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States should respect comprehensive definition of detention places as part of torture prevention efforts, says UN body

15 July 2024

GENEVA (15 July 2024) – The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on Monday called on all States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) to respect its comprehensive definition of places of deprivation of liberty, thus ensuring that the SPT and related national bodies can visit all these places, monitor conditions of detention and help prevent torture and ill-treatment.

In its legal guidance, formally known as General Comment no.1, on OPCAT’s article 4, adopted during its 53rd session in June, the SPT said that some independent national torture watchdogs – formally known as national preventive mechanisms – “have, at different times, faced difficulties or restrictions in conducting visits to some places of deprivation of liberty”. In some cases, these difficulties have stemmed from the national legislation, the SPT added.

A wide array of issues has arisen from the practical implementation of article 4 through the practice of the SPT and the national preventive mechanisms worldwide, the SPT’s General Comment says. These include “difficulties in entering certain places of deprivation of liberty”, “incorrect or limited understanding” by authorities or stakeholders of the term “places of deprivation of liberty”, as well as discrepancies in the places that States allow national preventive mechanisms and the SPT to visit, with more restrictions imposed on the formers.

“The term ‘places of deprivation of liberty’ must be understood as a comprehensive concept that encompasses all situations,” the SPT said. Such understanding is crucial to achieve “the core objective of preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment through visits by the Subcommittee and national preventive mechanisms to all places of deprivation of liberty”, it added.

“The SPT is confident that this first General Comment, shaped by extensive consultations with all relevant stakeholders and the practical experience of the SPT, will be an important cornerstone, cementing the broad understanding of the notion of ‘deprivation of liberty’ and ensuring the effectiveness of the NPM mandates worldwide,” said Suzanne Jabbour, the SPT Chairperson. “The adoption of this document represents a pivotal moment not only for the OPCAT system but also for the global torture prevention movement.”

The SPT’s General Comment No. 1 is currently available in English and is due to be translated into the other UN official languages later this year.

For more information and media requests in Geneva, please contact:

UN Human Rights Office Media Section at ohchr-media@un.org 
Secretary of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, Joao Nataf at joao.nataf@un.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 94 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 the mandate to visit States that have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, during the course of which it may visit any place where persons may be deprived of their liberty and assist those States in preventing torture and ill-treatment. The Subcommittee communicates its observations and recommendations to States through confidential reports, which it encourages countries to make public.

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