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The Committee against Torture

The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is composed of 10 independent experts who are elected for a term of four years. It monitors the implementation of the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).

Members serve in their personal capacity and may be re-elected if nominated. The Committee Against Torture normally convenes twice year for sessions of three weeks' duration, normally in May and November in Geneva.

Definition of torture in the CAT

Individual Complaints

Schematic representation of individual complaints procedure

Selected Decisions by the Committee regarding African States

State reporting and NGOs

Schematic representation of state reporting procedure

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Convention was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984. It entered into force on 26 June 1987, in accordance with Article 27, paragraph 1.

Text of the CAT (Website of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)

African States Parties to the CAT

As of February 2012, the following African States have ratified the Convention:

Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Optional Protocol allows in-country inspections of places of detention which are undertaken in collaboration with national institutions. It was adopted on 18 December 2002 at the fifty-seventh session of the UN General Assembly and entered into force on 22 June 2006, in accordance with Article 28, paragraph 1.

Text of the Optional Protocol (Website of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)

As of February 2012, the following African States have ratified the Optional Protocol:

Benin, Liberia, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal.

Last change: 22.02.12 - 18:34