On Friday 1 April, the Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI), in partnership with REDRESS, held the online webinar “Towards Torture Prevention and Eradication in Common Law Africa” to mark the launch of the report titled “Anti-Torture Standards in common law Africa: Good Practices and Way Forward”.

The report reviews the anti-torture legal and regulatory framework in The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe and provides an analysis of standards in place to prevent, prohibit and respond to torture and other ill-treatment in these States, showcasing positive examples of domestic legal protection against torture and other ill-treatment. It also identifies challenges experienced by States to prevent and respond to torture and other ill-treatment and outlines measures and proposals that States can consider implementing at the legal and policy level, based on international and regional standards and inspired by existing measures adopted by States in the region.

Members of the report’s Advisory Board and event panellists were Ms. Ruth Ssekindi, Director for Monitoring and Inspections at the Uganda Human Rights Commission; Mr. Gaye Sowe, Executive Director of the Institute of Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and Ms. Aua Baldé, Vice-Chair of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Moderated by Ms. Laura Blanco, CTI’s Legal Officer, panellists interventions touched on the role of civil society organisations and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in the effective implementation of anti-torture standards and in observing the implementation of safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment in police custody and the initial period of detention, as well as on ways to close the gap between the law and its implementation in practice and strengthen accountability for perpetrators of torture.

Among the key issues highlighted included the need for multi-sectoral collaboration in the fight against torture, particularly through the involvement of police and law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, parliamentary oversight bodies and committees, civil society and NHRIs, as well as the importance of providing continuous training on torture prevention based on international and regional standards and scientifically-backed criminal investigations. Further acknowledged was the need to achieve political will and senior leadership buy-in to put in place a solid and effective anti-torture legal framework that criminalises torture through a separate criminal offence, as well as the importance of changing entrenched attitudes and mindsets on ways of questioning suspects, witnesses and victims, in order to ensure these are coercion-free and without resort to torture. To this end, the recently launched “Principles on Effective Interviewing” (also known as “Méndez Principles”) were referred to as an important tool in equipping States with an alternative method and tool to be used to end coercive interrogations.

As part of the way forward, recommendations were made to increase awareness-raising and training on international and regional standards on the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment and its practical implementation in practice. In this regard, reviewing and repealing legislation to removing obstacles to accountability such as amnesties, immunities and statutes of limitations and creating specialised investigative units within the Public Prosecutor’s office were seen as an important first step to strengthen accountability efforts to prosecute perpetrators. Also seen as key was the effective implementation of key legal and procedural safeguards, such as ensuring that persons are held only in official places of detention; custody records regularly reviewed and maintained up-to-date; and detainees informed of their rights in a language they understand, including on their rights to prompt access to a lawyer and to undergo an independent medical examination. Further highlighted was the role that NHRIs and independent monitoring bodies such as National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) can play in accessing places of detention and offering recommendations to State authorities.

The event opened with welcome remarks by H.E. Ambassador Omar Zniber, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations in Geneva, on behalf of the CTI Core States. Closing remarks were delivered by Hon. Maya Sahli-Fadel, Vice-Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the ACHPR’s Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa, calling on African States to strengthen efforts on torture eradication building on the solid progress achieved in the region so far.

Over the course of 2022, CTI in partnership with REDRESS will be holding in-country national workshops with interested States among those reviewed in the report in order to exchange on good practices and challenges in the implementation of the report’s recommendations, with the overall goal of supporting and strengthening UNCAT implementation efforts. CTI trusts the report can serve as a useful tool for key stakeholders in the region, including officials in the executive branch and other governmental departments or services, such as police and law enforcement and the prison sector, as well as Parliamentarians, NHRIs, NPMs, Ombudspersons and civil society organisations and criminal justice system actors such as judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

The full report is available here.

For governments interested in learning more about CTI’s work and how can CTI support their efforts towards ratification and/or implementation of UNCAT, please contact info@cti2024.org.