Resolução da Assembleia da República n.º 143/2012, de 13 de Dezembro de 2012
ASSEMBLEIA DA REPÚBLICA Resolução da Assembleia da República n.º 143/2012 Aprova o Protocolo Facultativo à Convenção contra a Tortura e Outras Penas ou Tratamentos Cruéis, Desumanos ou Degra- dantes, adotado pela Assembleia Geral das Nações Unidas, em Nova Iorque, em 18 de dezembro de 2002. A Assembleia da República resolve, nos termos da alínea
i) do artigo 161.º e do n.º 5 do artigo 166.º da Constituição, aprovar o Protocolo Facultativo à Con- venção contra a Tortura e Outras Penas ou Tratamentos Cruéis, Desumanos ou Degradantes, adotado pela As- sembleia Geral das Nações Unidas, em Nova Iorque, em 18 de dezembro de 2002, cujo texto, na versão autenticada na língua inglesa, assim como a respetiva tradução para a língua portuguesa, se publicam em anexo.
Aprovada em 26 de outubro de 2012. O Presidente da Assembleia da República, em exercício, António Filipe.
OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Preamble The States Parties to the present Protocol: Reaffirming that torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited and constitute serious violations of human rights; Convinced that further measures are necessary to achieve the purposes of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) and to strengthen the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Recalling that articles 2 and 16 of the Convention oblige each State Party to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treat- ment or punishment in any territory under its jurisdiction; Recognizing that States have the primary responsibility for implementing those articles, that strengthening the protection of people deprived of their liberty and the full respect for their human rights is a common responsibility shared by all and that international implementing bodies complement and strengthen national measures; Recalling that the effective prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment requires education and a combination of various legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures; Recalling also that the World Conference on Human Ri- ghts firmly declared that efforts to eradicate torture should first and foremost be concentrated on prevention and called for the adoption of an optional protocol to the Convention, intended to establish a preventive system of regular visits to places of detention; Convinced that the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment can be strengthened by non -judicial means of a preventive nature, based on regular visits to places of detention; have agreed as follows: PART I General principles Article 1 The objective of the present Protocol is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent inter- national and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 2 1 — A Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Pu- nishment of the Committee against Torture (hereinafter referred to as the Subcommittee on Prevention) shall be established and shall carry out the functions laid down in the present Protocol. 2 — The Subcommittee on Prevention shall carry out its work within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations and shall be guided by the purposes and principles thereof, as well as the norms of the United Nations con- cerning the treatment of people deprived of their liberty. 3 — Equally, the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be guided by the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, non -selectivity, universality and objectivity. 4 — The Subcommittee on Prevention and the States Parties shall cooperate in the implementation of the present Protocol.
Article 3 Each State Party shall set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several visiting bodies for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degra- ding treatment or punishment (hereinafter referred to as the national preventive mechanism). Article 4 1 — Each State Party shall allow visits, in accordance with the present Protocol, by the mechanisms referred to in articles 2 and 3 to any place under its jurisdiction and con- trol where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order given by a public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence (herei- nafter referred to as places of detention). These visits shall be undertaken with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of these persons against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 2 — For the purposes of the present Protocol, depriva- tion of liberty means any form of detention or imprison- ment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority.
PART II Subcommittee on Prevention Article 5 1 — The Subcommittee on Prevention shall consist of ten members.
After the fiftieth ratification of or accession to the present Protocol, the number of the members of the Subcommittee on Prevention shall increase to twenty five. 2 — The members of the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be chosen from among persons of high moral cha- racter, having proven professional experience in the field of the administration of justice, in particular criminal law, prison or police administration, or in the various fields re- levant to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. 3 — In the composition of the Subcommittee on Pre- vention due consideration shall be given to equitable ge- ographic distribution and to the representation of diffe- rent forms of civilization and legal systems of the States Parties. 4 — In this composition consideration shall also be given to balanced gender representation on the basis of the principles of equality and non -discrimination. 5 — No two members of the Subcommittee on Preven- tion may be nationals of the same State. 6 — The members of the Subcommittee on Prevention shall serve in their individual capacity, shall be independent and impartial and shall be available to serve the Subcom- mittee on Prevention efficiently.
Article 6 1 — Each State Party may nominate, in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article, up to two candidates possessing the qualifications and meeting the requirements set out in article 5, and in doing so shall provide detailed information on the qualifications of the nominees. 2:
a) The nominees shall have the nationality of a State Party to the present Protocol;
b) At least one of the two candidates shall have the nationality of the nominating State Party;
c) No more than two nationals of a State Party shall be nominated;
d) Before a State Party nominates a national of another State Party, it shall seek and obtain the consent of that State Party. 3 — At least five months before the date of the meeting of the States Parties during which the elections will be held, the Secretary -General of the United Nations shall address a letter to the States Parties inviting them to submit their nominations within three months.
The Secretary -General shall submit a list, in alphabetical order, of all persons thus nominated, indicating the States Parties that have nominated them.
Article 7 1 — The members of the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be elected in the following manner:
a) Primary consideration shall be given to the fulfilment of the requirements and criteria of article 5 of the present Protocol;
b) The initial election shall be held no later than six months after the entry into force of the present Protocol;
c) The States Parties shall elect the members of the Subcommittee on Prevention by secret ballot;
d) Elections of the members of the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be held at biennial meetings of the States Parties convened by the Secretary -General of the Uni- ted Nations.
At those meetings, for which two thirds of the States Parties shall constitute a quorum, the persons elected to the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be those who obtain the largest number of votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of the States Parties present and voting. 2 — If during the election process two nationals of a State Party have become eligible to serve as members of the Subcommittee on Prevention, the candidate receiving the higher number of votes shall serve as the member of the Subcommittee on Prevention.
Where nationals have received the same number of votes, the following proce- dure applies:
a) Where only one has been nominated by the State Party of which he or she is a national, that national shall serve as the member of the Subcommittee on Prevention;
b) Where both candidates have been nominated by the State Party of which they are nationals, a separate vote by secret ballot shall be held to determine which national shall become the member;
c) Where neither candidate has been nominated by the State Party of which he or she is a national, a separate vote by secret ballot shall be held to determine which candidate shall be the member.
Article 8 If a member of the Subcommittee on Prevention dies or resigns, or for any cause can no longer perform his or her duties, the State Party that nominated the member shall nominate another eligible person possessing the qualifi- cations and meeting the requirements set out in article 5, taking into account the need for a proper balance among the various fields of competence, to serve until the next meeting of the States Parties...
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