The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“SPT”) of the United Nations (UN) is visiting Costa Rica to evaluate the conditions and treatment given to prisoners in the different prisons in the country.
Members of the SPT will remain in the country through March 14. “During its mission, the Subcommittee intends to visit prisons, police stations, detention facilities for women and minors, detention facilities for migrants, as well as psychiatric hospitals. The Subcommittee will also hold meetings with state authorities and with Costa Rica’s National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture. It will also meet with members of civil society to discuss how to prevent torture and ill-treatment, and improve the conditions of detention for persons deprived of their liberty in Costa Rica”, explains the press release.
“Costa Rica was one of the first states to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, and had been involved in initial negotiations of it since the 1980s. The time is now right to evaluate Costa Rica’s commitment to its obligations under the Optional Protocol,” said Roberto Fehér Perez, head of the delegation.
The Subcommittee is mandated to visit all States parties to the Optional Protocol. States parties have an obligation to establish a monitoring body, known as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), within one year of ratifying the Optional Protocol. Costa Rica ratified the Optional Protocol in 2005, and appointed its NPM in 2015, which is attached to the Ombudsman’s Office.
At the end of the visit, the Subcommittee will present its confidential preliminary observations to the government of Costa Rica.
Members of the SPT will remain in the country through March 14. “During its mission, the Subcommittee intends to visit prisons, police stations, detention facilities for women and minors, detention facilities for migrants, as well as psychiatric hospitals. The Subcommittee will also hold meetings with state authorities and with Costa Rica’s National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture. It will also meet with members of civil society to discuss how to prevent torture and ill-treatment, and improve the conditions of detention for persons deprived of their liberty in Costa Rica”, explains the press release.
“Costa Rica was one of the first states to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, and had been involved in initial negotiations of it since the 1980s. The time is now right to evaluate Costa Rica’s commitment to its obligations under the Optional Protocol,” said Roberto Fehér Perez, head of the delegation.
The Subcommittee is mandated to visit all States parties to the Optional Protocol. States parties have an obligation to establish a monitoring body, known as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), within one year of ratifying the Optional Protocol. Costa Rica ratified the Optional Protocol in 2005, and appointed its NPM in 2015, which is attached to the Ombudsman’s Office.
At the end of the visit, the Subcommittee will present its confidential preliminary observations to the government of Costa Rica.
