The Maldives: UN torture prevention body makes follow-up visit

GENEVA (4 December 2014) – The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is due to be in the Maldives from 8 to 11 December to assess what progress has been made on its recommendations, made after its first visit in 2007. 

“We will be exploring what has been done since 2007 and the further steps the country needs to take to effectively prevent torture and ill-treatment of people who have been deprived of their liberty,” said Petros Michaelides, who is heading the delegation.

The four-strong delegation will meet representatives of the authorities in the Maldives, the body that monitors places of detention known as the National Preventive Mechanism, and members of civil society. The SPT members will also make unannounced visits to places of detention as part of their assessment.  At the end of the visit, they will present their confidential preliminary observations to the Maldivian authorities.

The SPT’s role is to prevent and eliminate torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment of detainees. It has a mandate to visit all States that are parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and to make recommendations to the authorities to provide for effective safeguards against torture and ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty.

For the SPT, the key to preventing torture and ill-treatment lies in building constructive relations with the State concerned, and its guiding principles are co-operation and confidentiality.

The SPT delegation is: Mr. Petros Michaelides, Mr. Arman Danielyan, Ms. Lowell Patria Goddard, and Ms. Suzanne Jabbour.

ENDS

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

For other media inquiries, please contact Liz Throssell, +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ ethrossell@ohchr.org

Background:

The Optional Protocol on the Prevention of Torture has to date been ratified by 76 countries.

Under its mandate, the SPT can conduct unannounced visits to places of deprivation of liberty.

The SPT communicates its recommendations and observations to the State by means of a confidential report, and if necessary to National Preventive Mechanisms. However, State parties are encouraged to request that the SPT makes these reports public.

Find out more about the Optional Protocol: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/OPCATIndex.aspx

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