The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will return to Sri Lanka from June 15 to 24, seven years after its last visit, to assess whether the authorities have followed through on reforms and strengthened protections for people in detention or other places where they may be deprived of their liberty, the UN Human Rights Office announced.
Sri Lanka acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in 2017.
Under its mandate, the SPT can visit any States Party to the Optional Protocol and conduct unannounced visits to places where people are or may be deprived of their liberty.
At the conclusion of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the government of
Sri Lanka and the national preventive mechanism, in accordance with Article 16 of OPCAT. The delegation will
subsequently prepare a confidential report for the State Party containing its findings and recommendations.
In line with the OPCAT framework, the report will remain confidential unless and until the Sri Lankan authorities request it be made public. To date, the report issued following the SPT’s 2019 visit to Sri Lanka has not been made public.
The SPT delegation comprises Aisha Shujune Muhammad, Head of Delegation (Maldives), Jakub Julian Czepek (Poland), Nika Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Anica Tomsic (Croatia) and two human rights officers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.