UN torture prevention body to make first visit to the Netherlands

Geneva (23 July 2015) - The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will make its first visit to the Netherlands from 28 to 31 July to provide advice and technical assistance on preventing torture and ill treatment in places where people are deprived of their liberty.

The SPT delegation will meet the independent body that monitors places of detention known as the Dutch National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), as well as government officials, members of parliament, the Ombudsperson, and the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights. They are also due to meet representatives of international and non-governmental organizations.

“Our visit will focus on advising and assisting the Dutch authorities, as well as the NPM, regarding the measures that they need to take to comply with the obligations of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which the Netherlands ratified in 2010,” said Mari Amos, who will head the three-member delegation.

The SPT’s discussions will focus on the role, achievements and the current challenges of the Dutch NPM. The delegation will carry out a capacity building exercise with the NPM representatives through joint visits to places where people are deprived of their liberty.

The SPT will submit separate, confidential, reports to the Government of the Netherlands and to the Dutch NPM, containing its observations and recommendations arising from the visit. 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 cooperation and confidentiality.

The SPT delegation will comprise: Mari Amos, Maria Margarida E. Pressburger and Aneta Stanchevska.

ENDS

For media inquiries, please contact:
The Hague: Armen Avetisyan, + 41 79 4444332 / aavetisyan@ohchr.org
Geneva: Liz Throssell, +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 7520488 / ethrossell@ohchr.org

Background:

The SPT has a mandate to visit all States that are parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). The Optional Protocol has to date been ratified by 79 countries. States parties are obliged to set up a monitoring body, known as a National Preventive Mechanism within a year of ratifying the Protocol. In accordance with its mandate, the SPT undertakes advisory visits to National Preventive Mechanisms. During such visits, the SPT seeks to support and reinforce the NPM’s mandate and effective functioning by providing technical advice and assistance to both the NPM and the State party, and through practical capacity building activities.

More about the SPT: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/OPCATIndex.aspx

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