UN torture prevention body to conduct first visit to Madagascar

GENEVA (13 April 2023) - The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will visit Madagascar for the first time from 16 to 27 April to assess the treatment of people deprived of their liberty and the safeguards available to protect them from torture and ill-treatment.

Madagascar ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in 2017. This first visit aims to examine the progress made in the six years after the ratification. 

“We are particularly keen to strengthen our cooperation with the Malagasy authorities to ensure the country’s independent monitoring body, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), is properly established. An independent, effective and adequately funded NPM is essential to prevent torture and ill-treatment,” said Juan Pablo Vegas, head of the delegation. “In the spirit of cooperation, we will make recommendations to the State Party for the protection of the fundamental rights of all those detained in Madagascar,” he added.

During its visit to Madagascar, the SPT delegation will meet with representatives of the national authorities, the public prosecutor’s office, the judiciary and civil society. It will visit prisons, police stations and psychiatric facilities, among others.

The SPT is mandated to regularly visit various types of detention facilities and other places of deprivation of liberty in all States that have ratified the Protocol in order to assess States parties’ prevention policies and treatment of people deprived of liberty.

At the end of the visit, the SPT delegation will present its preliminary and confidential observations to the Government of Madagascar and to the National Independent Human Rights Commission (CNIDH).
The SPT delegation will comprise the following members: Juan Pablo VEGAS (Head of Delegation - Peru), Hamet Saloum DIAKHTE (Senegal); Hamida DRIDI (Tunisia); and Julia KOZMA (Austria). The delegation will be accompanied by two human rights officers from the SPT Secretariat.

ENDS