UN rights body commends Ghana for ratifying optional protocol against torture

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday welcomed Ghana's recent ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).

"This is a major advance in the fight against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments," Andrea Ori, Head of OHCHR West Africa Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal, said in a release issued by the UN information Center in Accra.

"We hope that Ghana's example will be followed by other countries in Africa and elsewhere in the world," he added.

Ori encouraged the government of Ghana to disseminate as widely as possible the protocol to take the necessary measures to implement its provisions in domestic law and to provide training for judges, lawyers and court officers on its contents to ensure its full implementation.

Ghana on September 23 ratified the protocol which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2002 that came into force in 2006. The protocol is expected to come into force 30 days after the date of ratification.

The OPCAT establishes a system of unannounced and unrestricted visits to all places where persons are deprived of their liberty by independent international and national monitoring bodies.

The Convention, among other things, obliges states to undertake effective investigation into indications of torture and comply with international standards for investigating such reports by ensuring that investigations are prompt, impartial, thorough and effective. Endit