GENEVA/PARIS - The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will visit France from 17 to 23 May, gaining first-hand access to places of detention across the country as part of its work to prevent torture and ill-treatment.
The visit, previously deferred owing to the UN's financial constraints, follows France's ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) in 2008. The SPT delegation will examine the treatment and conditions of people deprived of liberty across a range of custodial settings, as well as the preventive measures in place to prevent torture and ill-treatment. The SPT delegation can visit prisons, police and gendarmerie custody facilities, psychiatric institutions, immigration detention centres, and other places where individuals may be deprived of their liberty.
"We look forward to engaging constructively with the French authorities and with all concerned parties to support France's efforts to strengthen safeguards for people held in detention," said Suzanne Jabbour, who will lead the SPT delegation. "This visit is an opportunity to take stock of the situation on the ground and to reaffirm our shared commitment to preventing torture and ill-treatment in all places of deprivation of liberty."
During the visit, the delegation will meet with representatives of competent ministries and judicial authorities, members of the legislature, prosecutors and judges. The delegation will also engage with France's National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté (CGLPL), and conduct joint visits to detention facilities with the NPM, in line with the cooperative approach central to the OPCAT framework.
At the conclusion of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the French authorities. A full confidential report detailing the Subcommittee's findings and recommendations will subsequently be shared with France. The SPT encourages the French authorities to publish the report in the interest of transparency and accountability.
The SPT delegation comprises Suzanne Jabbour (Head of Delegation, Lebanon); Omar Battas (Morocco); Hamet Saloum Diakhate (Senegal) and Paul Lam Shang Leen, (Mauritius), accompanied by two Human Rights Officers from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
