CAT/C/75 page 37 Committee notes with concern the wide gap between the extensive legal and administrative framework established in order to put an end to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the actual situation as revealed in the information received”.32 170. The information on accusations of torture amassed during the inquiry and the Committee’s visit to Mexico, legal reports and studies from international bodies,33 national and international non-governmental organizations, and the views conveyed, directly and in person, to members of the Committee by the State authorities and lawyers active in the promotion, defence and protection of human rights, all serve to confirm what the Committee had said on those previous occasions and highlight defects or shortcomings which explain in part the contrast between the legal and administrative provisions in Mexico and the actual state of affairs. A. The prohibition of torture in Mexican legislation 171. Article 22 of the Political Constitution prohibits any kind of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and torment of any sort. Although, since it was promulgated in 1917, it does not refer specifically to banning torture, this is to be understood within the term “torment”. 172. The Federal Act to Prevent and Punish Torture promulgated in June 1986, superseded by a further Act of the same name which entered into force in December 1991, defines torture as a criminal offence in article 3.34 173. This Act, which applies throughout the country in respect of Federal offences and in the Federal District in respect of non-Federal offences, has counterparts as regards non-Federal offences in 13 Mexican States which have passed special laws for the purpose. In 11 others torture is rated as a criminal offence and punishable under the Penal Code or similar legal provisions.35 174. Mexico ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on 23 January 1986, and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture on 22 June 1987.36 By virtue of article 133 of the Constitution, as indicated in the State’s initial report, both conventions have, since ratification, represented the “Supreme Law of the Union”37 and must be applied and serve as the basis for any legal action. The courts in each constituent State must apply both conventions “any provisions to the contrary in the Constitutions or laws of the States notwithstanding”. B. The general rule requiring a court order before detention, and exceptions to it 175. Article 16 of the Constitution lays down the general rule that there must be an order from a judicial authority before anyone may be detained, but allows two important exceptions which particularly affect the incidence of torture. 176. The first is cases of flagrante delicto, in which anybody may detain the suspect (indiciado)38 and turn him over without delay to the nearest authorities, who must turn him over just as promptly to the Public Prosecutor. The second relates to “pressing cases” involving