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Scoop
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Peru: UN Experts Raise Concern Over Juvenile Detention In Adult Prisons
GENEVA (26 June 2025) – UN torture prevention experts, at the close of a week-long visit to Peru, have expressed concern over severe prison overcrowding, the widespread use of pretrial detention, and a new law treating 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in the penal system. The visit, carried out from 15 to 21 June, marked the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT)'s return to Peru more than a decade after its first mission in 2013. During their stay, the experts visited a range of detention and other facilities and held meetings with Government authorities, civil society actors, and the country's independent monitoring body, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). 'We are grateful for the collaboration provided by the authorities before and during the visit,' said Marie Brasholt, head of the SPT delegation. 'Unfortunately, we observed a punitive focus, which includes lengthy sentences and the extensive use of preventive detention, despite the grave overcrowding in Peru's penitentiary system. After all, building more or mega prisons is not the solution for overcrowding, or to public security in general.' During the mission, the SPT delegation visited men and women's prisons, juvenile detention centres, police stations, judicial holding cells, and a religious educational institution. The experts conducted confidential interviews with detainees and personnel. In addition, the Subcommittee visited a detention center together with the NPM. 'We also want to express our special concern regarding the new law that incorporates adolescents ages 16 and 17 as punishable in the adult penal system, which, again, demonstrates a punitive focus in the administration of justice,' said Brasholt. 'The delegation welcomes the creation and functioning of the NPM, which conducts important work. However, it is essential that the mechanism be strengthened to ensure that it has the necessary resources to effectively carry out its functions throughout the entire territory of Peru, in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT),' she added. The SPT will share its report, including findings and recommendations, with Peru in due course. As always, the delegation urges the State to publish the visit report in order to enhance its obligations. The SPT considers that its reports provide useful guidance to all those engaged, directly or indirectly, in finding practical solutions. Additionally, the Subcommittee will prepare a separate and confidential report to share with the NPM. Peru ratified the OPCAT in 2006 and established its NPM by law in 2015. The delegation was composed of the following members: Marie Brasholt, head of the delegation (Denmark), Barbara Bernath (Switzerland), Luciano Mariz Maia (Brazil), and Maria Luisa Romero (Panama), together with two members of the Secretariat of the SPT and two UN security officials.
Scoop
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
UN Torture Prevention Body To Visit Peru As Field Missions Resume
GENEVA (5 June 2025) –The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is set to undertake its first two visits of this year, to Peru and Serbia, from 15 to 21 June 2025. These visits mark the resumption of SPT's important in-country work, following the postponement of four missions earlier this year. The initial postponement of SPT visits was due to budget constraints related to the UN liquidity situation. The upcoming visit to Peru will be the second mission to the country, following one that took place in 2013. The Subcommittee delegation will visit various places of deprivation of liberty to evaluate the treatment of people held therein and the measures taken to protect them from torture and ill-treatment. 'In addition to visiting centres of deprivation of liberty across the country and interviewing people within the facilities and personnel who work there, we will pay special attention to how the authorities have implemented our recommendations from 2013. We will also use this opportunity to engage and collaborate with the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM),' said Marie Brasholt, head of the delegation. 'A comprehensive national system for the prevention of torture requires an independent and impartial NPM in charge of monitoring places through regular visits, and it must have adequate resources,' she added. Peru ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) in 2006 and its NPM, established by law in 2015, is housed within the Ombudsman´s Office (Defensoría del Pueblo). Under its mandate, the SPT can conduct visits to State parties and carry out visits without prior notice to any places where people are or may be deprived of liberty. To follow up on its prior recommendations and appraise the progress made by the Peruvian authorities towards preventing torture through legislative, administrative, and other measures, the SPT delegation will hold meetings with government authorities, civil society, UN agencies, and the NPM, with whom it will also conduct a joint visit. Following the visit, the delegation will send a report to the State party, which will remain confidential unless and until the Peruvian authorities decide to make it public, as was the case with the first report. The SPT delegation will be composed of the following members: Marie Brasholt, head of the delegation (Denmark), Barbara Bernath (Switzerland), Luciano Mariz Maia (Brazil), and Maria Luisa Romero (Panama), along with two members of the Secretariat. The SPT had originally planned to visit, in 2025, not only Serbia and Peru, but also Burundi, Mexico, Mozambique, New Zealand, France, and Afghanistan. The SPT views the resumption of its visits, despite the ongoing financial constraints, as essential to fulfilling its preventive mandate and to assessing conditions in places of deprivation of liberty, where independent oversight is most urgently needed. Background: The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture monitors States parties' adherence to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which to date has been ratified by 94 countries. The Subcommittee is made up of 25 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Subcommittee has a mandate to visit States that have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, during the course of which it may visit any place where persons may be deprived of their liberty and assist those States in preventing torture and ill-treatment. The Subcommittee communicates its observations and recommendations to States through confidential reports, which it encourages countries to make public.
