TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Abbreviations.......................................................................... p. 3 Presentation .......................................................................................... p. 5 Foreword ............................................................................................... p. 9 Biographic Note of the Authors........................................................... p. 11 Chapter I: Basic Questions on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.................................... p. 13 Chapter II: History of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture................................... p. 31 Chapter III: Commentary on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.................................. p. 57 Chapter IV: The Mandate and Methodology of the Preventive Mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.................................. p. 119 Chapter V: Strategies for the Ratification and Implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture................................... p. 141 1 Annex 1: UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment .................... p. 165 Annex 2: Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment......................................................................... p. 181 Annex 3: States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment......................................................................... p. 196 Annex 4: Voting Record on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishmen.......................................................................... p. 203 Annex 5: Members of the UN Committee against Torture ...................... p. 215 Annex 6: Procedures for the Ratification of International Treaties by States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture ........... p. 217 Annex 7: Useful Addresses..................................................................... p. 266 Annex 8: Further Reading on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture ..................................... p. 270 2 TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights AI Amnesty International APT Association for the Prevention of Torture CAT UN Committee against Torture CEDAW UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEPTA Committee of Experts for the Prevention of Torture in the Americas CERD UN Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CHR UN Commission on Human Rights CINAT Coalition of International Non-Governmental Organisations against Torture CPT European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ECOSOC UN Economic and Social Council EU European Union FI.ACAT International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture FIDH International Federation for Human Rights GA UN General Assembly GRULAC UN Latin American and Caribbean Group IACHR Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ICJ International Commission of Jurists ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia IIHR Inter-American Institute for Human Rights ILANUD UN Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders IRCT International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims NGO non governmental organisation NHRI national human rights institutions OAS Organisation of American States 3 ODIHR Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights OPCAT UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment OMCT World Organisation Against Torture OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe SADC Southern African Development Community SCT Swiss Committee against Torture UN United Nations UNCAT UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment UNHCHR UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 4 Presentation The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture adopted in December 2002, provides a novel and realistic approach to preventing this unacceptable human rights violation and crime against humanity. For the Inter- American Institute of Human Rights (IIHR) and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), it is therefore a great honour to jointly present this manual aimed at putting such an innovative and indispensable international instrument into practice. Directed towards national and regional actors dedicated to preventing torture and ill-treatment in their societies, the manual hopes to serve as a practical tool for the campaign to promote the ratification and implementation of the Optional Protocol. For although the instrument, which will establish a worldwide system of regular visits to places of detention, was successfully adopted by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 2002, a global campaign to ensure its prompt entry into force and its universal application is actively underway. It for this reason that the IIHR, as well as the APT are instigating the dissemination of this material within the international community. This alliance is not the first one between our two institutions. It has to be recalled that in the past IIHR and APT have already actively collaborated, in close coordination with several human rights entities, in the elaboration of general guidelines for effectively investigating instances of torture and other forms of ill- treatment.1 In this context, both institutions present this Manual, which offers basic information related to the Optional Protocol, so that it can be used by a wealth of actors involved in the ratification campaign for this instrument. The first chapter introduces the reader to the Optional Protocol, stressing the need for a new international instrument of this sort within the framework of other relevant norms and mechanisms. The second chapter takes the reader through the history of the conception, negotiation and adoption of the Optional Protocol before the different bodies of the UN to gain a greater understanding of the lengthy and complex process. The third chapter is a commentary on the text of the Optional Protocol, 1 See the Manual on the Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, better know as the “Istanbul Protocol”, adopted by25 human rights institutions and NGOs in Turkey in 2000,Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, New York, 2001. Further, IIHR published in close collaboratión with Penal Reform International (PRI), in 2000, a Manual de Buena Práctica Penitenciaria. Implemenacion de las Reglas Mínimas de Naciones Unidas para el Tratamiento de los Reclusos, IIHR, San José, 2000, which has become a reference tool in the Americas for the implementation of penitentiary policies with a greater focus on international human rights standards. 5 aimed at further expanding on the content of each article, including the significance and background of some of the provisions. Chapter four aims to illustrate the potential impact of a system of regular monitoring of detention facilities, by describing the two main mechanisms established by the Optional Protocol at the international and national level. The final chapter identifies the potential key actors as well as suggesting some actions for the ratification and implementation campaigns. This publication is based on a similar manual on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), first published in 2000 by the IIHR, which has also become an important essential reference for ratification campaigns for international human rights instruments. Based on the success of this first manual to bolster the ratification process of the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW and their own long-standing commitment to preventing torture in the Americas region, the IIHR and APT decided to agree on a strategic partnership to produce this second manual on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture. While the IIHR did not participate in the drafting and negotiation process of the Optional Protocol, it did follow the process closely through the remarkable participation of Judge Elizabeth Odio Benito, a member of the General Assembly of IIHR since 1996, who acted as Chair of the Working Group that drafted the Optional Protocol, and to whom today, as a Judge and Vice President of the International Criminal Court, we extend our deepest gratitude for agreeing to present a foreword to this Manual. In addition to a solid track record of promoting human rights instruments, extensive experience in campaigning strategies of both universal and inter-American instruments, and an extensive network of local partners within the American continent, the IIHR had a specific Program for Prevention of Torture between 1994 and 1999. Since 2002, IIHR has developed in collaboration with the Center for Enforcement of Justice and International Law (CEJIL) a joint initiative aimed at providing psychological assistance to victims of torture within the inter-American system for the protection of human rights For its part, the APT is a non-governmental organisation that was