August 2006/N° 8 The Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture The prevention of torture especially of people in detention is the aim of the“Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”(CAT) 1 . To reach this aim, the reporting mechanism of the CAT has been amended by an Optional Protocol which will establish new preventive mechanisms. This Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture(OPCAT) 2 entered into force on 22 June 2006 when the critical number of 20 ratifications was reached. By now, 22 states have ratified the OPCAT. What is the Convention against Torture? The CAT was adopted in 1984. It is a binding international treaty for the states that have ratified it. Compliance with the Convention is monitored by the Committee against Torture. This Committee consists of independent experts whose role is to monitor the implementation of CAT by the States Parties. The States have to present their reports about implementation every 4 years before the committee at its bi-annual meeting in Geneva. The Committee reacts with “Concluding Observations”, statements that include recommendations on further action to be taken by the State Party concerned. The Committee also may react to individual complaints it receives. If those complaints hint to serious or systematic violations of the Convention by a State Party, the Committee can initiate inquiries on the matter concerned. 3 1 http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/cat.htm. 2 http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/cat-one.htm. 3 This initiative can only be taken if the State party has not opted out of this obligation under Art. 28 of the Convention. As of now, the CAT has 74 members and 141 signatories. 4 Of the members of the new Human Rights Council(HRC) India, Pakistan and Malaysia have not yet ratified the CAT. What is the Optional Protocol? The OPCAT is an addition to the Convention against Torture. It was drafted to strengthen the “protection of people deprived of their liberty” on the background“that further measures are necessary to achieve the purposes of the Convention against Torture” 5 Like the CAT itself, it is only binding for States that accede to it. The OPCAT establishes an international monitoring body, the International Subcommittee on Prevention(ISP), which will be allowed to undertake country visits inspecting places of detention. It also obliges the States Party to set up at the domestic level one or several National Preventive Mechanisms(NPM). These mechanisms are intended as visiting bodies for the inspection of“any place under its[the State Party’s] jurisdiction and control where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty.” 6 The background thought of the whole exercise is that national and international monitoring – in form of visits of places of detention – are the most effective instruments for the prevention of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 4 http://www.ohchr.org/english/countries/ratification/9 .htm. The term“member” denotes countries that have ratified the Convention,“signatories” have only signed them, but not ratified, yet. 5 Preamble of the OPCAT. 6 OPCAT, article 4.