1. THE MANDATE OF THE NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM
The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT)
The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment of Punishment (hereinafter also referred as OPCAT) is an international human rights treaty
designed to strengthen protection of people deprived of their liberty. Its adoption reflected a consensus
among the international community that people deprived of their liberty are particularly vulnerable to
ill-treatment and efforts to combat such ill-treatment should focus on prevention. The OPCAT
embodies the idea that prevention of ill-treatment in detention can be best achieved by a system of
independent, regular visits to the places of detention. During such visits treatment and conditions of
detention are inspected.
The OPCAT entered into force in June, 2006. States having ratified the OPCAT are required to
designate a “National Preventive Mechanism” (NPM). This is a body or group of bodies that regularly
examine the treatment of detainees, make recommendations, and comment on existing policy and
practice.
In order to carry out its monitoring role effectively, the NPM must:
Be independent from government and the institutions it monitors;
Be sufficiently resourced to perform its functions; and
Have personnel with the necessary expertise and who are sufficiently diverse to represent the
community in which it operates.
The NPM must have the power to:
Access all places of detention (including those operated by private entities);
Conduct interviews in private with detainees and other relevant people;
Choose which places it wants to visit and who it wishes to interview;
Access information about the number of people deprived of their liberty, the number of places
of detention and their location; and
Access information about the treatment and conditions of detention.
The NPM also liaises with the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), an international body
established by the OPCAT with both operational functions (visiting places of detention in states parties
and making recommendations regarding the protection of detainees from ill-treatment) and advisory
functions (providing assistance and training to state parties and NPMs). The SPT is made up of 25
independent and impartial experts from around the world, and publishes an annual report on its
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