United Nations and Council of Europe torture prevention bodies to strengthen cooperation
GENEVA/STRASBOURG (26 July 2018) – At their respective plenary meetings of June and July 2018, the United Nations
Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) and the
EuropeanCommittee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) decided to
reinforce complementarity and subsidiarity to reflect their respective strengths and added values.
Article 31 of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), which encourages the SPT and preventive bodies established under regional
conventions such as the CPT to consult and cooperate with a view to avoiding duplication, forms the backdrop to these
decisions.
Within their respective legal frameworks, both torture prevention bodies decided to improve the flow of information
between them, to consult each other in future ahead of visits as well as on the potential benefits to be gained by the
SPT carrying out visits in Europe. They will also consider, as appropriate, joint participation in follow-up activities.
The SPT also decided to place particular emphasis on the work of national preventive mechanisms (NPMs) of the Council of
Europe member States and to pay special attention to the potential for complementary and strengthening activities in
those countries where there have been serious failures of co-operation with the CPT.
Both bodies also considered it crucial for States to facilitate the sharing of information between torture prevention
bodies. “We strongly encourage and will strongly encourage Council of Europe member States which ratified the OPCAT to
make arrangements to ensure that the SPT, the CPT and NPMs are able to consult each other’s visit reports even before
their publication,” said Sir Malcolm Evans, Chair of the SPT, and Mr Mykola Gnatovskyy, President of the CPT. “It is one
of the best ways of avoiding duplication, ensuring coherence and enhancing the effectiveness of preventive mechanisms in
Europe”, they added.