On December 15 2022, the Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI) and its Core States – Chile, Denmark, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia and Morocco – held its 2022 Annual Forum in Geneva. For the first time since 2018, CTI welcomed its Group of Friends in person to discuss key achievements in the prevention of torture over the past year, and opportunities for improvements. Over 46 participants were in attendance at the Forum, comprising a total of 26 States representatives including 11 Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives, as well as nine non-governmental organisations and experts.

Taking place a few days after the 74th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Forum served as a reminder of the various measures CTI has undertaken over the past year to help strengthen the implementation of the UN Convention against Torture across States. His Excellency Ambassador Ruddyard, Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the UN in Geneva, remarked upon the various briefings and workshops that CTI conducted for Permanent Missions and government officials, which provided an opportunity for CTI to outline the ways in which it can support States in joining UNCAT and the various benefits that arise in doing so. The three-day regional seminar for the Asia-Pacific region on building robust preventive frameworks and the implementation of safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment was highlighted, as was the the online side-event CTI hosted during the 49th session of the Human Rights Council which focused on the work of lawyers, doctors, and judges in preventing and investigating torture.

Speakers also reflected on other key developments and achievements which took place in 2022, including CTI’s continued partnership with UN anti-torture bodies. Special attention was also afforded to the development of key tools pertaining to torture prevention throughout the past 12 months. Detailing the collaborative reports and projects predicated on fruitful partnerships with CTI’s Group of Friends, His Ambassador Antwi, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the UN in Geneva, acknowledged the tools which CTI produced in 2022, which have played an important role in identifying how to criminalise torture in national law and which also recognized positive examples of domestic legal protections against torture and ill treatment. Ambassador Antwi discussed the collaborative report, “Anti-Torture Standards in common law Africa: Good Practices and Way Forward” which arose from CTI’s partnership with the NGO, REDRESS, and underscored CTI’s partnership with the Danish Institute against Torture (DIGNITY), and their combined work to produce an implementation tool on preventative approaches to torture in prisons and pre-trial detentions.

Moreover, the Forum outlined CTI’s efforts to mitigate the risk of torture and ill-treatment. In particular, speakers cited the recently launched, ‘CTI Police Resource Toolkit’; a compilation of resources and State practices that offer practical guidance on how to effectively implement existing international law and human rights standards in policing and law enforcement activities. Developed in partnership with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), speakers reflected on the Toolkit’s ultimate goal of underlining how to improve professionalism and effectively reduce incentives to torture and abuse in the context of policing and law enforcement.

Ambassadors also took the opportunity to celebrate CTI’s expanding network of UN Member States, Organisations, and experts – otherwise known as ‘CTI’s Group of Friends’. Over the past year, the ‘Group of Friends’ welcomed Angola, the Dominican Republic, Maldives, and the Marshall Islands as its newest members, taking the total number of State members in CTI’s Group of Friends to 47. CTI also celebrated important milestones pertaining to UNCAT ratification, including the most recent states to join the Convention, Sudan and Suriname.

A panel discussion on “Addressing torture and ill-treatment through multilateralism and diplomacy” was moderated by the Head of the CTI Secretariat, Ms. Gayethri Pillay, and welcomed H.E. Claudia Fuentes, Ambassador of Chile; Antti Korkeakivi, Chief, Anti-torture, Capacity building, Coordination and Funds Section, Human Rights Treaties Branch, OHCHR; and Mark Thomson, Co-Chair of Principles on Effective Interviewing initiative, as the key panelists.

The Forum was concluded by Abdellah Boutadghart, Deputy Permanent Representative, Morocco, who stressed the importance of continued collaboration and partnership amongst CTI’s Group of Friends which, he affirmed, was critical to achieving full ratification and improved implementation of the UN Convention against Torture by 2024.