Chapter 3 • The Major Regional Human Rights Instruments and the Mechanisms for Their Implementation The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is competent to receive petitions concerning alleged human rights violations: l from any person or group of persons, or any legally recognized non-governmental entity; this competence is mandatory (art. 44); l from one State party against another State party, if such competence has been recognized (art. 45). The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is competent to examine cases submitted to it by the States parties and the Commission provided that these cases have first been considered by the Commission (art. 61). 3.2 The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, 1985 The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, 1985, entered into force on 28 February 1987, and as of 9 April 2002 had 16 States parties.32 3.2.1 The scope of the Convention According to the Convention, “torture shall be understood to be any act intentionally performed whereby physical or mental pain or suffering is inflicted on a person for purposes of criminal investigation, as a means of intimidation, as personal punishment, as a preventive measure, as a penalty, or for any other purpose. Torture shall also be understood to be the use of methods upon a person intended to obliterate the personality of the victim or to diminish his physical or mental capacities, even if they do not cause physical pain or mental anguish.” (art. 2). The Convention further defines the field of personal responsibility for those committing, instigating or inducing torture or who have failed to prevent it although being able to do so (art. 3). As in the case of the United Nations Convention against Torture, “the existence of circumstances such as a state of war, threat of war, state of siege or of emergency, domestic disturbance or strife, suspension of constitutional guarantees, domestic political instability, or other public emergencies or disasters shall not be invoked or admitted as justification for the crime of torture” (art. 5). Furthermore, nor can “the dangerous character of the detainee or prisoner” justify the resort to torture (art. 5). 3.2.2 The undertakings of the States parties The Convention provides that “the States Parties shall take effective measures to prevent and punish torture within their jurisdiction”, and “shall ensure that all acts of torture and attempts to commit torture are offences under their criminal law” (art. 6). The Convention further contains provisions, inter alia, with regard to the training of 32 OAS, Treaty Series, No. 67; for the ratifications see http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/Sigs/a-51.html. 90 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers