Established a broader legal definition of torture than the UN convention and created extradition obligations among OAS member states.
Key Facts
- Created
- 1985
- Entered into force
- February 28, 1987
- State parties (as of 2013)
- 18 nations
- Signed but not ratified
- 2 nations
- Governing body
- Organization of American States (OAS)
By the Numbers
Cause → Event → Consequence
Growing concern within the Western Hemisphere over human rights abuses, particularly state-sponsored torture, prompted OAS member states to seek a regional legal instrument that went beyond existing protections. The American Convention on Human Rights addressed torture only broadly, leaving gaps in enforcement and definition.
On December 9, 1985, the OAS adopted the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, establishing a legally binding regional human rights instrument. It defined torture more expansively than the UN Convention Against Torture, covering methods intended to obliterate personality or diminish mental or physical capacities even without causing physical pain.
The Convention entered into force on February 28, 1987, binding 18 ratifying states by 2013. It obligated parties to take effective domestic measures to prevent torture and created a legal framework for extraditing accused torturers, strengthening regional human rights enforcement within the OAS system.
Political Outcome
Convention adopted, entering into force February 28, 1987, with 18 state parties and extradition obligations established among OAS members.