Conclusions and Recommendation of the UN Committee Against Torture: Eleventh to Twenty-Second Sessions 1993-1999

The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted fifteen years ago, on 10 December 1984, by the General Assembly of the United Nations. It entered into force on 26 June 1987. At present, 118 States have ratified or acceded to this Convention. Under article 19 of the Convention, each State party has to submit an initial report within one year of the entry into force of the Convention for that State and thereafter a supplementary report (periodic report) every four years. The Committee Against Torture has been formed to monitor the implementation of the Convention. At its 11th session, in 1993, the Committee decided that it would start following the practice of some other UN human rights treaty bodies to adopt concluding observations/comments at the end of the consideration of each State party's report and to use a standard format for the presentation. The conclusions and recommendations of the Committee Against Torture provide a general evaluation of the report and of the dialogue with the delegation and make note of positive developments that may have occurred during the period under review, factors and difficulties impeding the application of the provisions of the Convention, and of subjects of concern relating to the implementation of the Convention. They also include recommendations to the State party concerned. The present volume contains all conclusions and recommendations adopted by the Committee Against Torture at its 11th to 22nd sessions (1993--1999) on reports from 58 States parties in total. Foreword by Mrs. Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

'This is a must for any human rights collection because of its convenient portrayal of the exchange between States and the UN entity charged with the task of collecting information and reacting to the respective reports on the observance of essential human rights in member nations.'
ASIL Newsletter, January 2001.