UN Torture Prevention Body To Carry Out New Visit

GENEVA/ABUJA (05 September 2024)

The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is set to visit Nigeria from 8 to 19 September. This second visit aims to assess the treatment of individuals in detention and measure whether the country has strengthened its capacity to protect the human rights of all people deprived of liberty since the Subcommittee’s previous visit ten years ago.

The SPT delegation will visit various places where individuals are held, including prisons, police stations, and psychiatric institutions, among other facilities. The delegation will also engage with the relevant Nigerian authorities, notably the National Human Rights Commission, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders, to discuss torture prevention measures and mechanisms.

“The SPT’s visit is an opportunity for Nigeria to advance its commitment to torture prevention and to strengthen safeguards in detention places,” said Aisha Shujune Muhammad, Head of the delegation. “It is also an occasion to help the authorities set up a National Mechanism for Prevention of Torture (NPM), an obligation under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture that Nigeria ratified in 2009,” she added.

At the end of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Nigeria. Following the visit, a confidential report detailing the SPT’s concerns and recommendations will be shared with the Nigerian authorities.

The SPT delegation will comprise Aisha Shujune MUHAMMAD (Maldives) Head of the delegation, Satyabhooshun Gupt DOMAH (Mauritius), Andrew Christoffel NISSEN (South Africa), and Victor ZAHARIA (Moldova), and will be accompanied by two Human Rights Officers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Background
To date, the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture has been ratified by 94 states. States are under the obligation to allow the SPT unannounced and unhindered visits to all places where persons are deprived of their liberty. States Parties should also establish a national preventive mechanism, which should conduct regular visits to places throughout the country where people are deprived of liberty.

The mandate of the SPT is to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons deprived of their liberty, through visits and recommendations to States parties to the Optional Protocol. The SPT communicates its recommendations and observations to States by means of a confidential report and, where necessary, to national preventive mechanisms. However, States parties are encouraged to request that the SPT publish the reports.

The SPT is composed of 25 independent and impartial members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States Parties.

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