Committee for the Prevention of Torture

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The Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe. It has been described as a striking inroad into the usually well-preserved domain of sovereign states.

The CPT was founded on the basis of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987). It allows the CPT to visit all "places of detention" of the member states of the Council of Europe. Places of detention, as defined by the convention, are all places in which people are held against their will.In the first place, this covers police cells, jails, prisons and closed psychiatric institutions, but also old peoples homes and the like. The unannounced visits are carried out by small teams of CPT members, who usually call in additional experts. After each visit, a report about the findings and recommendations is drawn up and sent to the respective government. The findings deal not so much with individual cases of torture but with the identification of situations at risk that may lead to torture. The CPT reports are confidential and will be published only if the government so requests. But political pressure on the governments is strong to make the report public. Only in the rare case in which governments refuse to publish and the CPT has clear evidence of a practice of torture, the CPT may make a unilateral "public statement".

After 20 years of experience, this European model was adapted and generalized by the United Nations through the OPCAT optional protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (2006).

Members of the CPT are independent and impartial experts from a variety of backgrounds, including law, medicine and the justice system. They are elected for a four-year term by the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's decision-making body, and can be re-elected twice. One member is elected in respect of each member state.

[edit] Current members

Mauro PALMA, President (Italy) - term ends 19/12/2007
Renate KICKER, 1st Vice-President (Austria) 19/12/2009
Andres LEHTMETS, 2nd Vice-President (Estonia) 19/12/2009
Mario BENEDETTINI San Marino 19/12/2007
Florin STANESCU Romania 19/12/2007
Zdeněk HÁJEK Czech Republic 19/12/2007
Pierre SCHMIT Luxembourg 19/12/2009
Silvia CASALE United Kingdom 19/12/2009
Ales BUTALA Slovenia 19/12/2009
Veronica PIMENOFF Finland 19/12/2007
Petros MICHAELIDES Cyprus 19/12/2007
Marc NÈVE Belgium 19/12/2007
Mario FELICE Malta 19/12/2007
Pétur HAUKSSON Iceland 19/12/2007
Fatmir BRAKA Albania 19/12/2007
Eugenijus GEFENAS Lithuania 19/12/2007
Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI Switzerland 19/12/2009
Tatiana RĂDUCANU Moldova 19/12/2009
Marija DEFINIS GOJANOVIĆ Croatia 19/12/2009
Isolde KIEBER Liechtenstein 19/12/2009
Ann-Marie ORLER Sweden 19/12/2009
Zbigniew HOŁDA Poland 19/12/2007
Vladimir ORTAKOV "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" 19/12/2007
Lätif HÜSEYNOV Azerbaijan 19/12/2007
Joan-Miquel RASCAGNERES Andorra 19/12/2007
Asya KHACHATRYAN Armenia 19/12/2007
Vitolds ZAHARS Latvia 19/12/2007
Anna GAVRILOVA-ANCHEVA Bulgaria 19/12/2009
Celso José DAS NEVES MANATA Portugal 19/12/2007
Gergely FLIEGAUF Hungary 19/12/2009
Haritini DIPLA Greece 19/12/2007
Jørgen Worsaae RASMUSSEN Denmark 19/12/2009
Antonius Maria VAN KALMTHOUT Netherlands 19/12/2009
Ladislav GETLÍK Slovak Republic 19/12/2007
Elena SEREDA Russian Federation 19/12/2007
George TUGUSHI Georgia 19/12/2009
Wolfgang HEINZ Germany 19/12/2009
Birgit LIE Norway 19/12/2009
Tim DALTON Ireland 19/12/2011
Emilio GINES SANTIDRIÁN Spain 19/12/2009
Roland MARQUET Monaco 19/12/2009
Ömer ATALAR Turkey 19/12/2009
Xavier RONSIN France 19/12/2009
Ivan JANKOVIĆ Serbia 19/12/2009
Olivera VULIĆ Montenegro 19/12/2011

[edit] External links

CPT Home Page

v • d • e Human rights

Concepts & Philosophies

Inalienable rights · Fiduciary law · Freedoms · Natural rights · Negative rights · State sovereignty · Universality · Universal jurisdiction

Organisations

International human rights bodies	Committee on the Rights of the Child · International Committee of the Red Cross · International Criminal Court · Human Rights Commission · Human Rights Committee · Human Rights Council · UN Security Council

Regional human rights bodies	African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights · African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · African Court of Justice · European Court of Human Rights · European Committee for the Prevention of Torture · Inter-American Commission on Human Rights · Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Multi-lateral bodies involved in human rights	European Union · Council of Europe · Organisation of American States · UNHCR · UNOCHA · International Labour Organization · WHO · UNESCO · UNAIDS · UNDESA · CSW · UNFPA · UNICEF · UNIFEM · UNDP · FAO · UN-HABITAT

Major NGOs	Amnesty International · Human Rights Watch

Legal instruments

Declarations	Cairo Declaration of Human Rights · Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples · Universal Declaration of Human Rights · American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man · Paris Principles

International human rights law	Convention Against Torture · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination · Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities · Convention on the Rights of the Child · International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families · International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid · International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance · International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights · International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Regional human rights law	African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights · American Convention on Human Rights · European Convention on Human Rights · European Convention on Torture · European Social Charter · Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons · Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture · Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women · Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities

International humanitarian law	Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide · Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees · Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees · Geneva Conventions · Hague Conventions · Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Concepts that may be considered as human rights

Civil & Political rights	Right to life · Right to die · Right to bear arms · Right to liberty · Right to security of person · Freedom of movement · Freedom from slavery · Freedom from torture · Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment · Right to personhood · Right to equality before the law · Right to effective remedy before the law · Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention · Freedom from exile · Right to a fair trial · Right to presumption of innocence · Right to Privacy · Right of asylum · Right to a nationality · Freedom of thought and conscience · Freedom of religion · Freedom of expression · Freedom of assembly · Freedom of association · Right to suffrage · Right to marriage and family life · Right to protest

Economic & Social rights	Labor rights · Right to just remuneration · Right to equal pay for equal work · Right to join a trade union · Right to social security · Right to rest & leisure · Right to work · Right to property · Right to intellectual property · Right to participate in culture · Right to education · Freedom of education · Right to an adequate standard of living · Right to healthcare · Right to water · Right to food

Reproductive rights	Family planning · Reproductive health · Right to legal abortion · Right to genital integrity · Freedom from involuntary female genital cutting

Rights of war	Rights of civilians · Rights of prisoners of war