Mr. Anare Leweniqila, Chargé d’affaires a.i. and Deputy Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UNOG, delivered a statement on behalf of the CTI’s Core State group under the General Debate on Item 3 at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) 49th Session in Geneva.

Thank you, Madam Vice President,  

I have the pleasure of speaking on behalf of the Core States of the Convention against Torture Initiative – known as CTI – namely, Chile, Denmark, Ghana, Indonesia, Morocco and my own country, Fiji.

As an inter-governmental and cross-regional initiative, our core goal is to support States to become parties to the UN Convention against Torture – or ‘UNCAT’ – and improve its implementation by 2024.  We pride ourselves on being an initiative that is by States, for States, and we work towards our mission through a variety of approaches – including for instance holding technical seminars, diplomatic country visits, and through providing confidential, expert advice and capacity-building.

When CTI launched in 2014, there were 154 States Parties to UNCAT. Today, there are 173 – a laudable increase of 19 States. Last year, we were pleased to welcome two new UNCAT States parties, and we take this opportunity to congratulate the Governments of Sudan and Suriname in this regard. These two ratifications have also been key milestones – as we now have full ratification of all UN Member States in South America, as well as the League of Arab States.

Madam Vice President,

The fight against torture and other ill-treatment is a global challenge requiring us to join forces to assist one another. On the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations last year, Secretary-General António Guterres called for revamped multilateralism, and to utilize our combined efforts effectively in building our collective future. One of the benefits offered by the Convention against Torture is precisely this: the harnessing of States’ international cooperation and collaboration towards the eradication of torture.

As several of UNCAT’s provisions require inter-State cooperation, including in matters such as extradition, mutual legal assistance and non-refoulement, ratifying the Convention provides a platform for enhanced multilateral dialogue and boosts cross-regional and inter-regional cooperation efforts on torture prevention and response, which CTI, as an intergovernmental initiative, supports and facilitates.  

As CTI, we will continue to serve as an international hub for the confidential exchange of States experiences, good practices and challenges, and we remain committed and stand ready to support States wishing to advance on UNCAT ratification and implementation.

I thank you, Madam Vice President.