Partners to the Committee for the Prevention of torture : cooperation and confidentiality

Abstract

This article will focus on the specific relations between the CPT and its partners, as two round-tables in the framework of the seminar on the Prevention of Torture in Southern Europe (Onatiseminar 1997) have been devoted to this topic. One round-table dealt with the formal partners to the CPT, with reports given by an ombudsman for the police from Portugal (Antonio Rodrigo Maximiano), a penitentiary judge (Remei Bona i Puigvert) and a representative of the police (Miguel Martin Pedraz), both from Spain, under the chair of Malcolm Evans (UK). I myself chaired the other round-table, which focused on the experiences of informal partners to the CPT in the Mediterranean States. Eva Falcao from Portugal spoke on behalf of the Forum Justica e Liberdades, a national Non Governmental Organisation (NGO); Inigo Elkoro Aiastul from Spain, who works with TAT (Group Against Torture), an organisation involved in the human rights protection of Basque prisoners, represented the group of defence lawyers; and Jean-Pierre Restellini, a physician from Switzerland who gained experience as a frequent expert with the CPT, spoke from the point of view of a medical doctor. A representative of the media (Stephania Miloti from Italy) had been invited but unfortunately could not attend the meeting. In the following, some main features of the European system on the prevention of torture will be looked at in more detail to illustrate the fundamentals and existing obstacles as regards the relations between the CPT and its partners. [excerpt]