UN torture prevention experts to visit Kyrgyzstan

The delegation will meet and hold discussions with the National Center on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which is the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) of the country.

Among the places the SPT delegation is due to visit are police stations, prisons, psychiatric institutions, pre-trial detention facilities as well as centres for juveniles and other places of deprivation of liberty in the various provinces of the country. The experts will meet Government officials, the Parliament, the Prosecutor General as well as UN and civil society representatives.

“Kyrgyzstan ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture in 2008 and established its National Preventive Mechanism in 2012. This second visit aims to identify what has been done since the first visit, and to assess further steps to prevent torture in the country” said SPT Vice-chairperson Victor Zaharia, who will head the six-member delegation.

At the end of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the government of Kyrgyzstan as well as to the country’s national preventive mechanism. The SPT encourages both the State party and the preventive mechanism to makes these reports public, as the Government did with the first SPT visit report.

The SPT delegation will comprise Mr. Victor Zaharia (Republic of Moldova; head of delegation), Ms. Marija Definis-Gojanovic (Croatia), Mr. Kosta Mitrovic (Serbia), Mr. Abdallah Ounnir (Morocco), Ms. June Caridad Pagaduan Lopez (The Philippines) and Ms. Aneta Stanchevska (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).

Background:

The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has, to date, been ratified by 88 countries. The SPT communicates its recommendations and observations to States by means of a confidential report and, if and when necessary, to National Preventive Mechanisms. The SPT work is guided by the principles of confidentiality and cooperation.

The SPT has a mandate to undertake visits to States Parties, during the course of which it may visit any place where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty. It is composed of 25 independent and impartial experts from different regions of the world, who are independent human rights experts serving in their personal capacity.

For more information on the mandate of Subcommittee, please visit  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/OPCATIndex.aspx

For more information and media inquiries, please contact:

In Kyrgyzstan: Joao Nataf, +41 (0) 79 444 3707 / jnataf@ohchr.org 

In Geneva: Julia Gronnevet, +41 (0) 22 917 9310 / jgronnevet@ohchr.org