A/HRC/27/47 regulations which did not establish remedies to contest the lawfulness of the arrest and detention … but only established the possibility for the detainee to ‘refute the charges’ on which his or her deportation was based or to be ‘heard regarding the charges indicated in the arrest warrant’ or to ‘provide evidence opposing the deportation’ are in violation of article 7, paragraph 6”.20 55. The Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, approved by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2008, guarantee that “all persons deprived of liberty shall have the right, exercised by themselves or by others, to present a simple, prompt, and effective recourse before the competent, independent, and impartial authorities, against acts or omissions that violate or threaten to violate their human rights” (Principle V). Further, “persons deprived of liberty shall have the right of individual and collective petition and the right to a response before judicial, administrative, or other authorities. This right may be exercised by third parties or organizations, in accordance with the law” (Principle VII). 56. The Inter-American Commission stated that it “cannot overemphasize the significance of ensuring effective supervisory control over detention as an effective safeguard”. It noted that the right to challenge the lawfulness of detention before court plays a fundamental role in protecting against arbitrary arrest, clarifying the situation of missing persons, and preventing the use of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as an “effective assurance that the detainee is not exclusively at the mercy of the detaining authority”. The Commission concluded that “the requirement that detention not be left to the sole discretion of the State agents responsible for carrying it out is so fundamental that it cannot be overlooked in any context” and the procedural guarantee “is not susceptible to abrogation. It applies in all situations of deprivation of liberty”. 57. The Inter-American Commission set out the procedural requirements of the right: a judicial authority or a “quasi-judicial” board that decides petitions, not an administrative body, must have the power to order the detainee to be produced and also to release him or her. It must be impartial and different from the authority ordering and implementing the detention. A detained person has the right to petition “at all times” and the proceedings must comply with the fundamental rules of procedural fairness, including “an opportunity to present evidence and to know and meet the claims of the opposing party”. The detainee must have an “opportunity to be represented by counsel or some other representative”. The proceedings must occur “without delay” and “as soon as practicable”. The decision to detain must be reviewed at regular intervals. C. Arab region 58. Article 14, paragraph 6, of the Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004) guarantees that “anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to petition a competent court in order that it may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his arrest or detention and order his release if the arrest or detention is unlawful”. Any victim of unlawful arrest or detention is entitled to compensation (art. 14 (7)). The legal protections provided for in article 14 of the Charter cannot be derogated from, not even in in times of public emergency (art. 4 (1 and 2)). 20 Ibid., para. 143. 17

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