Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Adopted on 18 December 2002 at the fifty-seventh session of the
General Assembly of the United Nations by resolution
A/RES/57/199.
Protocol is available for signature, ratification and accession as from
4 February 2003 (i.e. the date upon which the original of the Protocol
was established) at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
PREAMBLE
The States Parties to the present Protocol,
Reaffirming that torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are
prohibited and constitute serious violations of human rights, Convinced that further measures are
necessary to achieve the purposes of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) and to strengthen
the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, Recalling that articles 2 and 16 of the Convention oblige
each State Party to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment in any territory under its jurisdiction, Recognizing that
States have the primary responsibility for implementing those articles, that strengthening the
protection of people deprived of their liberty and the full respect for their human rights is a
common responsibility shared by all and that international implementing bodies complement and
strengthen national measures, Recalling that the effective prevention of torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment requires education and a combination of various
legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures, Recalling also that the World Conference
on Human Rights firmly declared that efforts to eradicate torture should first and foremost be
concentrated on prevention and called for the adoption of an optional protocol to the Convention,
intended to establish a preventive system of regular visits to places of detention, Convinced that
the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment can be strengthened by non-judicial means of a preventive
nature, based on regular visits to places of detention, Have agreed as follows:
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