Set up in 1989, specialist members of the Committee, including doctors and lawyers, have visited places of detention, prison and psychiatric hospitals throughout Europe to monitor the living conditions of those being detained. Following these visits, the committee has published reports suggesting improvements and laying down standards. This book provides a clear and comprehensive insight into the work carried out by one of the Council of Europe's highly influential non-judicial committees. Issues discussed include: the framework of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and the mandate of the Committee; the key terms used and the safeguards the Committee has recommended to be adopted by states; the impact of the Committee's work and possible options for the future. The book also contains the text of the Convention, the Protocols, and explanatory notes.

'Combating Torture' brings together ideas, campaign techniques and government standards, and provides ideas about how they can be best implemented. Case studies highlight how these have been used in practice all over the world.

A comprehensive insight into the valuable work carried out by one of the Council of Europe’s highly influential mechanisms, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). Since its inception in 1989, specialist members of the CPT (lawyers, prosecutors, prison experts, doctors, psychiatrists, etc.) have visited thousands of police stations, prisons, immigration detention centres, psychiatric hospitals and other places of detention all over Europe, to monitor the living conditions (hygiene, provision of food and drink, health care, etc.) of those being detained. Following these visits, the CPT issues reports suggesting improvements and laying down standards. The purpose of this book is twofold. In the first part, the authors explain the background and origins of the CPT, its membership and modus operandi, as well as how it interacts with other bodies, such as the UN’s Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) and the national preventive mechanisms (NPMs). In the second part, the authors describe the CPT’s key findings and standards in the main situations of deprivation of liberty (police, prison, immigration detention, mental health and social care). In a detailed appendix, the authors provide summaries of the key CPT findings for the 47 states visited by the CPT.

During the 20 years of its existence, The CPT (European Committee For The Prevention of Torture) has carried out some 270 visits to detention places in 47 European States. In its 19th General Report the CPT looks back over two decades of combating torture and ill-treatment in Europe. it discusses the achievements to date - the concrete improvements brought about And The standards developed - as well as the challenges which lie ahead.The report gives a detailed snapshot of the CPT's activities over the last twelve months. Highlights from recently published visit reports and government responses are also provided; they offer an insight into some of the major issues with which the Committee is confronted during its work And The approaches of States to address them. A specific section describes the safeguards that should be offered to irregular migrants deprived of their liberty, with a special emphasis on the situation of children. The report will be of interest to all those who are concerned by the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, whether in prisons, juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees, psychiatric hospitals, social welfare institutions or any other institution.

The first systematic analysis of the effectiveness of torture prevention.

Every United Nations member state is part of the human rights treaty system through the ratification of at least one of the six major human rights treaties, rendering universal participation a reality. For human rights victims, the treaty system is of central importance because international legal standards may offer benefits which political fora may not: the potential to generate remedies, attention, accessiblity. At the same time, the implementation mechanisms associated with the human rights treaties were designed at a time when the argument that international interest in human rights was an interference in domestic jurisdiction was at its peak. The challenge for the 21st Century is to move the theory of universality of international human rights standards towards effective implementation of human rights obligations. This book is a major contribution to the effort to focus attention on effective implementation of the human rights treaties. The contributors examine the major implementation shortfalls of the UN human rights treaty system, and offer concrete recommendations as to where future implementations efforts should be placed. The contributors are in a unique position to formulate and share their insights. They are drawn from among all of the constituencies involved in the human rights treaty system: the treaty bodies themselves, the NGO community, the UN secretariat, regional human rights regimes, UN agencies, UN human rights actors from the Human Rights Commission, the judiciary and academia. The book also includes, as a unique resource, all of the major documents concerning the UN human rights treaty system: the text of the treaties, the text of all amendments, statistics on individual communications to the treaty bodies, the text of all meetings of the chairpersons of the treaty bodies, reports and commentaries submitted to the UN Human Rights Commission, recent resolutions of the Human Rights Commission and the General Assembly on the human rights treaties, reform proposals by the International Law Association, regional human rights instruments. In the words of Philip Alston, the author of the UN report on enhancing the long-term effectiveness of the UN human rights treaty system, Professor Bayefsky's work `...has been more systematic and comprehensive, and has continued over a longer period of time, than any other comparable sholarly work on the subject.' (March 2000) In this volume Professor Bayefsky has collected the views of a range of authors immersed in the contribution and welfare of the UN human rights treaty system in the 21st century. It is necessary text for all those interested in the future of the international protection of human rights.

This report is a comprehensive look at the efforts of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to promote human rights around the world in 2012. It highlights the UK's human rights concerns in key countries and advances the promotion and protection of human rights as the focus of UK foreign policy. The publication is divided into nine sections: (1) Promoting and protecting human rights through the UN; (2) The human rights and democracy programme; (3) Promoting British values; (4) Human rights in safeguarding Britain's national security; (5) Human rights in promoting Britain's prosperity; (6) Human rights for British nationals overseas; (7) Working through a rules-based international system; (8) Promoting human rights in the overseas territories; (9) Human rights in 27 countries of concern. There is also a set of case studies, including DFID's work on economic and social rights, Egypt post-revolution, women and girls in India, Nigeria's response to terrorism, and the deployment of a UK team of experts to the Syrian border.

Model Law on Access to Information for Africa and other regional instruments: Soft law and human rights in Africa Edited by Ololade Shyllon 2018 ISBN: 978-1-920538-87-3 Pages: 255 Print version: Available Electronic version: Free PDF available About the publication The adoption in 2013 of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is an important landmark in the increasing elaboration of human rights-related soft law standards in Africa. Although non-binding, the Model Law significantly influenced the access to information landscape on the continent. Since the adoption of the Model Law, the Commission adopted several General Comments. The AU similarly adopted Model Laws such as the African Union Model Law on Internally Displaced Persons in Addressing Internal Displacement in Africa. This collection of essays inquires into the role and impact of soft law standards within the African human rights system and the AU generally. It assesses the extent to which these standards induced compliance, and identifies factors that contribute to generating such compliance. This book is a collection of papers presented at a conference organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, with the financial support of the government of Norway, through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria. Following the conference, the papers were reviewed and reworked. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface Contributors Abbreviations and acronyms PART I: THE MODEL LAW AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN AFRICA Introduction Ololade Shyllon The impact of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa Fola Adeleke Implementing a Model Law on Access to Information in Africa: Lessons from the Americas Marianna Belalba and Alan Sears The implementation of the constitutional right of access to information in Africa: Opportunities and challenges Ololade Shyllon PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES The Model Law on Access to Information for Africa and the struggle for the review and passage of the Ghanaian Right to Information Bill of 2013 Ugonna Ukaigwe The impact of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa on Kenya’s Access to Information framework Anne Nderi The Sudanese Access to Information Act 2015: A step forward? Ali Abdelrahman Ali Compliance through decoration: Access to information in Zimbabwe Nhlanhla Ngwenya PART III: INFLUENCE OF SOFT LAW WITHIN THE AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM Soft law and legitimacy in the African Union: The case of the Pretoria Principles on Ending Mass Atrocities Pursuant to Article 4(h) of the AU Constitutive Act Busingye Kabumba The incorporation of the thematic resolutions of the African Commission into the domestic laws of African countries Japhet Biegon General Comment 1 of the African Commission of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A source of norms and standard setting on sexual and reproductive health and rights Ebenezer Durojaye The African Union Model Law on Internally Displaced Persons: A critique Romola Adeola Selected bibliography