Deprived of Liberty

Principles and Best Practices

Principios y Buenas Prácticas sobre la Protección de las Personas Privadas de Libertad en las Américas

On March 31, 2008, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) unanimously approved the document Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas through Resolution 01/08, adopted during its 131st regular session.

The process of drafting these principles began in 2005, under the direction of the Office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, headed at that time by Commissioner Florentín Meléndez. The process included several rounds of consultations with governments of the OAS Member States, experts, universities, international agencies, and national, regional, and international nongovernmental organizations.

In addition, as part of the consultation process to draft these principles, the Office of the Rapporteur organized the First Latin American Seminar on Best Prison Practices, which took place November 12-16, 2007, in Buenos Aires. The event was sponsored by the IACHR and Argentina’s Public Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. It included the participation of nongovernmental organizations, universities and academic centers, international institutions, and 16 governments from the region: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela. A report on the seminar is available in Spanish.

The publication Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas is available in html and pdf.