Association for the Prevention of Torture - Working Worldwide to Prevent Torture

Brazil: Measures for the Prevention of Torture A recent workshop, carried out in partnership with the National Secretariat for Human Rights and with the School of the Pernambuco General Prosecutor's Office, aimed at promoting monitoring visits to places of deprivation of liberty, strengthening the capacity of local actors in monitoring methodologies, and encouraging the respect for legal norms that prohibit torture and fight impunity.

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Challenges of Iraqi activists working on torture prevention On 7 December the Iraqi 'Justice Network for Prisoners' participated in a one-day workshop on detention monitoring led by the APT and organized by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Issues such as gaining access to places of deprivation of liberty and drafting recommendations to the authorities were discussed. The event took place in Berlin.

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Challenges of preventive monitoring discussed in the Philippines Fifteen regional and sub regional offices met at the National Human Rights Commission central office in Manila, Philippines to discuss and exchange on their needs, their work in monitoring and the daily challenges encountered. The workshop was a direct follow up to the blended learning project on 'Preventing Torture' for five NHRIs in South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste) held in November 2010.

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APT Global Forum on the OPCAT 300 representatives from over 90 countries have gathered in Geneva, for the first Global Forum on the prevention of torture. Five years after the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, the use of security concerns to justify torture, including by the most democratic countries, has been at the centre of concerns. This first networking event has allowed protagonists to share good practices and identify ways forward: to continue the campaign of OPCAT ratification as well as ensure implementation on the ground by increasing the effectiveness of national monitoring bodies, and to include new actors in the process. Press Release: Deutsch - English - Français

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Featured

Senegal NPM ready to start work

During the Cabinet meeting which took place on the 19 January 2012 in Dakar, Judge Boubou Diouf Tall has been appointed as National Observer of places of deprivation of liberty.

Three years after the entry into force of the law establishing the Senegalese National Preventive Mechanism (National Observatory of places of deprivation of liberty), the Senegalese Government has finally appointed the Head of this new institution which is charged with preventing torture and ill-treatment in the country.

This decision was taken during a joint advocacy mission which the APT...
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In the News

Lebanon, conditions slammed

Politicians, inmates slam state of Roumieh

Roumieh, Lebanon: Sheets, clothing, mirrors and hands hung out of the windows at Lebanon’s largest prison, and some voices managed to make their way out too as Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil toured the complex Monday.

Inside Roumieh, the overcrowding that the rusty windows only hinted at was clear. There was the sour smell of too many bodies and not enough fresh air, and in one cell that houses seven men, hammocks hung from the ceiling to provide sleeping space.

Libya: Detainees tortured

Libya: Detainees tortured and denied medical care - MSF suspends work in detention centres in Misrata

Detainees in the Libyan city of Misrata are being tortured and denied urgent medical care, leading the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to suspend its operations in detention centres in Misrata, MSF announced today.

MSF teams began working in Misrata’s detention centres in August, 2011, to treat war-wounded detainees. Since then, MSF doctors were increasingly confronted with patients who suffered injuries caused by torture during interrogation sessions.

Morocco needs torture laws

RABAT (Reuters) - Moroccan authorities should draft laws to criminalise the use of torture by some security officials, activists from a group of human right organisations said on Thursday.

The 14 groups, including Morocco's main AMDH humans right organisation and Amnesty International's local branch, noted that current legislation merely condemned torture and some officials practised it with impunity.

"Six years after Morocco drafted a law that condemns torture ... its practice is still effective and real," they said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia: UN alarmed

Saudi Arabia: UN rights office alarmed at increasing rate of executions

The United Nations human rights office expressed alarm today at the significant increase in Saudi Arabia’s use of capital punishment in the past year.

According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the number of executions in the country almost tripled last year compared with 2010..."What is even more worrying is that court proceedings often reportedly fall far short of international fair trial standards, and the use of torture as a means to obtain confessions appears to be rampant," Mr. Colville added.

Force-fed and beaten

Force-fed and beaten – life for women in jail

Female prisoners around the world are being subjected to body cavity searches, beatings and force-feeding, are held in padded cells, shackled during childbirth, and made to work in chain gangs. Some of the worst conditions are in developing countries, but there are also serious abuses and overcrowding in Europe and North America. These are the major findings of a survey by The Independent on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of United Nations rules governing the treatment of women in prison.

APT article: Bangkok Rules: Women in detention have rights too

Philippines adopts standards

Philippines adopts international standards vs torture

THE PHILIPPINES has aligned with international standards against torture, following the Senate’s ratification of a United Nations (UN) treaty.

In a unanimous vote, the Senate last week approved on third and final reading a resolution which concurs with the accession to the “Optional protocol to the UN Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (UNCAT).”

The Senate is the only government body to validate treaties and international agreements.

Libyan commander sues UK

Libyan commander sues UK over torture claim

A Libyan Islamist who is now the military commander of the capital, Tripoli, is suing Britain for its role in his rendition into imprisonment and torture at the hands of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Abdelhakim Belhaj said he has taken recourse to legal action after waiting in vain for the British government to offer an apology for his seven years of incarceration in the secret police's jails.

The central plank of his case would be information from files discovered in Tripoli by The Independent after the fall of Colonel Gaddafi's regime...

SPT Statement on Brazil Visit

Prevention of Torture: UN human rights body presents confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Brazil

Brasília, 30 September 2011 – The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) presented today its confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Brazil, in conclusion of its first regular visit to the country, which took place from 19 to 30 September 2011. During the visit, the SPT met with the relevant national authorities and representatives of civil society, and conducted visits to a number of places of deprivation of liberty, including police stations, prisons, juvenile detention centres...

'Wrong and never justified'

Former MI5 head: Torture is 'wrong and never justified'

The use of torture is "wrong and never justified", the former head of the security service MI5 has insisted.

Eliza Manningham-Buller said it should be "utterly rejected even when it may offer the prospect of saving lives".

Giving the second of her BBC Radio Reith lectures, she acknowledged recent disclosures about alleged British intelligence operations in Libya would "raise widespread concerns".

"No-one could justify what went on under Gaddafi's regime," she added.

Conférence africaine

Conférence africaine sur la prévention de la torture en Afrique les 7 et 8 septembre à Rabat

Cette conférence, organisée avec l'appui de l'ambassade du Royaume-Uni au Maroc, de l'association pour la Prévention de la Torture (APT) et de la délégation interministérielle aux droits de l'Homme, s'inscrit dans le cadre de la convention de partenariat conclue entre le Réseau des Institutions nationales africaines des droits de l'Homme (RINADH), présidé actuellement par le Maroc et l'APT, précise un communiqué du CNDH.

Highlights
APT in the Regions
Torture Law Compilation

'No one knows about us'
Join the campaign for the UN torture prevention treaty (OPCAT)

This film by Lebanese filmmaker Carol Mansour, and produced by the APT, gives a voice to torture survivors and to activists struggling to prevent these horrible violations of human dignity. Available in Arabic and Arabic with English subtitles. Read more...

OPCAT Global Forum

Five years after the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, the APT has held an initial evaluation of the system of prevention. A Global Forum on the OPCAT "Preventing Torture, Upholding Dignity: from Pledges to Actions" took place on 10 and 11 November 2011 in Geneva.
English - Español - Français

OPCAT Database

The OPCAT Database on ratification and implementation of the OPCAT, including the functioning of National Preventive Mechanisms. The OPCAT Database is a unique on-line tool which offers information on the ratification and implementation of the OPCAT in all States Parties and Signatories. Information is also available on States which are considering acceding to the OPCAT. The database is available at www.apt.ch/opcat

Africa

Americas

Asia Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Middle East & North Africa

Compilation of Torture Laws

This tool is a compilation of existing national laws relevant to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT). It focuses on the criminalisation of torture under national laws of States parties to the UNCAT as well as other relevant provisions.

Accessing the country files:

All files of the States parties to the UNCAT are in pdf format and may be accessed from the drop-down list below. You may easily navigate in the country files by clicking on the bookmark that will direct you to the relevant section of the document.

Content of the country files:

The country files are composed of:

• A fact sheet providing an overview of the laws and
• Relevant provisions of the laws in the original language version as well as an English translation, if available.

The country files are not meant to evaluate the compliance of these laws with the UNCAT, nor their effectiveness in practice.

The APT would like to thank all those who have contributed to the development of this tool, including by providing laws in the original language version and/or translations.

While doing its utmost to update the information contained herein, the APT does not guarantee that this data constitutes the latest applicable laws and/or that it represents the entire national legal framework related to torture. The APT therefore welcomes any contribution or comment to this ongoing public service. Please contact us at

Disclaimer/Non-liability clause:
The material provided herein, including the translations and the laws in the original language version, is designed for information purposes only and may contain errors. The contents and use of this material, including links, do not imply any responsibility from the part of the APT.

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