UN torture-prevention body shift to a higher gear with increased capacity

GENEVA (25 February 2011) – A key UN torture-prevention body met this week for the first time after a significant increase from 10 to 25 members, which will enable it to expand its activities ranging from unannounced visits to places of detention to the provision of technical advice in the establishment of national independent preventive mechanisms.

The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) expansion is the result of increased ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture*, which currently has 57 State parties. This landmark step also makes of the SPT the largest body in the UN human rights treaty system.

The international body composed of independent experts in the area of torture prevention was established in accordance with the Optional Protocol of June 2006. The treaty creates a two-pillar system, at the international and national levels, designed to prevent torture and other forms of ill treatment in all places of detention. The SPT functions at the international level while, at the national level, States must put in place one or several national, independent preventive mechanisms.

“The combination of international and national preventive mechanisms, as provided for by the Optional Protocol, offers a powerful tool to address the central human rights concern of torture and ill-treatment,” said Friday Mr. Malcolm Evans, newly-elected Chairperson of the SPT after closing in Geneva their first session with expanded membership.

“States should consider ratifying the Optional Protocol at the earliest possible opportunity as a tangible manifestation of their commitment to the values of human rights and the rule of law in general and to the prevention of torture and ill-treatment in particular,” Mr. Evans stressed.

“As it concludes this historic session,” he said, “the SPT is conscious of the momentous changes occurring in parts of the world and of the need to best protect the human rights of all affected by them.”

(*) Check the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cat-one.htm

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The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is a new kind of treaty body in the UN human rights system. It has a purely preventive mandate focused on an innovative, sustained and proactive approach to the prevention of torture and ill treatment. The SPT started its work in February 2007. It is composed of 25 independent and impartial experts from different backgrounds and regions of the world. Members are elected by States parties to the OPCAT for a four-year mandate.

Learn more about the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/opcat/index.htm

The Subcommittee’s members: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/opcat/membership.htm

For more information or media requests, please contact Ravina Shamdasani (Tel.: + 41 22 917 9310 / email: rshamdasani@ohchr.org) or Xabier Celaya (Tel.: + 41 22 917 9383 / email: xcelaya@ohchr.org).