From 20 – 22 April, the Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI) held a regional seminar on building robust preventive frameworks and the implementation of safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment in practice in the Asia-Pacific region. Hosted by the CTI Core State of Indonesia, and organised in partnership and collaboration with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), the Representative of Indonesia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), the seminar built on previous dialogues and seminars that CTI has held for the Asia and Pacific region in 2015, 2019 and 2021. In particular, the seminar built on two key recommendations from 2019: to continue to share experiences of processes of ratification and effective implementation of UNCAT and to add thematic discussions allowing for deeper engagement on specific challenges, such as the effective implementation of safeguards in the early stages of police custody.

The event brought together over 130 attendees from 15 Asia-Pacific States, attending both online and in person, as well as representatives from the CTI Core States Chile, Denmark and Morocco along with Switzerland, representing the CTI Group of Friends and supporters of the event. In her inspiring opening of the two- and half-day event, H.E. Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia underlined that UNCAT ratification is only the beginning of the journey to end torture.

We have to ensure effective implementation of the Convention and strengthen our preventive measures. Political will is essential to translate our words and commitments into actions and we can help each other strengthen our capacities on torture prevention. Indeed, sharing success stories and good practices can work to inspire others.

H.E. Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia

The seminar’s design as a hybrid event allowed for a rich dialogue with regional participants in the morning sessions and very targeted discussions on the prevention of torture in Indonesia with the over 70 officials and representatives of NHRIs of the host country that was physically present in Bali in the afternoon sessions. The seminar aimed at promoting full regional ratification of UNCAT as a key tool for States to eradicate torture, improving the understanding and promoting the benefits of non-coercive, efficient and human rights compliant interviewing techniques and the implementation of legal and procedural safeguards in custodial settings through sharing of promising State practices from the region.

Participants shared their views on the benefits of UNCAT ratification but also on obstacles faced by the remaining non-States parties in the Asia-Pacific region. The open and frank discussions during the regional part of the seminar also underlined the crucial role that national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and civil society organisations play in leading the way towards ratification and the subsequent effective implementation of the Convention against Torture. Diverse experiences and new developments were shared with regard to the criminalization of torture in national legislation, including the drafting process and recent submission of an anti-torture bill to the parliament, the role and work of parliaments in the prevention of torture more broadly and two examples of existing anti-torture legislative frameworks in both, a State party and a non-State party to UNCAT.

It is our vision to eradicate acts of torture and other ill-treatment from the landscape of today’s world. This seminar provides a platform for States from the Asia-Pacific to discuss some of the measures that can be put in place to minimize the risk of such acts. The UN Convention against Torture can be our starting point. UNCAT ratification and implementation are a crucial step to strengthening the rule of law and the administration of justice, professionalizing police and law enforcement and setting off a gradual process of improvement of laws, policies and practices.

H.E. Gustavo Ayares, Ambassador of Chile based in Indonesia and CTI Core State Representative

During the second part of the regional discussions, participants shared promising practices on the implementation of legal and procedural safeguards in police custody in various countries of the region including the right of access to a lawyer and the different legal aid schemes in Southeast Asian countries and the example of successful cooperation between academic institutions and law enforcement agencies in the training of police officers on the rights of arrested and detained persons. The role of independent monitoring of places of detention and thereby the monitoring of the implementation of those safeguards was highlighted and underlined by the concrete examples of established National Preventive Mechanisms in some countries and the monitoring work of NHRIs in general.

A particular focus was placed on investigative interviewing as a means to move away from coercive interrogation techniques and confession-based criminal justice systems. In this context, the seminar also provided a platform to introduce the newly published Mendez Principles, which generated a lot of interest among participating States, including the concrete proposal to follow up on the discussions with a dedicated event or workshops for law enforcement agencies across the region. As capacity efforts on investigative interviewing have been made in some countries of the region already, the discussion also focused on steps to be taken in order to further institutionalize this technique on the national level.

Key takeaways from the seminar include:

• Regional exchange platforms such as the CTI Regional Seminar 2022 are key on the way to a torture-free region
• More information and practical advice on how to implement safeguards against torture in practice and investigative interviewing techniques must be shared among States
• Independent monitoring mechanisms are key for the implementation of torture safeguards in practice
• Moving away from interrogations to investigative interviewing brings only advantages for States

CTI will publish an outcome report including guiding recommendations for governments in the Asia-Pacific region.

The prevention of torture is not a singular exercise, but rather a goal that requires strong national and regional multi-stakeholder collaborations involving state actors, international and regional human rights institutions as well as civil society organisations. It is in this spirit that the past three days of the Seminar have been carried out, and I trust that the outcome of your discussions will add to the efforts made in the Asia-Pacific region towards effective implementation of UNCAT and the strengthening of anti-torture efforts. The seminar showed that the Asia-Pacific region stands united in the conviction that we want to eradicate torture from our landscape even before reaching the full regional ratification of UNCAT.

Mr. Anare Leweniqila, Chargé d’affaires a.i. and Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Fiji to the United Nations in Geneva and CTI Core State Representative

The final programme and speakers list of the event can be found here.