UN Torture Prevention Body To Conduct Assessment Visit To Nigeria

The United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) is scheduled to visit Nigeria from September 8 to 19.

This second visit aims to evaluate the treatment of individuals in detention and determine whether the country has improved its ability to protect the human rights of all people deprived of liberty since the Subcommittee’s previous visit ten years ago.

According to a statement released on Thursday by the UN Human Rights Office Media Unit, the SPT delegation will visit a variety of facilities where people are detained, including prisons, police stations, and psychiatric institutions. The delegation will also meet with relevant Nigerian authorities, including the National Human Rights Commission, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders, to discuss torture prevention strategies and methods.

The delegation’s leader, Aisha Shujune Muhammad, stated: “The SPT’s visit is an opportunity for Nigeria to advance its commitment to torture prevention and to strengthen safeguards in detention facilities,” adding: “It is also an occasion to assist the authorities in establishing a National Mechanism for Prevention of Torture (NPM), an obligation under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture that Nigeria ratified in 2009.”

According to the statement, at the end of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary findings to the Nigerian government. Following the visit, the Nigerian authorities will receive a confidential report detailing the SPT’s concerns and recommendations.

The SPT delegation will be led by Aisha Shujune Muhammad of the Maldives, Satyabhooshun Gupt Domah of Mauritius, Andrew Christoffel Nissen of South Africa, and Victor Zaharia of Moldova, and will be accompanied by two Human Rights Officers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture has been ratified by 94 states. States are required to allow the SPT unannounced and unhindered visits to all places where people are deprived of their liberty. States Parties should also establish a national preventive mechanism that conducts regular visits to areas across the country where people are deprived of their liberty.

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

The SPT is made up of 25 independent and impartial members who are independent human rights experts from all over the world. They serve in their capacity rather than as representatives of state Parties.