1.The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was established
following the entry into force in June 2006 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Subcommittee began work in February 2007.
2.The aim of the Optional Protocol is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national
bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, the aim being to prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The
Subcommittee has two pillars of work: visiting places of deprivation of liberty and assisting in the development and functioning of
bodies designated by States parties to carry out regular visits – the national preventive mechanisms. The Subcommittee’s focus is on
identifying, in situ, the situations and factors that represent a risk for torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the country
visited, as well as identifying the practical improvements that are needed in order to prevent such violations and providing conclusions
and recommendations to that end.
3.Article 11, paragraph (c), of the Optional Protocol provides that, for the prevention of torture in general, the Subcommittee shall
cooperate, inter alia, with other United Nations organs and mechanisms as well as with regional and national institutions. Article 31
provides that the Subcommittee should also consult and cooperate with bodies established under regional conventions with a view to
avoiding duplication and promoting effectively the objectives of the Optional Protocol. For the purposes of this visit, the
Subcommittee took into consideration all the reports and recommendations of other human rights promotion and protection bodies
that have visited Mexico previously, including bodies from both the United Nations and inter-American systems.
4.Under the Optional Protocol, a State party is obliged to allow visits by the Subcommittee to any places under its jurisdiction and
control where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order given by a public authority or at its
instigation or with its consent or acquiescence. States parties further undertake to grant the Subcommittee unrestricted access to all
information concerning persons deprived of their liberty and to all information referring to the treatment of those persons as well as
their conditions of detention. They are also obliged to grant the Subcommittee private interviews, without witnesses, with persons
deprived of liberty. The Subcommittee is free to choose the places it wants to visit and the persons it wants to interview. Similar
powers are to be granted to national preventive mechanisms, in accordance with the Optional Protocol.
5.This report on the first visit of the Subcommittee to Mexico, produced in accordance with article 16 of the Optional Protocol, sets
out the findings and conclusions of the delegation and the observations and recommendations of the Subcommittee concerning the
prevention of torture and cruel treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, with the aim of enhancing the protection of such persons
against any form of abuse. In accordance with article 2, paragraph 3, of the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee’s work is guided
by the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, non-selectivity, universality and objectivity. This report is part of the dialogue between
the Subcommittee delegation and the Mexican authorities aimed at preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment. The report will remain confidential until such time as the Mexican authorities decide to make it public, as stipulated in article
16, paragraph 2, of the Optional Protocol.
6.The scope of the State’s efforts to prevent torture and cruel treatment is broad and should be comprehensive, as it concerns
persons who are in a situation of particular vulnerability because they are under the custody and control of the State. This situation of
custody poses an inherent risk of excess or abuse of authority that may violate detained persons’ right to integrity and dignity.
Monitoring mechanisms and, especially, training and sensitization of the State officials with whom persons deprived of their liberty first
come into contact are some of the main tools for preventing torture and ill-treatment. Visits by the Subcommittee serve as a means of
examining the practices and the characteristics and capabilities of the prison system and other public agencies with detention authority,
identifying gaps in protection and determining what safeguards need to be strengthened. The Subcommittee takes a comprehensive
preventive approach. The Subcommittee’s report, with its examination of examples of best and worst practices, is intended to
enhance the safeguarding of life and of physical and mental integrity and to ensure the dignified and humane treatment of persons held
in State custody. Acts of public officials, whether through action or omission, that lead to violations of these fundamental rights entail
international responsibility.
7.The prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment hinges on respect for the fundamental human rights and
the dignity of persons deprived of their liberty, regardless of the form of custody in which they are held. The Subcommittee’s visits to
States parties to the Optional Protocol focus on identifying factors that may contribute to, or avert, situations that could lead to torture
or ill-treatment, so as to make recommendations aimed at preventing the occurrence or recurrence of such acts. The ultimate goal of
the Subcommittee, beyond simply investigating or verifying any acts of torture or ill-treatment, is to anticipate and forestall the
occurrence of such acts in the future by persuading States to improve their system of safeguards.
Introduction
8.In accordance with articles 1 and 11 of the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee visited Mexico from Wednesday, 27 August, to
Friday, 12 September 2008.
9.The delegation consisted of the following members of the Subcommittee: Víctor Rodríguez Rescia (head of delegation), Mario Luis
Coriolano, Marija Definis-Gojanović, Hans Draminsky Petersen, Zdeněk Hájek and Zbigniew Lasocik.
10.The Subcommittee delegation was assisted by Patrice Gillibert, Sandra del Pino and Christel Mobech, staff members of the
Subcommittee secretariat; two freelance interpreters; and one security official from the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights.
11.On this first visit of the Subcommittee to the State party, the delegation focused on the work of the national preventive mechanism
and the situation with regard to protection against torture and ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in police stations,
prisons, detention facilities maintained by prosecutorial bodies (offices of the federal and state attorneys-general and public
prosecutors), investigative or pre-charge detention (arraigo) facilities, child and adolescent detention centres and psychiatric
hospitals. For logistical reasons, and in order not to duplicate efforts, the delegation did not visit any migrant detention centres, which