124. The Commission asked that the State adopt measures to provide appropriate training
for police personnel to avoid abuses in the exercise of their authority to stop and search
people, including training on the prohibition to exercise this authority in a discriminatory
manner and based on profiles associated with stereotypes. The representatives asked that
the State train law enforcement personnel and members of the Public Prosecution Service and
the Judiciary, at both the federal level and in the country’s different provinces. In this regard,
they stipulated that this training should be permanent, accompanied by the necessary funding,
and based on the standards of the inter-American human rights system. The State did not
refer to this measure.
125. The Court finds it pertinent to order the State to create and implement, within two
years, a training program for the Police of the Province of Buenos Aires and the Argentine
Federal Police, and members of the Public Prosecution Service and the Judiciary on the need:
(a) that the police indicate the objective circumstances in which a detention, search and/or
seizure without a court order is appropriate, always in specific relation to the perpetration of
an offense; (b) that these circumstances should be prior to any procedure and restrictively
interpreted; (c) that such actions should only be taken in a situation of urgency that prevents
requesting a court order; (d) that law enforcement personnel should provide a detailed
description in the respective report of the reasons that led to the search or seizure, and (e) to
eliminate the use of discriminatory criteria to conduct a detention. The training for the police
should include information on the prohibition to justify detentions based on dogmatic and
stereotypical formulas. In the case of the Public Prosecution Service and the Judiciary, this
training should be addressed at raising awareness on the need to make an appropriate
assessment of the reasons for the stop and search procedure by the police as part of the
control of detentions.
B.3.3. Production of official statistics on the actions of law enforcement
personnel
126. The representatives asked that the State collect, publish and disseminate official
statistics on the actions of law enforcement personnel, which identify the reasons for
detentions and/or searches when no court order has been issued and no situation of flagrante
delicto exists, and even in cases that do not result in criminal charges. They asked that, when
compiling these statistics, the State take into account criteria of sex, age, social status,
nationality, type of clothing and personal effects, as well as all those criteria usually considered
by law enforcement personnel as grounds for their suspicions and the consequent detentions.
Neither the Commission nor the State commented on this measure of reparation.
127. The Court understands that it is necessary to collect comprehensive information on the
actions of law enforcement personnel in order to comprehend the real scale of the
phenomenon of detentions, searches and seizures and, consequently, design strategies to
prevent and eradicate further arbitrary and discriminatory actions. Therefore, the Court orders
the State to design immediately, and to implement within one year, through the corresponding
state agency, a system for the collection of data and figures on detentions, searches and
seizures when a court order has not been issued, in order to make a precise and standardized
evaluation of the type, prevalence, tendencies and guidelines for the actions of the Argentine
police. In addition, the number of cases that were ultimately prosecuted should be specified,
identifying the number of charges, convictions and acquittals. The State should publish this
information every year in the corresponding report, ensuring that it is accessible to the general
public, while keeping the identity of those detained or intervened confidential. Furthermore,
the State must present an annual report to the Court in which it describes the actions taken
in this regard for three years following implementation of the data collection system.
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