On March 6, 1980 the government of the Republic of Costa Rica formally submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights the Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture which is published in this pamphlet.
This draft Optional Protocol was proposed by the International Commission of Jurists and the Swiss Committee against Torture. Its object is to make more effective the implementation of the draft Convention Against Torture, which has been under examination since 1978 by the UN Commission on Human Rights, by creating a system of visits to places of detention of ail kinds.
This pamphlet contains the text of the protocol, sets out the reasons why a legal instrument of this nature is necessary and retraces the steps by which the idea has progressed from its original conception to its official presentation by the government of Costa Rica.
torture convention effective-non legal submission-1980-eng (full text in English, PDF)
torture convention effective-non-legal submission-1980-fra (full text in French, PDF)
torture convention effective-non-legal submission-1980-spa (full text in Spanish, PDF)