The CPTA (originally the ‘Robben Island Guidelines Follow-up Committee’) was created by the adoption of Resolution 61 of the 32nd Ordinary Session held in Banjul, The Gambia in October 2002. The Robben Island Guidelines for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture in Africa, adopted in 2002, were a tool to assist States in implementing their obligations under Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. By Resolution 158, adopted at the 46th Ordinary Session held in Banjul, the Gambia in November 2009, its name was changed to the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Africa. The mandate of the CPTA is that it:

• Organizes, with the support of other interested partners, seminars to disseminate the Robben Island Guidelines to national and international actors.
• Develops and proposes to the African Commission strategies to promote and implement the Robben Island Guidelines at national and regional level.
• Promotes and facilitates the implementation of the Robben Island Guidelines within the Member States.
• Reports to the African Commission at each regular session on the status of implementation of the Robben Island Guidelines.

Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights sets out the general prohibition on torture and is the basis on which other soft-law instruments have been created by the African Commission. These include the Robben Island Guidelines for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture in Africa, adopted in 2002, and extracts from the Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa (Luanda Guidelines).

The documents and extracts indicate not only the obligations States have with respect to torture prevention in its broadest sense, but also the mechanisms that they should adopt within their jurisdictions.

The two committees hope that this compilation will provide a useful tool for States, national human rights institutions, civil society organisations and others in their work in torture prevention within Africa. The Committees remain available for advice and assistance.

For further information please contact:

CPTA:

31 Bijilo Annex Layout, Kombo North District

Western Region P.O. Box 673 Banjul

The Gambia

Tel: (220) 441 05 05, 441 05 06

Fax: (220) 441 05 04

E-mail: [email protected]

Internet: http://www.achpr.org/mechanisms/cpta/