Strengthening the preventive role of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Africa

Abstract

The article provides a critical insight into the legal framework for the prevention of torture in Africa, with specific reference to the Robben Island Guidelines (RIG) and its special mechanism, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Africa (CPTA). The Guidelines undoubtedly represent a milestone in the development of a torture preventive work in Africa. They bring together a number of provisions covering different aspects of the prohibition and prevention of torture. However they do not elaborate and clarify what is meant by prevention as a concept and what it entails as a legal obligation. Furthermore the CPTA’s interpretative drive has largely focused on the other, normatively more robust, areas of intervention, namely the prohibition of torture and redress for victims, at times conflating prevention with the prohibition of torture. If it is to live up to its name, the CPTA needs to expand its understanding of prevention of torture. This in turn will allow it to play an important role in detecting, collecting, analysing data and information on situations of risk in Africa, and formulating new and appropriate context-sensitive strategies for the effective prevention of torture.