57 Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment47; and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment48. 243. In its final arguments, the State did not refer to the issue (supra, paras. 67 and 68). 244. Article 1 of the Convention against Torture stipulates: The State Parties undertake to prevent and punish torture in accordance with the terms of this Convention. 245. Article 6 of the Convention against Torture establishes In accordance with the terms of Article 1, the States Parties shall take effective measures to prevent and punish torture within their jurisdiction. The States Parties shall ensure that all acts of torture and attempts to commit torture are offenses under their criminal law and shall make such acts punishable by severe penalties that take into account their serious nature. The States Parties likewise shall take effective measures to prevent and punish other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment within their jurisdiction. 246. Lastly, Article 8 of the Convention against Torture adds: The States Parties shall guarantee that any person making an accusation of having been subjected to torture within their jurisdiction shall have the right to an impartial examination of his case. Likewise, if there is an accusation or well-grounded reason to believe that an act of torture has been committed within their jurisdiction, the States Parties shall guarantee that their respective authorities will proceed properly and immediately to conduct an investigation into the case and to initiate, whenever appropriate, the corresponding criminal process. After all the domestic legal procedures of the respective State and the corresponding appeals have been exhausted, the case may be submitted to the international fora whose competence has been recognized by that State. 247. Firstly, the Court considers that it should refer to its own competence to interpret and apply the Convention against Torture and to declare the responsibility of a State that has agreed to be obliged by this Convention and has also accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. As some member countries of the Organization of American States were still not parties to the American Convention and had not accepted the jurisdiction of the Court, the drafters of the Convention against Torture decided not to include in it an article that made express and exclusive reference to the Inter-American Court in order not to indirectly bind them to the former Convention and the aforementioned jurisdictional organ49. 47. Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 3452 (XXX), of 9 December 1975. 48. Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 43/173, of 9 December 1988. 49. Organization of American States, Permanent Council, Report of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs on the Draft Convention Defining Torture as an International Crime, OEA/Ser. G CP/doc. 1524/84, 18 October 1984, Original: Spanish, Appendix VIII, p. 61 and Appendix IX, p. 71.