The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is scheduled to return to Sri Lanka from 15 to 24 June, marking its first visit to the country in seven years, to assess whether authorities have implemented reforms and strengthened protections for people held in detention or other settings where liberty may be restricted, as part of its monitoring work under the OPCAT framework during the scheduled June visit period.
The mission will focus on evaluating conditions and oversight mechanisms linked to places of detention, as well as reviewing progress made since the SPT’s previous visit in 2019, including assessment of detention oversight conditions in practice. According to the body, the visit forms part of its ongoing mandate under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which sets out a system of preventive visits to places of detention.
“Since our last visit in 2019, the Government of Sri Lanka has designated its national preventive mechanism, which is an important step in torture prevention,” said Aisha Shujune Muhammad, head of the SPT delegation. She added that the upcoming mission will evaluate the functioning of this mechanism and assess how authorities have implemented earlier recommendations made by the subcommittee over recent years of engagement.
Muhammad also stated that the delegation looks forward to working with Sri Lanka’s preventive mechanism and carrying out joint visits as part of efforts to strengthen safeguards against torture and ill-treatment in places of deprivation of liberty in detention and deprivation settings.
Sri Lanka acceded to the Optional Protocol in 2017, committing to allow international monitoring of detention conditions under the treaty framework, under the international human rights treaty framework governing detention monitoring.
Under its mandate framework, the SPT is authorized to visit States Parties to the Optional Protocol and conduct both scheduled and unannounced visits to places where individuals are or may be deprived of their liberty. During such missions, delegates meet with government officials, members of national preventive mechanisms, civil society representatives, and officials from other United Nations agencies and other relevant stakeholders.
At the conclusion of the visit, the SPT will present its preliminary observations in confidential form to the Government of Sri Lanka and the national preventive mechanism in accordance with Article 16 of the Optional Protocol. A detailed confidential report containing findings and recommendations will then be prepared for the State Party for the State Party concerned. The report remains confidential unless Sri Lankan authorities request its publication in line with established confidentiality procedures of the protocol. The report produced after the SPT’s 2019 visit to Sri Lanka has not been made public.
The delegation is led by Aisha Shujune Muhammad of the Maldives and includes members Jakub Julian Czepek of Poland, Nika Kvaratskhelia of Georgia, and Anica Tomsic of Croatia, along with two human rights officers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as part of the visiting mission team.
