Elina Steinerte, Vice-Chair of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), delivered a video address during the high-level panel.
In her remarks, she traced the evolution of the international human rights protection system—from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the granting of legal force to international obligations in 1966 to the establishment of modern mechanisms for the prevention of torture.
Particular attention was paid to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and the preventive mechanism established under it, which provides for regular visits to places of detention by national and international bodies.
Highlighting the distinction between a preventive approach and a reactive response to violations that have already occurred, Elina Steinerte noted that regular national monitoring enables the prevention of torture to become a continuous and sustainable practice that persists even after international attention to a specific situation has waned.
As she stated, "Effective prevention of torture requires not merely one-off measures, but continuous national monitoring that ensures the protection of individuals even after international attention to the situation fades."
Press Service of the National Center of the
Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights