Latest news with #OptionalProtocolto
Scoop
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
UN Torture Prevention Body To Visit Serbia
Geneva,10 June 2025 - The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will conduct its first visit to Serbia from 15 to 21 June to assess the measures taken by the country to protect people deprived of liberty from torture and ill-treatment. During the mission, the SPT delegation will visit prisons, police stations and other places where people are or may be deprived of their liberty. The delegation will meet with government officials, the Protector of Citizens (Ombudsman), representatives of civil society, and UN agencies. The delegation will also hold meetings and conduct joint visits with the national monitoring body, officially known as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). 'We will be there to see, to listen, and to examine the conditions in which prisoners, detainees, and all others deprived of their liberty are held. Our visit will focus on how safeguards against torture and ill-treatment are being implemented in practice, and how these protections can be further strengthened,' said Massimiliano Bagaglini, who is heading the SPT delegation. 'A comprehensive national torture prevention system requires regular visits by an independent and well-resourced national detention monitoring body, and we will therefore also be looking at the functioning of the NPM in Serbia,' he added. The SPT is mandated to visit all States Parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), which Serbia ratified in 2006. At the end of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Serbia. The SPT delegation will be composed of the following members of the Subcommittee: Massimiliano Bagaglini, Head of Delegation (Italy), Vasiliki Artinopoulou (Greece), Kalliopi Kambanella (Cyprus), Nika Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) as well as two Human Rights Officers from the SPT Secretariat.
Filipino Times
26-04-2025
- Filipino Times
UAE child safety laws and structures praised by UN expert
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children has praised the UAE for major improvements in child protection laws and systems during her country visit. According to a WAM news report, Mama Fatima Singhateh visited all seven emirates and met with authorities, police, the judiciary, and civil groups involved in child safety. 'Since the visit of my predecessor back in 2009, the UAE has undergone tremendous improvements in the area of child rights promotion and child protection,' Singhateh said at a press conference in Abu Dhabi. 'Numerous positive developments have been registered over the past 16 years and in line with her recommendations.' She highlighted the UAE's completion of the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2016, along with the passing of Federal Law No. 3 of 2016, known as Wadeema's Law, a major child protection law. Singhateh described this law as a milestone in the UAE's legislative history. 'The UAE in 2016 completed its ratification process of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography – one of the main instruments guiding my mandate,' she said. The UN official also visited several centers that provide direct care and shelter to children, including the Child Centre in Abu Dhabi, Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, Aman Shelter in Ras Al Khaimah, Himaya Foundation in Ajman, and Kanaf Centre in Sharjah. 'Since my predecessor's visit, the UAE has also put in place more robust child protection structures,' Singhateh said, referring to the creation of specialized shelters and support systems for young victims. She also commended the launch of the Emirati Children's Parliament in 2020 and the establishment of the Ministry of Family, pointing out these steps as signs of the UAE's commitment to raising children's voices and strengthening family protection.
