Association for the
Prevention of Torture
Center for Justice and
International Law
The Association for the Prevention of Torture
(APT) is an independent non-governmental
organisation based in Geneva. It was founded
by the Swiss banker and lawyer, Jean-Jacques
Gautier, in 1977.
The Center for Justice and International Law
(CEJIL) is a non-governmental, non-profit
human rights organization with consultative
status before the Organization of American
States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN),
and observer status before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The APT envisions a world in which no one
is subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, as promised by the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
The APT focuses on the prevention of torture,
rather than denunciations of individual cases
or the rehabilitation of victims. This strategic
focus on prevent ion enables the APT to collaborate with state authorities, police services,
the judiciary, national institutions, academics
and NGOs that are committed to institutional
reform and changing practices.
To prevent torture, the APT focuses on three
integrated objectives:
1. Transparency in institutions
To promote outside scrutiny and accountability of institutions where people are deprived of
their liberty, through independent visiting and
other monitoring mechanisms.
2. Effective legal frameworks
To ensure that international, regional and
national legal norms for the prevent ion of torture and other ill-treatment are universally
promoted, respected and implemented.
3. Capacity strengthening
To strengthen the capacity of national and
international actors concerned with persons
deprived of their liberty by increasing their
knowledge and commitment to prevention
practices.
Association for the Prevention of Torture
(APT)
10, Route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2267
1211 Geneva 2 – Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 919 21 70 – Fax: +41 22 919 21 80
E-mail: apt@apt.ch – Website: www.apt.ch
CEJIL’s mission is to advocate for the full
implementation of international human
rights norms in the Member States of the OAS,
through the use of the Inter-American System
for the Protection of Human Rights (IAS).
CEJIL works towards its mission and objectives through
1) the litigation of paradigmatic cases as well
as monitoring their outcome;
2) training human rights defenders and govern
ment officials on the use of the IAS and international human rights standards; and
3) a comprehensive strategy to advocate before
the OAS, IAS and Member States for increased transparency, dialogue and effectiveness of human rights protection.
CEJIL takes a victim-centered approach,
working in partnership with human rights
defenders and organizations to contribute
to social justice. Founded in 1991 by a group
of prominent human rights defenders in
the Americas. CEJIL currently has offices in
Washington D.C., USA; San Jose, Costa Rica;
Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. In 2006–2007, CEJIL held activities in
23 countries.
Center for Justice and International Law
(CEJIL)
1630 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 401,
Washington D.C. 20009 – 1053, U.S.A.
Tel. + 1 202 319 3000 – Fax +1 202 319 3019
washington@cejil.org – www.cejil.org