Maldives: UN torture prevention body concludes its follow-up visit

Malé, 11 December 2014. – The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture completed today a follow-up visit to the Republic of the Maldives. The visit, which took place from 8 to 11 December 2014, was focused on assessing the progress made since the SPT’s first visit in 2007.

At the commencement of the visit the SPT met with the Foreign Secretary, who indicated to the SPT that the Government was unable to actively assist or extensively engage with the SPT during its time in the Maldives, due to its preoccupation with the water crisis in Malé. The SPT acknowledges the Government’s position in this regard and expresses its sympathy to the people of Malé over the crisis. The SPT was pleased, however, to be able to carry out its mandate effectively by having unimpeded access to places of detention notwithstanding the Government’s current difficulty in facilitating the work of the SPT.

During the visit the delegation held working meetings and a joint exercise with the National Preventive Mechanism and met with representatives of civil society.

"We thank all those with whom the SPT actively engaged during the visit for their cooperation and willingness to work with us. The SPT looks forward to full future engagement with the Maldivian authorities on the implementation of its findings and conclusions, when the water crisis has been addressed”, Petros Michaelides, Head of SPT Delegation to the Maldives, said at the conclusion of the visit.

The Subcommittee will submit its confidential report to the Government of the Republic of the Maldives, containing its observations and recommendations arising from the visit.

For more information on the mandate of Subcommittee, please visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/OPCATIndex.aspx

ENDS

For more information, please contact Armen Avetisyan, +41794443993, aavetisyan@ohchr.org
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