CAT/C/69/3
6.
On 7 October, Haimoud Ramdan resigned from the Subcommittee following his
appointment as Minister for Justice of Mauritania. The State party nominated Cheikh Tourad
Abdel Malick to replace Mr. Ramdan for the remainder of his term of office, in accordance
with the procedure pursuant to article 8 of the Optional Protocol. As no States parties
responded negatively to the nomination within the six-week period after having been
informed thereof by the Secretary-General, Mr. Malick commenced his term of office on 30
November, and will be sworn in at the fortieth session.
7.
At the thirty-ninth session, Margarete Osterfeld resigned from the Subcommittee for
personal reasons. Germany nominated Marina Langfeldt to replace Ms. Osterfeld for the
remainder of her term of office, in accordance with the procedure pursuant to article 8 of the
Optional Protocol. As no States parties responded negatively to the nomination within the
six-week period after having been informed thereof by the Secretary-General, Ms. Langdeldt
commenced her term of office on 8 January 2020, and will be sworn in at the fortieth session.
8.
In the light of the increasing number of States parties to the Optional Protocol, the
Subcommittee decided to restructure the membership of its regional teams and to restructure
and reorganize the composition of its working groups.
9.
The regional teams examine the implementation of the Optional Protocol within their
region, reporting to the Subcommittee in plenary session, and make recommendations as
appropriate. As of 31 December 2019, the heads of the regional teams will be as follows: for
Africa, Gnambi Garba Kodjo (replacing Abdallah Ounnir following the thirty-seventh
session); for Asia and the Pacific, June Caridad Pagaduan Lopez; for Europe, Daniel Fink;
and for Latin America, Maria Dolores Gomez (replacing Roberto Fehér Pérez following the
thirty-eighth session). The composition of the regional teams is available on the
Subcommittee website.3
10.
The Subcommittee’s permanent and ad hoc working groups met as required and were
able during 2019. It decided at its thirty-eighth session to establish two working groups: one
on jurisprudence and practice, the other on health aspects of torture prevention (see also sect.
IV below). The Subcommittee considers that meeting in subgroups and working groups
facilitates discussion of a broad range of issues in an efficient, focused and participatory
fashion.
11.
For the first time, the Subcommittee met in dual chambers during the thirty-eighth
session: one day for the meetings of the regional teams, and one day for the meetings of the
working groups. This greatly facilitated the work of the Subcommittee, as it allowed
members of both working groups to benefit from interpretation into the three working
languages of the Subcommittee. This arrangement was also possible at the thirty-ninth
session.
12.
At its thirty-seventh session, the Subcommittee held a meeting with representatives of
the Council of Europe on the draft additional protocol to the Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology
and Medicine; the Bureau and heads of regional teams met with the Association for the
Prevention of Torture.
13.
At its thirty-eighth session, the Subcommittee held a meeting with representatives of
the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment to consider the implementation of the exchange of letters between the
Subcommittee and the European Committee within the framework of article 31 of the
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. The Bureau and heads of regional teams
met with the Association for the Prevention of Torture.
14.
At its thirty-ninth session, the Bureau and heads of regional teams held a meeting with
representatives of the Association for the Prevention of Torture.
15.
At its thirty-ninth session, the Subcommittee met with the Committee against Torture
to discuss issues of common interest.
3
4
See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/ContactRegionalTeams.aspx.