CAT/OP/ARG/1/Add.1
I. National preventive mechanism
1.
The National Executive is currently in the process of drafting implementing
regulations for Act No. 26827 establishing the National System for the Prevention of
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The text is
being redrafted in order to strengthen some of the following key points, which could
otherwise prove problematic:
(a)
Federalism (aspect imposed by our federal State structure): a review of the
Act was conducted to spot any conflicts which could arise in future between the provincial
and federal jurisdictions, in order to use the regulatory text to avoid such issues;
(b)
Independence of members of the national preventive mechanism (aspect
linked to the obligation set forth in international standards): some legal points have been
regulated in order to strengthen the articles that guarantee the functional independence of
the members of the national preventive mechanism;
(c)
Democratization of decision-making within the security forces (aspect linked
to the need to prevent violent acts): given that governance is one of the main issues facing
the security forces (whether in prisons or in other contexts), an effort has been made to
include democratic methods of decision-making in the regulatory text;
(d)
Concepts of place of detention and deprivation of liberty (aspect linked to the
recommendations contained in the Optional Protocol and of the Association for the
Prevention of Torture): the text of Act No. 26827 does not contain a sufficiently broad
definition of the terms “place of detention” and “deprivation of liberty”. The aim was
therefore expressly to include the concept of “any place where a person is deprived of
liberty, detained or imprisoned” in the regulation of the Act in order to cover temporary
detention on the public highway, during transfers in patrol cars and any other possible
transit setting;
(e)
Emphasis on the prevention of torture (aspect linked to the specific objective
attributed to the national preventive mechanism): in order to strengthen the specific
objective of the national preventive mechanism, certain articles were added in order to
place more emphasis on preventing torture.
2.
In drafting the regulations for Act No. 26827, the following instruments were taken
into account (some used as direct sources and others only for comparative purposes):
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (Act No. 23338);
• Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
• Office of the Ombudsman for the Prison System (Act No. 25875) and Rules of
Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman for the Prison System (Decision No.
37/2011);
• National Ombudsman’s Office (Act No. 24284);
• National Mental Health Act (Act No. 26657) and Implementing Regulations for the
National Mental Health Act No. 26657 (Decree No. 603/2013);
• Istanbul Protocol – Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
GE.14-40297
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