JOINT STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE ( 26 JUNE 2002)

The Committee against Torture, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture, the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights welcome the decision of the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-eighth session to adopt, and recommend to the Economic and Social Council, the text of the optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. That decision was the result of a decade-long process of consultation and negotiation.

The optional protocol is designed to assist States parties in implementing their obligation under the Convention to prevent torture by providing for the establishment of effective international and national mechanisms for visiting places where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty. Visits to such places by independent multidisciplinary teams of experts have proved to be a very effective way to prevent treatment of detainees that violates international standards. Both the protective and preventive roles of such mechanisms should be stressed.

On the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we call upon the States Members of the United Nations at the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly to give the matter of an effective protocol to the Convention their earnest and immediate attention, and to move towards the final adoption of this instrument.

We also pay tribute to and continue to support those States and organizations of civil society that are committed to ending the practice of torture and are engaged in activities aimed at preventing it and securing redress for its victims.