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- Title
The OPCAT Special Fund: A New Resource for Torture Prevention?
- Authors
Ploton, Vincent
- Abstract
The establishment of a fund to support the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) by the UN in 2011 represents a major opportunity for all actors working on torture prevention. The treaty itself does not provide much detail as to how the Fund should operate or what initiatives should be supported through contributions. It only mentions that the Fund should support the implementation of recommendations from the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) as well as ‘educational programmes’ of national institutions for the prevention of torture (so-called national preventive mechanisms, or NPMs). Like its sister fund, the UN Fund for Victims of Torture, the OPCAT Special Fund could contribute to bringing human rights closer to the ground and provide direct support to a burgeoning and vibrant movement of torture prevention actors around the world. However, the Fund has so far only been open to a small number of institutions in less than 15 countries globally, and for projects focused exclusively on the implementation of some recommendations formulated by the SPT. The Fund has also suffered from a lack of contributions. This policy and practice note seeks to establish an overview of the initial operations of the Fund and to identify some opportunities in its development, both internally and externally.
- Subjects
TORTURE prevention; EDUCATIONAL programs; HUMAN rights; NATIONAL human rights institutions; UNITED Nations
- Publication
Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2015, Vol 7, Issue 1, p153
- ISSN
1757-9619
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/jhuman/huv002