Article 2
1. A Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment of the Committee against Torture (hereinafter referred to as the
Subcommittee on Prevention) shall be established and shall carry out the functions laid down
in the present Protocol.
2. The Subcommittee on Prevention shall carry out its work within the framework of the
Charter of the United Nations and shall be guided by the purposes and principles thereof, as
well as the norms of the United Nations concerning the treatment of people deprived of their
liberty.
3. Equally, the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be guided by the principles of confidentiality,
impartiality, non-selectivity, universality and objectivity.
4. The Subcommittee on Prevention and the States Parties shall cooperate in the
implementation of the present Protocol.
Article 3
Each State Party shall set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several
visiting bodies for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment (hereinafter referred to as the national preventive mechanism).
Article 4
1. Each State Party shall allow visits, in accordance with the present Protocol, by the
mechanisms referred to in articles 2 and 3 to any place under its jurisdiction and control
where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order given by a
public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence (hereinafter referred to
as places of detention). These visits shall be undertaken with a view to strengthening, if
necessary, the protection of these persons against torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
2. For the purposes of the present Protocol, deprivation of liberty means any form of detention
or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which
that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other
authority.
PART II
Subcommittee on Prevention
Article 5
1. The Subcommittee on Prevention shall consist of ten members. After the fiftieth ratification
of or accession to the present Protocol, the number of the members of the Subcommittee on
Prevention shall increase to twenty-five.
2. The members of the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be chosen from among persons of
high moral character, having proven professional experience in the field of the administration
of justice, in particular criminal law, prison or police administration, or in the various fields
relevant to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty.
3. In the composition of the Subcommittee on Prevention due consideration shall be given to
equitable geographic distribution and to the representation of different forms of civilization and
legal systems of the States Parties.
2