Part II: Preventing torture: NHRIs in action They can disseminate decisions of treaty bodies concerning individual complaints, as well as followup on these decisions and try to ensure that the Government implements them. The conclusions of these treaty bodies also provide an important source of jurisprudence that can be useful for the work of NHRIs. 1.3. NHRIs and the Committee against Torture The Convention against Torture establishes the Committee against Torture, a body that monitors the performance of States parties in meeting their obligations under the treaty. The Committee has a broad mandate. Not only does it examine reports submitted by States parties, it can also carry out confidential inquiries into allegations of systematic torture, examine individual complaints (where States have accepted this procedure) and make general comments to help States, NHRIs and others interpret and understand the treaty. 1.3.1. State reporting procedure States parties have an obligation to submit a report to the Committee against Torture every four years, setting out what steps they have taken to implement their obligations under the treaty. The Committee can also submit to a State party a list of issues prior to receiving its report. If the State party agrees to report under this optional reporting procedure, its response to this list of issues constitutes its report. As with reports prepared for other treaty bodies, NHRIs may be consulted in the preparation of the State party’s report. NHRIs can also submit their own shadow report to the Committee, as well as provide information for the written list of issues and list of issues prior to reporting. The list of issues is adopted one session prior to the session during which the Committee considers the State’s report. The Committee’s website includes information on the participation of NHRIs (and Civil Society Organisations) in the reporting process.108 NHRIs and NPMs that have submitted written information may also have a private plenary meeting with the whole Committee prior to the dialogue with the State delegation. These one-hour briefings are part of the official session and include interpretation from and into UN languages. They provide NHRIs with the opportunity to highlight and update the Committee on key issues. NHRIs cannot intervene during the Committee’s examination of the State’s report and its dialogue with the State delegation. However, as these meetings are public, NHRIs may attend as observers, even if they have not submitted written information. Sessions of the Committee are now live webcasted, and this is an opportunity for NHRIs to participate remotely as well as to further disseminate the review and the State responses. NHRIs can also play an important role by disseminating the Committee’s concluding observations to the general public, as well as key stakeholders and relevant authorities. They can consider hosting followup meetings to discuss the concluding observations and strategies to implement the recommendations made by the Committee. The Committee has appointed one of its 10 members as Rapporteur on follow up. NHRIs can also monitor and assist the State to implement the recommendations made by the Committee. The Committee adopted a follow-up procedure in 2003 which requires States parties to provide information on the steps they have taken to implement its recommendations. NHRIs may also submit written information to the Committee under this follow-up procedure. In 2015, the Committee adopted specific guidelines to strengthen the procedure to follow-up on its concluding observations with detailed information on NHRIs follow-up submissions (including deadlines, format, word limit, languages, etc.)109 108 See: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CAT/Pages/NGOsNHRIs.aspx 109 See UN Doc. CAT/C/55/3. 93