The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture will pay its first visit to Sri Lanka next week. The group will be here from April 2 - 12 to investigate how people deprived of their liberty are treated and observe the safeguards in place for their protection against torture and ill-treatment.
The four-member committee will comprise Victor Zaharia, Head of Delegation (Republic of Moldova), Satyabhushan Gupt Domah (Mauritius), Petros Michaelides (Cyprus), and June Lopez (Philippines).
The Subcommittee will examine the places of deprivation of liberty and will hold discussions with government officials, relevant ministries, Human Rights Committee and civil society organisations on setting up an independent national preventive mechanism. The Optional Protocol, which Sri Lanka ratified in 2017, needs such a mechanism to be established with the authority and capacity to undertake preventive visits to any place where persons may be deprived of their liberty.
The discussions scheduled to be held in Colombo will mainly lead to advising and assisting the Sri Lankan authorities on taking steps to be in compliance with the obligations in the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.
“Sri Lanka needs to take effective measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment of people deprived of their liberty. We will also advise the authorities on the full implementation of their treaty obligations, including how they can best establish a national independent body to visit places of detention” Head of the delegation, Victor Zaharia said.