International cooperation Contact with the APT The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) is a Swiss organisation with expertise in the prevention of torture and ill-treatment. It was established as the Swiss Committee against Torture in 1977, with the aim of promoting an international convention to establish a global system of monitoring of places of detention. The organisation’s founder, Jean-Jacques Gauthier, believed that such a system of visits was the most effective method for preventing torture and ill-treatment in places where persons are deprived of their liberty. The organisation was closely involved in the process leading up to the adoption of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1987, and later also the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture in 2002. The APT’s staff are highly experienced in carrying out visits to places of detention, and the organisation has also developed practical handbooks for use by national visiting bodies. The NPM visited the APT in Geneva in June 2014, receiving a thorough introduction to the planning and implementation of visits, follow-up methods, communications strategy and how to implement its mandate in an integrated manner going beyond the conduct of actual visits. Two members of APT staff also attended the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s human rights conference on 28 October 2014, representing the APT in a panel discussion on international monitoring mechanisms. The next day, the NPM organised a meeting with the APT representatives and two representatives from the Swedish NPM. The meeting was used to exchange experiences and discuss challenges facing the Norwegian and Swedish NPMs. NPM and APT staff outside the APT’s offices in June. 15. UN Committee against Torture, First annual report of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT), CAT/C/40/2, 14 May 2008, page 6, paragraph 12. Norway’s National Preventive Mechanism – Annual Report 2014 33