Publicada en octubre del 2010

This manual is about one of the seminal developments in human rights protection in recent times: the process by which the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) has come into existence and is being implemented. The first decade of the 21st century heralded a new era in the prevention of torture: the OPCAT was adopted by the General Assembly in December 2002 and it entered into force in June 2006. Since then, two new actors have emerged in the field of torture prevention: the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the SPT), the treaty body established by the OPCAT, and the national preventive mechanisms (NPMs), which each State Party to the OPCAT is obliged to maintain, designate or establish to carry out preventive work at the national level. A third element, not yet operational, is provided for in the OPCAT, is the Special Fund, still remains to be formally created to help finance implementation of the SPT’s recommendations and education and training for NPMs.