IACHR urges States to promote the establishment of national torture registers

June 26, 2025

Washington, DC—On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) calls on States to promote the establishment of national registers documenting acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, as a key tool for preventing and eradicating such practices.

The IACHR warns that underreporting and a lack of documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment continue to be widespread in the Americas. This situation stems from a combination of structural and institutional challenges that make it difficult to identify and combat such treatment. The structural obstacles include victims failing to report acts of torture out of fear of retaliation, lack of legal assistance, and language barriers. Violence is also often normalized during the deprivation of freedom, making it harder for people in State custody to recognize these violations.

The IACHR has responded to the existing institutional challenges by expressing its concern that more than half of the countries in the Americas have not established local torture prevention mechanisms, and that those mechanisms that do exist are not fully operational due to insufficient measures to implement them. As a result, safe reporting channels are either limited or hard to access.

The IACHR has also received information indicating that, despite the prevalence of various forms of torture and mistreatment at detention centers, these cases often go undocumented. Most States lack transparent, reliable data systems or registers. This obstructs the collection and classification of information on possible acts of torture or ill-treatment, complaints filed, investigations launched, cases prosecuted, and sentences handed down. Without such data, it is difficult to conduct transparent, up-to-date monitoring in a way that accurately reflects the scale of these serious crimes and supports efforts to address them.

These challenges also increase the likelihood of impunity over such crimes, understood as the failure to investigate, prosecute, try, and convict those responsible for human rights violations. The IACHR once again notes that impunity fosters the recurrence of such violations and leaves victims without recourse. This creates conditions that foster the systematic use of torture and ill-treatment against people in custody.

Any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment is an affront to human dignity and runs counter to the international principles enshrined in various regional and international instruments on this matter and are thus totally prohibited. Under the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, States are obligated to prevent, prosecute, and punish such acts.

The IACHR urges States not only to ensure accessible, safe reporting mechanisms but also to promote the establishment of national torture and ill-treatment registers to document related complaints, investigations, prosecutions, and convictions. Establishing such registers is essential for better understanding the scope of the problem in a given location; identifying patterns, high-risk areas, and potential perpetrators; and adopting measures based on this information to prevent, officially investigate, and eradicate such practices in order to hold perpetrators accountable. To ensure that information is collected effectively and with full respect for the rights of people in custody, the IACHR also calls on States to take into account the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering.

Finally, the IACHR urges all OAS Member States that have not yet done so to ratify the American Convention on Human Rights, the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, and the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate stems from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has the mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as an advisory body to the OAS on the matter. The IACHR is made up of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 127/25

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