In its submission to the Committee Against Torture on the list of issues for the Third Examination of Ireland, IHREC has named the failure to ratify OPCAT as one of its key concerns. One of the focuses of the submission is on safeguards in and independent oversight of institutional settings.
In particular, IHREC highlights the importance of OPCAT in relation to protecting those in prison settings, in police custody and in psychiatric institutions. It states that ratification will be ‘essential in addressing a number of the key issues outlined’.
IHREC invites the CAT to urge Ireland to ratify OPCAT, and to provide details on how to establish a National Preventive Mechanism and how to appropriately resource the co-ordinating body within the NPM framework.
Read the full submission here.