TRES/006/10/2013 – Resolution on the Creation of Effective National Mechanisms to Prevent Torture
We, the participants of the NGO Forum preceding the 54th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the 28th African Human Rights Book Fair held from 18th – 20th October, 2013 in Banjul, The Gambia
Guided by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and in particular Article 45 of the Charter, which defines the mandate of the Commission;
Considering the rights established and guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples covering all categories of persons, including prisoners, detainees and other persons deprived of their freedom;
Considering further progress in the dialogue between the Special Procedures of the United Nations and those of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, under the auspices of the African Commission;
Bearing in mind the Resolution on Prisons in Africa adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 17th Ordinary Session held from 13 to 22 March 1995 in Lomé, Togo;
Concerned by the fact that only 12 states are parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment protocol, and that only five have designated national preventive mechanisms, which remain very fragile;
Bearing in mind, in this fiftieth anniversary of the OAU / AU, the long quest for dignity embodied by the Pan-African movement;
- Calls upon the African Commission to adopt a resolution which:
- Urges state parties to the African Charter which have not yet ratified the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel , Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, and the Optional Protocol thereof, to do so;
- Urges state parties to the OPCAT to be involved alongside the Sub- Committee for the Prevention of Torture, in collaboration with its partners, particularly the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF ) and the Association for the Prevention of torture ( APT), for the implementation of the OPCAT as a complementary tool of regional efforts;
- Calls upon states to urgently implement a participatory, integrated and operational strategy for the prevention of torture based on national guarantees and regional and international standards.
Done in Banjul, The Gambia on 20th October, 2013
