8.This report presents the Subcommittee’s conclusions and recommendations concerning the prevention of torture and ill-treatment of
persons deprived of their liberty in Argentina. The term “ill-treatment” is used here to refer to any form of cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.
9. The Subcommittee requests the Argentine authorities to provide a response within six months of their receipt of this
report in which they furnish detailed information on the steps taken by the State party to give effect to the
recommendations contained herein.
10.This report will remain confidential until such time as the Argentine authorities decide to make it public, as established in article 16,
paragraph 2, of the Optional Protocol. The publication of this report would no doubt serve as an additional means of preventing
torture and ill-treatment in Argentina. The Subcommittee is of the view that the wide dissemination of its recommendations would
contribute to a transparent and productive nationwide dialogue concerning the issues raised here.
11.The Subcommittee wishes to draw the State party’s attention to the Special Fund that has been established pursuant to article 26
of the Optional Protocol. States parties may refer to recommendations made in reports on the Subcommittee’s visits that have been
made public to support applications for financing from the Special Fund for specific projects.
12. The Subcommittee recommends that Argentina request that this report be published in accordance with article 16,
paragraph 2, of the Optional Protocol.
13.After having visited various places of detention, the Subcommittee is seriously concerned about the possibility that reprisals may
be taken against some of the persons subject to deprivation of liberty who were interviewed, especially those involved in incidents
mentioned in this report.
14. The Subcommittee categorically condemns any act of reprisal. It reiterates the recommendations made in connection
with its preliminary observations and stresses that persons who provide information to national or international agencies
or institutions should not be punished or otherwise penalized for having done so. The Subcommittee requests that it be
kept informed of the steps taken by the State party to prevent and investigate acts of reprisal.
II.National preventive mechanism
15.June 2007 was the deadline set for the designation of a national preventive mechanism by the State party. Following protracted
discussions, consensus was reached on a bill providing for the creation of a national preventive mechanism, and that bill was passed
by the Chamber of Deputies in August 2011. In November 2012, the Senate passed the bill after having introduced amendments
dealing with the make-up of the National Committee for the Prevention of Torture. In the interim, preventive mechanisms were being
created at the provincial level, and some of these mechanisms do not necessarily enjoy the independence required under the terms of
the Optional Protocol.
16. The Subcommittee welcomes the completion of the lengthy legislative process involved in creating this mechanism.
The Subcommittee also, however, recalls that, in accordance with its guidelines on national preventive mechanisms, the
State party should ensure that the national preventive mechanism enjoys operational autonomy and independence and
that it should refrain from appointing members to that mechanism who hold positions which could raise questions of
conflicts of interest. The Subcommittee trusts that the State party will uphold these principles in the course of its
selection of members of the National Committee.
III.Situation of persons deprived of their liberty
A.Police custody
1.General issues
(a)Information on the rights of persons held in custody
17.Some of the persons in police custody told members of the Subcommittee that they had not been properly informed of their rights
at the time of their arrest or that they had signed a document dealing with their rights but did not understand what they had signed or
had not had enough time to read it. Members of the Subcommittee also observed that, in most of the centres that they visited, no
information was displayed in visible locations on the rights of persons deprived of their liberty to the protection of their physical and
psychological integrity or on minimum due process guarantees (Miranda rights). Informing persons deprived of their liberty of their
rights and of the reason for their arrest is a fundamental safeguard against arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment.
18. The State party should ensure that arresting officers are instructed to respect, systematically and effectively, the
right of all persons deprived of their liberty to be informed, verbally and in writing, of their rights while in custody. They
should also be instructed to make certain that this information is conveyed in a language that the persons in question
understand, that this is done immediately upon their arrest and that the fact that this has been done is recorded in a
register.
19.The Subcommittee notes that the State party has informed it that, after the conclusion of the visit, the State party prepared a
model of a poster providing information on the rights of persons in custody which is to be posted in visible locations in police stations
where persons are held in custody and in jails.
(b)The right to notify a third party