Congo - Despite ratification of the UN Convention against Torture, the practice persists

09/11/2020
Statement
en fr

The Observatoire congolais des Droits de l’Homme (OCDH – The Congolese Human Rights Observatory), a member organisation of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), calls for the implementation of a torture prevention mechanism in the Republic of Congo (in French only)

Despite the ratification by Congo-Brazzaville of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Punishment in 2003 [1], the practice of torture persists. Many cases of torture that go unpunished are still reported by human rights organisations, and no domestic law has yet been adopted to transpose this convention.

In particular, the OCDH considers that the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) is a unique opportunity to advance torture prevention at national level as this instrument provides for the establishment of a torture prevention mechanism. [2]

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