Chapter 8 • International Legal Standards for the Protection of Persons Deprived of Their Liberty Lastly, with regard to the problem of impunity, the Human Rights Committee has stated that “amnesties are generally incompatible with the duty of States to investigate such acts; to guarantee freedom from such acts within their jurisdiction; and to ensure that they do not occur in the future”.11 On the issue of amnesty laws the Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture thus concur. In this respect the Human Rights Committee has said that “States may not deprive individuals of the right to an effective remedy, including compensation and such full rehabilitation as may be possible.”12 ***** The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has explained States’ obligations inter alia under article 1 of the American Convention on Human Rights in some detail. With regard to the obligation to “ensure ... the free and full exercise” of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention, it has thus stated that it “... implies the duty of the States Parties to organize the governmental apparatus and, in general, all the structures through which public power is exercised, so that they are capable of juridically ensuring the free and full enjoyment of human rights. As a consequence of this obligation, the States must prevent, investigate and punish any violation of the rights recognized by the Convention and, moreover, if possible attempt to restore the right violated and provide compensation as warranted for damages resulting from the violation.”13 The Court added in this respect that “The obligation to ensure the free and full exercise of human rights is not fulfilled by the existence of a legal system designed to make it possible to comply with this obligation – it also requires the government to conduct itself so as to effectively ensure the free and full exercise of human rights.”14 This means, in particular, allowing the Judiciary, the prosecuting authorities and lawyers to pursue their work effectively and independently of the governmental authorities. ***** In a case concerning the alleged rape and ill-treatment of a female detainee, the Aydin case, the European Court of Human Rights recalled that article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights “guarantees the availability at the national level of a remedy to enforce the substance of the Convention rights and freedoms in whatever form they might happen to be secured in the domestic legal order”. 11 General Comment No. 20, United Nations Compilation of General Comments, p. 141, para. 15. 12 Ibid., loc. cit. 13 I-A Court HR, Velásquez Rodríguez Case, judgment of July 29, 1988, Series C, No. 4, p. 152, para. 166. 14 Ibid., para. 167. Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 321