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Events

8th June 2023: Day of general discussion on the draft general comment of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on the article 4 of the OPCAT (optional protocol to the convention against torture)

Date

08 June 2023

AT

Public general discussion on the draft during the 50th session of the SPT

LOCATION

Ground floor conference room of Palais Wilson (HYBRID MEETING)

THEME

Day of general discussion on the draft general comment of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on the article 4 of the OPCAT (optional protocol to the convention against torture)

Programme of work (PDF)

Link to the UN Web TV
https://media.un.org/en/webtv/schedule/2023-06-08

Background

Article 4 of the OPCAT reads as follow:

“1. Each State Party shall allow visits, in accordance with the present Protocol, by the mechanisms referred to in articles 2 and 3 to any place under its jurisdiction and control where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order given by a public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence (hereinafter referred to as places of detention). These visits shall be undertaken with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of these persons against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

2. For the purposes of the present Protocol, deprivation of liberty means any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority.”

The SPT is preparing a general comment on article 4 of the OPCAT with the aim of clarifying and addressing questions that States parties, national preventive mechanisms and other relevant actors may have regarding the obligations of States parties to the Optional Protocol as they pertain to the definition of places of deprivation of liberty. The Subcommittee considers that this is a crucial issue because the essential purpose of the Optional Protocol lies in the system of preventive visits by the Subcommittee and the national preventive mechanisms to all places of deprivation of liberty.

Call for comments

The SPT invited all interested parties or stakeholders to comment on the first public draft of its general comment, available in English, French and Spanish (the working languages of the SPT):

English | Français | Español

Public discussion

Further to the submission of these comments, the SPT will hold a public general discussion on the draft during the 50th session of the SPT, on 8 June 2023 from 15h00 to 17h00 (Gva time). It which will be held in a hybrid meeting in the ground floor conference room of Palais Wilson, as well as online. The link for remote participation will be posted here in due course.

Only those submitting a written document and having expressed interest to participate in the public discussion will be able to take the floor during the meeting. The SPT will try to accommodate all other requests for oral interventions after those having submitted documents have taken the floor, if time allows. However, it will reserve the right to select and organize the list of speakers at its discretion depending on time constraints and number of requests received.

Submissions received

(In chronological order)

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