Romania: UN torture prevention body to make first visit 3-12 May

GENEVA (28 April 2016) – The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will visit Romania from 3 to 12 May to assess the treatment of people deprived of their liberty, as well as the safeguards for their protection against torture and ill-treatment.

"During our visit, we will examine the steps Romania needs to take to prevent torture and ill-treatment of people in detention,” said Aisha Shujune Muhammad, who will head the four-member SPT delegation. “We will provide assistance to the Romanian authorities to fully implement their treaty obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture."

Among the places the SPT delegation is due to visit are prisons, police stations, centres for migrants, correctional rehabilitation facilities for juveniles, retirement homes and psychiatric hospitals. The experts will meet government officials, the People’s Advocate, and the national monitoring body, officially known as the national preventive mechanism of Romania, as well as civil society representatives.

"Our talks will focus on ways of strengthening efforts to prevent and eliminate torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees. This includes giving guidance to ensure the effective functioning of the national preventive mechanism established under OPCAT,” said Ms. Muhammad.

At the end of the visit, the delegation will present its oral preliminary observations to the authorities. 

The SPT’s role is to prevent torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment of detainees. It has a mandate to visit all States that are parties to the OPCAT and to make recommendations to State authorities to establish effective safeguards against risk of torture and ill-treatment in places of deprivation of 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 cooperation and confidentiality.

Romania ratified the Optional Protocol in July 2009.

The SPT delegation will be: Ms. Aisha Shujune Muhammad, Ms. Suzanne Jabbour, Mr. Milos Jankovic, and Ms. Margret Osterfeld.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:
Armen Avetisyan: +41 (0) 79 752 04 83 / aavetisyan@ohchr.org or Liz Throssell, +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 / ethrossell@ohchr.org

Background:
The Optional Protocol on the Prevention of Torture has to date been ratified by 81 countries. 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. More about the SPT: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/OPCATIndex.aspx

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