The APT’s recent mission to Argentina provided a vital opportunity to advance dialogue on torture prevention and deepen partnerships with national and international actors committed to strengthening legal safeguards and oversight of detention.
Throughout engagements in Salta and Buenos Aires, a growing momentum has been reported across Argentina to foster the regulation, improve practices, and produce data about the implementation of detention control hearings, an essential safeguard against ill-treatment. This aligns closely with Argentina’s ongoing criminal procedural reforms, which offers a window to reinforce human rights protections in the first moments of detention.
This has been reinforced by public defenders from different provinces who attended the 5th International Meeting of the Argentinian Public Defender’s Civil Association (ANePRA), in which the APT took the floor to address the topic 'Prevention in Focus: Legal Safeguards, Detention Control Hearings and the Méndez Principles'. Representatives from the judiciary, public defence, preventive mechanisms and civil society expressed keen interest in collaborating with the APT to develop consistent standards and practices in this area.
The recognition by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT), Alice Edwards, of the APT’s pioneering work on custody hearings, cited during a panel with UN experts in Buenos Airesas a model of effective prison reform, was a powerful affirmation of the detention control hearings’ pivotal role in anti-torture policies. This acknowledgment underscores the value of APT’s continued engagement in promoting practical tools that make preventive safeguards operational.
The mission also offered an exceptional opportunity to meet with members of Argentina’s Local Preventinve Mechanisms (LPMs), gaining first-hand insight into their achievements, challenges, and collaboration with the National Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CNPT). With 16 LPMs established across the country, many have become influential actors in shaping local prevention strategies, reflecting the spirit of the OPCAT’s vision for federal states. The APT’s exchanges with the CNPT and provincial mechanisms, including participating in activities with the Salta Committee for the Prevention of Torture, reaffirmed the importance of national and local levels OPCAT-oriented mechanisms in federal states to ensure consistent and effective oversight of places of detention.
In Buenos Aires, the mission’s participation in the regional seminar “Prevention and Eradication of Torture in Latin America: International Control and Preventive Action” facilitated meaningful exchanges with UN experts including Marco Feoli (SPT), Jorge Contesse (CAT), and Jan Jarab (OHCHR’s Regional Representative for South America). Discussions centred on strengthening preventive action and regional cooperation, shaping an effective international system for torture prevention.. The presence of these UN representatives highlighted a shared commitment to enhancing dialogue between national institutions and international bodies.
A meeting with Patricia Gainza, the Research Director at the MERCOSUR Institute of Public Policies on Human Rights (IPPDH), and a debate with Andrea Casamento, former SPT member and founder of the Civil Association of Detainees’ Families (ACIFaD) and the director of the film The Women in the Line, Benjamin Avila, allowed further insights into the promotion of human rights in the Region and the detrimental impact of deprivation of liberty on people visiting their loved ones in prison. Inspired by Andrea's life, the film tells the story of a mother dealing with the imprisonment of her son and was screened during a special session in Buenos Aires.
Across all interactions, the mission reinforced APT’s role as a trusted partner supporting local and regional efforts to implement preventive safeguards and foster collaboration between institutions. By engaging with diverse stakeholders, from public defenders and judges to local mechanisms and international experts, the APT continues to strengthen the architecture of prevention and support the realisation of the OPCAT’s vision in practice.
The APT remains committed to accompanying Argentina and the wider region in advancing human rights,
