UN torture prevention body to visit Greece

GENEVA - The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will conduct its first visit to Greece from 6 to 17 October to assess the measures taken by the State party to protect people deprived of liberty from torture and ill-treatment.

During the mission, the SPT delegation will visit prisons, police stations, detention centres for migrants, and other places of deprivation of liberty. They will meet with government officials, the Ombudsman, representatives of civil society, and UN agencies. The delegation will also hold meetings and conduct joint visits with the national monitoring body, officially known as national preventive mechanism (NPM).

“While Greece frequently receives visits from regional bodies, this will be SPT’s first opportunity to offer its global perspective on the treatment of people deprived of liberty and the safeguards in place to prevent torture and ill-treatment, ”said Anica Tomsic, head of the SPT delegation.

“Through SPT’s unique relationship with the NPM of Greece, this first visit will also serve as a unique opportunity to strengthen the mechanism’s capacity to engage in torture prevention and address some of the key fundamental issues, including its financial and operational independence.”

The SPT is mandated to visit all States Parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), which Greece ratified in 2014. At the end of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Greece.

The SPT delegation will be composed of Anica TOMSIC, Head of Delegation (Croatia), Uju AGOMOH (Nigeria), Suzanne JABBOUR (Lebanon), and Juan Pablo VEGAS (Peru), and will be accompanied by two Human Rights Officers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.