To commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Francophone Association of National Human Rights Commissions (AFCNDH), the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) are organizing a training session for national human rights institutions (NHRIs) on the mandate of the national preventive mechanisms (NPMs). This training session will be held from24 to 26 June 2019 at the Rabat- Driss Benzekri Institute for Human Rights.

This training session aims at strengthening the capacities and knowledge of NHRIs on the mandate of the NPM and on its prevention system as stipulated by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).

Presidents, commissioners and representatives of African NHRIs (Rwanda, Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mauritania and Morocco) will take part in this training session. This event will be an opportunity to discuss fundamental aspects of the OPCAT, generalities related to the NPM and challenges and opportunities of integrating the NPM into an NHRI. Stakeholders will also debate on synergies and interactions between NPMs and other departments in an NHRI, NPM’s relations with other national and international actors, and preventive visits.

NPMs have the power to verify the conditions and treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. They also recommend structural, legal and practical changes to create environments free of the risk of torture and ill-treatment be provided by authorities.

In fact, NHRIs and NPMs are both state-established bodies with equivalent legal status. Their main common interest is protecting human rights.

It should be noted that law No. 76-15 on the reorganization of the CNDH provides for the establishment of the NPM in accordance with the provisions of the OPCAT. Moreover, Morocco ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT) on 21 June 1993. On 1 November 2012, the Kingdom started the ratification process of its Optional Protocol (OPCAT) and deposited its ratification instruments on 24 November 2014, thus becoming the 76th State Party to the OPCAT.