Preventing Torture An Operational Guide for National Human Rights Institutions Watch Go to the Preventing Torture CD-Rom to watch more on the role of NHRIs to prevent torture and ill-treatment of people in places of detention. Click on ‘Feature materials’ and then select ‘Item 1 – NHRIs: Confronting the challenge’. Key points: Introduction • States have an obligation to prevent torture. • There is an important distinction between direct prevention (measures taken before torture occurs to stop it from happening) and indirect prevention (measures taken after torture has occurred to avoid its repetition). • Preventing torture requires an integrated strategy involving three key elements: a strong legal framework, effective implementation of the legal framework and control mechanisms to monitor and support the legal framework and its implementation. Further reading In the CD-Rom Committee against Torture, general comment No. 2, Implementation of article 2 by States Parties Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law; General Assembly resolution 60/147 of 16 December 2005 12-Point Programme for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by Agents of the State; Amnesty International; 2005 (revised) Preventing Torture in the 21st Century; Essex Human Rights Review (Vol. 6, No. 1); Human Rights Centre, University of Essex; 2009 Introduction: The concept of torture prevention and its application | 9