UN torture prevention body to visit Türkiye

GENEVA (1 September 2022) - The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will visit Türkiye from 4 to 15 September 2022.

“This upcoming mission follows the SPT’s first visit to Türkiye in 2015. Our main objective is to assess how the authorities and the national preventive mechanism of Türkiye have implemented our previous recommendations,” said Suzanne Jabbour, Chairperson of the SPT and Head of the Delegation.

“We will also see how people deprived of liberty are currently protected from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and will assess their conditions of detention,” she added.

Türkiye ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in 2011.

Under its mandate, the SPT can undertake visits to all States parties to the Optional Protocol and carry out unannounced visits to all places where people are deprived of their liberty. During each visit, the SPT delegation will meet with government officials and members of the national torture watchdog, officially known as the national preventive mechanism (NPM), civil society representatives and UN agencies.

“We will work closely with the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, the national preventive mechanism, to see how it is operating and fulfilling its preventive mandate since it was established.

Independent NPMs are the fundamental element to ensure that people deprived of their liberty are duly protected against ill-treatment,” Jabbour said.

At the end of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Türkiye and the national preventive mechanism.

The SPT delegation comprises Suzanne Jabbour, Head of Delegation (Lebanon), Catherine Paulet (France), Daniel Fink (Switzerland), and Juan Pablo Vegas (Peru).

ENDS

Background

To date, the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture has been ratified by 91 states. States are under the obligation to allow the SPT unannounced and unhindered visits to all places where persons are deprived of their liberty. States Parties should also establish a national preventive mechanism, which should conduct regular visits to places throughout the country where people are deprived of liberty.

The mandate of the SPT is to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons deprived of their liberty, through visits and recommendations to States parties to the Optional Protocol. The SPT communicates its recommendations and observations to States by means of a confidential report and, where necessary, to national preventive mechanisms. However, States parties are encouraged to request that the SPT publish the reports.

The SPT is composed of 25 independent and impartial 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.

For media inquiries or for more information, please contact:

Türkiye:

Joao Nataf, +41 (0) 79 201 0123 / 

joao.nataf@un.org

Geneva:

Vivian Kwok at +41 (0) 22 917 9362 / 

vivian.kwok@un.org or

UN Human Rights Office Media Section at +41 (0) 22 928 9855 / 

ohchr-media@un.org

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