INTRODUCTION

One important reason for the consecration of the right to personal integrity at an international level is the reaction of the international community to the existence of torture, the atrocious treatment to which individuals have been subjected to confess their alleged crimes, part of the history of the world for centuries. The legal international reaction to torture in the last century started with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and continued with numerous instruments intended specifically to prohibit it. These instruments regulated not only torture but also cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In 1975, the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted in the United Nations. The United Nations also subsequently adopted the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Punishment. Inhuman treatment is one of the acts that constitute the crime of apartheid. In the framework of the OAS, the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (the Inter-American Torture Convention) was adopted. In 1987, Europe approved a European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Torture constitutes a severe violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which establish the requirement of humane treatment of all along with the prohibition of torture and similar acts.