E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.3
page 2
Executive summary
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Argentina from 22 September
to 2 October 2003 at the invitation of the Argentine Government. It visited the Federal Capital
and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Salta. Both in the city of Buenos Aires and in
the provincial capitals, the delegation had lengthy meetings with officials from the executive, the
legislature and the judiciary, as well as with representatives of civil society organizations. The
Working Group visited 11 detention centres, including penitentiaries, prisons, youth custody
centres and police stations; some of its visits were unannounced. It also had individual meetings,
in private and without witnesses, with 205 detainees.
The Working Group regrets that, owing to logistical problems beyond its control, it was
unable to visit the province of Santiago del Estero, which it had been particularly interested in
visiting.
The Working Group observed that the policy of the new Argentine Government is based
on defending and promoting human rights and on combating impunity and corruption, and that
the Government has taken important measures in these areas in the few months it has been in
office. However, the Working Group notes with concern the excessive use and length of
pre-trial detention, which may legally last for three years and in practice lasts even longer; the
lack of effective remedies for detention; the little use made of alternatives to detention; problems
with regard to access to free legal assistance and the problems experienced by detainees in
communicating with their defence lawyers; the excessive powers of the police to arrest and
detain individuals for committing minor offences or in order to check their background or
identity; excessive use of detention not only for children who commit offences or
misdemeanours but also as a protection measure; and the powers of the administrative authorities
to place foreign migrants in detention without providing them with an effective and timely
judicial remedy.
In its report, the Working Group recommends that the Argentine Government should take
urgent measures to improve the human rights situation of detainees, particularly their right to due
process; review its legislation and practices in the area of pre-trial detention; closely monitor the
activities of senior and junior police officers; support the work of prosecutors investigating the
criminal practice of falsifying police procedures; implement in full the Convention on the Rights
of the Child with regard to the detention of juveniles; and guarantee an effective judicial remedy
for administrative orders to detain immigrants. The Working Group encourages the Government
to continue with its efforts to decriminalize social protest while maintaining public order and
respecting the rights of third parties.