GENEVA (5 March 2020) —  The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture is set to carry out its second visit to Argentina from 9 March to 20 March 2020 to assess  the treatment of people deprived of their liberty and the safeguards for their protection against torture and ill-treatment and engage with the national preventive system

The four-member delegation will meet government officials, civil society representatives and UN entities, among others, and visit places of deprivation of liberty to follow up on the recommendations made after its first visit in 2012. As the Argentinian national preventive system was not in place at the time of the first visit, the delegation will also hold meetings with the National Committee on Torture Prevention, set up in 2017, to strengthen its monitoring capacity of places of detention, at national and provincial levels.

Argentina ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture in November 2004, which requires State parties to set up an independent National Preventive Mechanism to conduct prevention visits of all places of deprivation of liberty, including police stations, prisons, and psychiatric institutions. In 2012, Argentina established a National System for the Prevention of Torture, with a National Committee, responsible for coordinating the system, which started functioning in 2017.

“Our visit will focus on supporting Argentina’s National Preventive Mechanism. The establishment of the National Committee marked a significant step by the State to prevent torture and ill-treatment of people deprived of their liberty,” said Carmen Comas-Mata, head of the delegation. “Now the challenge is to ensure that this independent body can function fully and effectively, and we will be advising the authorities also on how to establish/set a mechanism in each province, in accordance with the requirements of the Optional Protocol.”

The delegation will be composed of Carmen Comas-Mata, Head of Delegation (Spain), Patricia Arias (Chile), Roberto Fehér Pérez (Uruguay), Juan Pablo Vegas (Peru).
The Subcommittee visited Argentina for the first time in April 2012 and issued its visit report in 2013.

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For more information
In Geneva: Vivian Kwok +41 22917 9362 / vkwok@ohchr.org
In Santiago: María Jeannette Moya +56 2 2210 2977/ mmoya@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! 
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