UN torture prevention body to visit the United Kingdom

GENEVA (6 September 2019) — The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is set to carry out its first visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the 8th to the 19th of September 2019. The SPT will examine the treatment of people deprived of their liberty and the safeguards in place for their protection against torture and ill-treatment. The main focus of the visit will be on strengthening the framework and functioning of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM).

The six-member delegation will hold discussions with government officials, and civil society, as well as visit places where persons are deprived of their liberty. The delegation will also work closely with the NPM, which has a particular structure, being made up of 21 statutory bodies that independently monitor places of deprivation of liberty.

“We believe that one of the most efficient ways to prevent ill-treatment and violations of human rights in places of deprivation of liberty is through a strengthening of the framework of the NPM. That is why we will have a particular focus on NPMs during the course of our visit”, says Daniel Fink, the head of the delegation.

The visit follows the establishment of the practical aspects of a stronger cooperation between the SPT and the CPT, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture. As the CPT recently undertook a visit to the UK, the SPT visit will focus more on the functioning of the NPM and the coordination between these bodies (see links below).

The delegation will be composed of Mr. Daniel FINK (Switzerland) as Head of Delegation Mr. Satyabhooshun Gupt DOMAH (Mauritius), Ms. Susanne JABBOUR (Lebanon), Mr. Kosta MITROVIC (Serbia), Ms. June Caridad PAGADUAN LOPEZ (Philippines), and Ms. Zdenka PEROVIĆ (Montenegro).

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