Torture and ill-treatment remain a shameful phenomenon in the modern world. For decades, the international community has been striving to address this issue by adopting various legal instruments aimed at combating torture and by establishing institutional mechanisms to ensure their implementation.
A relatively new but already proven effective approach in the prevention of torture and ill-treatment is the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), as provided by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted on 18 December 2002.
The core idea of the NPM is to establish a system of regular, independent visits to any place under the jurisdiction and control of the State where persons are or may be deprived of liberty, by order of a public authority, at its direction, with its consent, or acquiescence. These visits aim to strengthen the protection of such persons against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Independent monitoring visits to places of deprivation of liberty have a deterrent effect on state bodies and significantly reduce the risk of ill-treatment and torture.
Ukraine ratified the Optional Protocol on 21 July 2006. On 9 August 2012, a draft law amending the Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights” was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, assigning the NPM functions to the Commissioner. The law was adopted on 2 October 2012 and entered into force on 4 November 2012.
Following public consultations involving prominent national and international experts, it was decided to implement the NPM in Ukraine in the “Ombudsman+” model, which involves conducting monitoring visits to places of deprivation of liberty by staff of the Ombudsman’s Office in cooperation with civil society representatives.
On 25 May 2012, a specialized structural unit — the Department for the Implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism — was established within the new structure of the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.