3.2 States Parties’ Obligations
Under Articles 1 and 6 of the IACPPR, States are obligated to “take effective
measures to prevent and punish torture within their jurisdiction.”468 The Court
has stated that it is impossible to give a detailed enumeration of these measures, which vary according to the right and the specific conditions in each
State Party.469 However, an analysis of the Convention and the jurisprudence
of the Court allows the identification of a number of specific duties analogous
to those which exist under the UN and European systems.
3.2.1 Duty to protect from ill-treatment by private actors
Article 3 of the IACPPT provides:
3
The Inter-american Regional System
In concluding human rights treaties, “States can be deemed to submit themselves to a legal order within which they, for the common good, assume various
obligations, not in relation to other States, but towards all individuals within their
jurisdiction.”465 The State obligation under Article 1(1) of the ACHR to respect
rights and freedoms establishes a limit on the exercise of public authority, and
assumes that there are spheres of human existence upon which the State may
not infringe.466 The obligation to guarantee the free and full exercise of rights
under the same Article implies a duty to prevent, investigate punish and compensate their violation, as well as to remove obstacles to the exercise and enjoyment of all rights.467
“The following shall be held guilty of the crime of torture:
a. A public servant or employee who acting in that capacity orders, instigates
or induces the use of torture, or who directly commits it or who, being able to
prevent it, fails to do so.
b. A person who at the instigation of a public servant or employee mentioned in
subparagraph (a) orders, instigates or induces the use of torture, directly commits it or is an accomplice thereto.”
The Effect of Reservations on the Entry into Force of the American Convention on Human
Rights, Advisory Opinion OC-2/82 of 24 September 1982, IACHR (Series A) No. 2, §29.
466
The Word “Laws” in Article 30 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Advisory
Opinion OC-6/86 of 9 May 1986, IACHR (Series A) No. 6, §21; Velásquez-Rodríguez v Honduras (1982), op. cit., §165; Bamaca-Velásquez v Guatemala, IACHR (Series C) No. 70, judgement
of 25 November 2000, §210.
467
Velásquez-Rodríguez v Honduras (1982), op. cit.
468
Article 6 IACPPT. Article 17 of the IACPPT further establishes the obligation of State Parties to the Convention to report on the measures adopted, although this in fact occurs only
rarely.
469
Velásquez-Rodríguez v Honduras (1982), op. cit., §175; Godínez-Cruz v Honduras (1989), op.
cit., §§184–85.
465
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