UN Committee against Torture to review France, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Philippines, Israel

GENEVA (11 April 2016) - The UN Committee against Torture is meeting in Geneva from 18 April to 13 May to review the following countries in sessions that will be webcast live: France (19-20 Apr); Tunisia (20-21 Apr); Saudi Arabia (22 and 25 Apr); Turkey (26-27 Apr); Philippines (27-28 Apr); Israel (3-4 May).

The above are among the 159 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and so are required to undergo regular reviews by the Committee on how they are implementing the Convention and the Committee’s previous recommendations.   

The Committee, which is composed of 10 independent experts, will engage in a dialogue with the respective government delegations. The public sessions, held at Palais Wilson in Geneva, begin at 10:00 Geneva time and continue at 15:00 the following day. The sessions will be webcast live at: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.  

Further information is available at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1011&Lang=en

The Committee will publish its findings, officially known as concluding observations, on the respective states here on Friday 13 May. A news conference to discuss the findings is scheduled for 12:30 on 13 May at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.  

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org)

Media accreditation:    http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background
Members of the CAT are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:  http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cat/pages/catindex.aspx

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