The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), a treaty body in the UN human rights created in February 2007, is set to visit Morocco for the first time from the 22nd to the 28th of October; the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday. The delegation is supposed to «advise the Government on the establishment of a national detention monitoring body, officially known as the National Prevention Mechanism (NPM)», states the same source. The SPT is also expected to examine the treatment of prisoners and the measures adopted to protect them against «torture and ill-treatment». Hans-Jorg Bannwart, head of the SPT delegation expected in Morocco said that «international obligations must be translated in practice and real changes for people on the ground». «the first step to ensure detainees are protected from torture and ill-treatment would be to establish an independent, effective and well-resourced National Preventive Mechanism». According to the same source, Morocco has ratified in November 2014 the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and still has to establish a National Preventive Mechanism. The UN delegation will visit prisons and police stations. Members of the SPT will have to meet Moroccan governmental officials, the Judiciary, the National Council for Human Rights, UN agencies and representatives of civil society. The delegation composed of Hans-Jörg Viktor Bannwart (Head of delegation, Switzerland), Gnambi Garba Kodjo (Togo), Radhia Nasraoui (Tunisia), Catherine Paulet (France) and Satyabhooshun Gupt Domah (Mauritius), will present by the end of the visit a report to the Moroccan government.
