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 recommendations on the ratification of OPCAT were made. These are outlined below, with all recommendations available through the above link.
Independent monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty and OPCAT
- The State should ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention (“OPCAT”) and establish a National Preventive Mechanism (“NPM”), ensuring that this body has access to all places of deprivation of liberty in all settings. Garda stations, residential and congregated care centres for older people and people with disabilities should be covered by the NPM.
- Existing bodies which currently monitor places of detention, as well as civil society organizations, should be allowed to make repeated and unannounced visits to all places of deprivation of liberty.
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27 July 2017 summary record of the hearing is available here.
28 July 2017 summary record of the hearing, including detailed responses from the Irish State delegation, is available here.
Concluding Observations from Ireland’s first review in 2011 are available here.