On 11 December 2014, the Peruvian Congress approved the law to designate the Ombudsperson's office (Defensoría del Pueblo) as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). To enter into force, the law now needs to be signed by the President of the Republic.
The Peruvian State would then fulfil its obligation under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) to establish an NPM within one year of ratification. This obligation has been pending for seven years, since Peru ratified the treaty in 2006.
For many years, the APT has been advocating for the designation of the Peruvian NPM, through letters and several bilateral meetings with the authorities, in close coordination with the national NGO Comisión de Derechos Humanos. National civil society organisations have repeatedly drawn attention to the need for an NPM in the country, including through a recent video by the NGO coalition Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos.
The APT values the important step taken with the adoption of this legislation and calls on the President of the Republic to urgently sign it, in order to increase human rights protection in places where persons are deprived of their liberty.
