The Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI) is pleased to release its 2019 Annual Report. 2019 marked the 35th anniversary of the adoption of UNCAT, and CTI’s half-way stage since its establishment in 2014, catalysing important energy towards reaching CTI’s dual goals of universal UNCAT ratification and effective implementation.

The report summarises the main activities and events that CTI held over the course of last year, of particular note:

• 4 new States became parties to UNCAT: Angola, Grenada, Kiribati and Samoa, all of which CTI was delighted to have supported in their pathway to ratification of the Convention. There are now 169 States parties to the Convention.
• For the first time, CTI convened a major Global Seminar on Cooperation and Innovation in Policing, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, gathering senior level police representatives from 23 countries worldwide, alongside judges, prosecutors and torture prevention experts.CTI held another 2 major events at regional level in February and November, respectively, one for Pacific countries on ratification and implementation of UNCAT, held in Natadola, Fiji; and one for Asia-Pacific countries, focusing on institutional and legislative frameworks for effective law enforcement, held in Bali, Indonesia.
• A Geneva-based event on alleviating the Treaty Body reporting burden of Small States, which discussed domestic good practices and challenges to reporting to UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies with the Permanent Missions of 12 Small States in Geneva.
• To commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, held on 26 June, CTI released an animated video on “What is UNCAT all about?”, explaining the benefits of ratifying and implementing UNCAT in 2 minutes.
• The release of 4 new UNCAT Implementation Tools, namely on Cooperation on Extradition, Complaints and Investigations as well as one succinct UNCAT Explainer and an UNCAT Article-by-Article brief outline.
• A total of 66 States participated in CTI events worldwide.

To find out more about CTI’s work in 2019, the full report is available here.