CAT/C/44/2* I. Introduction 1. This public document is the third annual report of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.1 It gives an account of the work of the Subcommittee during the period from April 2009 to the end of March 2010.2 2. One of the major events during this period was the depositing of the fiftieth instrument of ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,3 which produced the following situation of signatures and ratifications by geographical region: States parties by region Africa 6 Asia 6 Group of Western European and other States (WEOG) 10 Eastern Europe 16 Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) 12 GRULAC 12 Africa 6 Asia 6 WEOG 10 Eastern Europe 16 States that have signed but not ratified the Optional Protocol, by region (total 24) Africa Asia Group of Western European and other States (WEOG) 1 2 3 4 10 1 12 Eastern Europe 0 Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) 1 Established following the entry into force in June 2006 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. For the text of the Optional Protocol, see www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cat-one.htm. In accordance with the Optional Protocol (art. 16, para. 3), the Subcommittee presents its public annual reports to the Committee against Torture. Switzerland deposited its instrument of ratification on 24 September 2009. For a list of the States parties to the Optional Protocol, see annex I. GE.10-41876