UN Torture prevention body to conduct second visit to Guatemala

GENEVA (5 October 2023) – The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will carry out its second visit to Guatemala from 8 to 19 October 2023.

The Subcommittee delegation will visit various places to evaluate the treatment of people deprived of liberty therein and the measures taken to protect them from torture and ill-treatment.

“In addition to visiting various centres of deprivation of liberty across the country and interviewing people within the facilities and personnel who work in such places, we will pay special attention to how the authorities have implemented our recommendations from 2015, and in general terms, how Guatemalan institutions comply with relevant human rights standards. We will also use this opportunity to evaluate the work of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM),” said Marco Feoli, head of the delegation and SPT member.

“A comprehensive national system for the prevention of torture requires an independent and impartial body in charge of supervising detention, carrying out regular visits, and it must have adequate resources,” he added.

Guatemala ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) in 2008.

Under its mandate, the SPT can conduct visits to State parties and carry out visits without notice to all places where people are deprived of liberty. In order to follow up on its prior recommendations, the SPT delegation will hold meetings with government authorities, civil society, UN agencies and the NPM, with whom it will conduct a joint visit.

After the mission, the SPT will share a report with the authorities and the NPM with its recommendations. The report to the State will remain confidential until and unless the State of Guatemala decides to make it public.

The SPT delegation will be composed of the following members: Marco Feoli, head of the delegation (Costa Rica), Marie Brasholt (Denmark), María Andrea Casamento (Argentina), and Juan Pablo Vegas (Peru).