/295, para. 62, referring also to IACHR Report on Persons Deprived of Liberty, para. 54. The experts referred to Principle 34 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, which also requires an inquiry ‘into the cause of death or disappearance’ whenever a ‘death or disappearance of a detained or imprisoned person occurs during his detention or imprisonment’, ‘by a judicial or other authority, either on its own motion or at the instance of a member of the family of such a person or any person who has knowledge of the case’. 485  See, for example, SPT Report on visit to Mali, para. 37 (‘the Subcommittee met numerous persons who were dying due to the lack of adequate medical care’), and SPT Report on visit to Ukraine, CAT/OP/UKR/1, para. 88 (‘a large proportion of deaths in custody were reportedly related to the combination of HIV and hepatitis B’). 486  IACHR Report on Persons Deprived of Liberty, para. 324. 487  Further guidance was drawn from Principle 34 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted by General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988. 488  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 119