UN torture prevention body visits Cabo Verde for the first time

​Portuguese version

GENEVA/PRAIA (27 September 2019) — The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is set to carry out its first visit to Cabo Verde from 29 September to 10 October, when it will examine the treatment of people deprived of their liberty and the safeguards in place for their protection against torture and ill-treatment. This visit will have a strong focus on the recently established National Preventive Mechanism, which is attached to the National Commission for Human Rights and Citizenship.

The five-member delegation will hold discussions with government officials, civil society, UN entities and others, will be visiting places where persons are deprived of their liberty and will be holding meetings and undertaking  visits to places of detention together with the NPM.

Under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), States parties have an obligation to establish a monitoring body, known as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), within one year of ratifying the Optional Protocol. Cabo Verde ratified the Optional Protocol in 2016, and appointed its NPM in September 2018.

“A strong NPM is the most efficient way to prevent torture and ill-treatment in places of deprivation of liberty and, as Cabo Verde has just established its mechanism, we will be focusing our visit on advising it to carry out its mandate in the best possible way, including through an adequate independent functional framework as well as an interdisciplinary approach” said Nora Sveaass, the head of the delegation. “Of course, we will also be visiting different places of detention, as it is the first SPT visit to the country, to monitor the detention conditions and to examine the legal safeguards that persons deprived of liberty have”, she added.

At the end of the visit, the delegation will present its confidential preliminary observations to the government of Cabo Verde as well as to the National Preventive Mechanism.

The delegation will be composed of Ms. Nora Sveaass (Norway, Head of Delegation), Ms. Marija Definis-Gojanovic (Croatia), Mr. Hameth Saloum Diakhate (Senegal), Mr. Nika Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) and Mr. Victor Zaharia (Republic of Moldova).

ENDS

For media inquiries or for more information, please contact: 
In Cabo Verde: Joao Nataf, +41 79 752 04 85/ jnataf@ohchr.org
In Geneva: Media Section, +41 22 928 9855 / media@ohchr.org

Background 

The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture monitors States parties’ adherence to the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture which to date has been ratified by 90 countries. The Subcommittee is made up of 25 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Subcommittee has a mandate to undertake visits to States parties, during the course of which it may visit any place where persons may be deprived of their liberty. Learn more with our videos on the Treaty Body system and on the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture! 

Learn more with our animations on the Treaty Body system and on the Child Rights Committee! 

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