6 The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and National Preventive Mechanisms
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Malcolm D. Evans
Abstract
A central element of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture system is that every state party must establish an independent ‘National Preventive Mechanism’ (NPM) which must have access to all places of detention in a manner similar to the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT). The SPT is to work with states as they set up the NPM, offering them its advice and expertise. It is then to support the work of the NPMs. This has proven to be one of the SPT’s most important and challenging tasks. This chapter considers the guidelines the SPT has developed for both states and NPMs and how it has gone about exercising its mandate in relation to NPMs over time.
Abstract
A central element of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture system is that every state party must establish an independent ‘National Preventive Mechanism’ (NPM) which must have access to all places of detention in a manner similar to the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT). The SPT is to work with states as they set up the NPM, offering them its advice and expertise. It is then to support the work of the NPMs. This has proven to be one of the SPT’s most important and challenging tasks. This chapter considers the guidelines the SPT has developed for both states and NPMs and how it has gone about exercising its mandate in relation to NPMs over time.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements vi
- Introduction 1
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The Solution
- What Is Torture? 17
- Why Prevention? 34
- Establishing the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture 49
- What the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture Requires 65
- The Visiting Mandate of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture 84
- The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and National Preventive Mechanisms 102
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The Problem
- Visits: An Insider’s Story 123
- Accepting the Unacceptable 139
- Excusing the Inexcusable 149
- Prescribing the Inappropriate 160
- Working with Fictions 171
- Thinking Positively about Prevention 184
- References 199
- Index 203
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements vi
- Introduction 1
-
The Solution
- What Is Torture? 17
- Why Prevention? 34
- Establishing the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture 49
- What the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture Requires 65
- The Visiting Mandate of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture 84
- The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and National Preventive Mechanisms 102
-
The Problem
- Visits: An Insider’s Story 123
- Accepting the Unacceptable 139
- Excusing the Inexcusable 149
- Prescribing the Inappropriate 160
- Working with Fictions 171
- Thinking Positively about Prevention 184
- References 199
- Index 203
