OPCAT News
Irish Examiner: Migrants’ detention in breach of human rights
Around 28,000 people were refused entry between 2008 and 2016, according to Nasc’s (Irish Immigrant Support Centre) Immigration Detention and Border Control in Ireland report which was launched in Cork on 13 March 2018. Nasc, the Irish Refugee and Migrant Rights...
read moreAustralia ratifies OPCAT
Today Australia has taken the final step necessary to ratify and implement a major international treaty that combats torture and other forms of mistreatment. OPCAT will require Australia to create a regime of independent inspections for all places of detention, as...
read moreOireachtas Seminar
Senator Ivana Bacik hosted IPRT at an All Party Penal Reform Group Briefing Seminar of the 32nd Dáil and the 25th Seanad on Wednesday 13th December 2017 at 10.30am in the AV Room, Leinster House. Chaired by Senator Bacik, speakers were Deirdre Malone (Irish Penal...
read moreSPT carries out first visit to Morocco
The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) carried out its first visit to Morocco from 22 to 28 October 2017. The visit’s main objective was to advise and support the Government on the establishment of a national mechanism for the prevention of...
read moreSPT to visit Rwanda to advise establishment of NPM
The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is due to visit Rwanda from 15 to 21 October to advise the authorities on the establishment of a national detention monitoring body officially known as the National Prevention Mechanism (NPM). The SPT will...
read moreState’s response to OPCAT questioning
During Ireland’s second periodic hearing under the UN Convention against Torture, John Garry, Principal Officer, Criminal Law Reform Division, Department of Justice and Equality, stated that Ireland remains committed to ratifying the Optional Protocol to the...
read moreIrish Examiner: Gaps in independent probes of detention units
There is no independent inspection in Ireland of a range of detention facilities, including Garda stations, prisoner transport and immigration units, according to an expert report. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission called on the Government to implement a...
read moreThe Irish Times: Concern as Ireland fails to ratify UN protocol on places of detention
Ireland has yet to ratify a UN agreement allowing for the inspection of places of detention despite the then government signing it a decade ago today. While some places of detention, such as prisons, have their own inspection regimes, others such as Garda stations and...
read moreUN experts urge Panama to promptly put into effect the national mechanism for the prevention of torture
The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), at the end of their first visit to Panama, urged the State Party of Panama to promptly put in place an independent and effective national mechanism for the prevention of torture compliant with international standards....
read moreUNCAT release Concluding Observations on Ireland
The UN Committee against Torture has published its Concluding Observations on Ireland’s second periodic hearing under the UN Convention against Torture, which is available to read here. The Committee has produced a thorough list of recommendations, in which...
read moreGovernment Under Pressure To Ratify Treaty Against Torture
Original post by KFM, available here. The Government is coming under pressure to ratify a treaty against torture after committing to it 10 years ago. The issue is expected to be highlighted in a series of recommendations being published today by the United Nation's...
read moreUN Torture Committee to make recommendations to Irish Government on Friday 11 August 2017
On Friday 11th August 2017, the United Nations Committee against Torture will publish its Concluding Observations on Ireland’s performance under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT). This concludes a...
read moreUNCAT: Summary record of second periodic review of Ireland
A record of Ireland's second periodic review under the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which took place at Palais Wilson, Geneva on Thurs 27 July 2017 (first meeting) and Fri 28 July (second...
read moreIPRT Submission to the UNCAT in advance of the Second Periodic Review of Ireland
The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) made a submission to the United Nations Committee against Torture (UNCAT), in advance of the Second Periodic Review of Ireland under the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or...
read moreSubmissions to UNCAT seeking OPCAT ratification
A number of Irish civil society organisations are travelling to Geneva this week for Ireland's second periodic review under UNCAT. In their submissions to the committee prior to the hearing, several organisations have called for the State to answer questions on their...
read moreEasy to read guide to CAT by IHREC and Inclusion Ireland
An easy to read guide was developed by Inclusion Ireland for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission to explain some of the issues in the IHREC CAT report. The document was proof-read by men and women with disability. IHREC collaborated with Inclusion Ireland...
read moreAustralian Government announce intention to ratify the OPCAT
Today the Australian Government announced their intention to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) by December 2017. The OPCAT was signed by the Australian Government in 2009. By announcing its intention to ratify OPCAT, the Australian...
read moreThe Irish Times: State’s inaction on torture protocol is ‘embarrassing’
The Government’s failure to allow prisons, Garda stations and other places of detention to be inspected by the United Nations has become a source of national embarrassment, a senior UN official has said. Malcolm Evans said at the last universal periodic review of the...
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