Call for Written Evidence

Call for written evidence

The joint civil society shadow report is a key advocacy tool for civil society to hold the UK Government to account under the Convention against Torture and we want to hear from you. The call for written evidence is your opportunity to influence the content of the shadow report for the UN Committee against Torture during the UK’s state review in April 2019.

We are looking for information in the areas of:

  • prisons, policing, armed forces and intelligence services (including investigations into allegations of torture overseas, counter-terrorism measures, arrest and detention conditions, training and personnel);
  • asylum and migration (including asylum claims, detention of asylum seekers, ill-treatment in immigration removal centres, refoulement, extradition and diplomatic assurances and statelessness);
  • health and social care (including preventing ill-treatment of patients receiving health care services, persons deprived of their liberty in mental health settings, use of restraint against people in health care settings, inquiries into child sexual abuse and exploitation);
  • violence and abuse against women, ethnic, religious or sexual minorities and victims of trafficking and exploitation (including VAWG, human trafficking, hate crimes, migrant domestic workers and corporal punishment);
  • legislative, administrative and judicial procedure (including compliance with the Convention, the impact of Brexit, access to justice).

Some issues, such as children’s rights and disability rights issues, are included across one or more of the above areas.

You may use the guidance questions for each of the above groups in this document to help structure your evidence: GuidanceQuestions.docx.

Submit Evidence

Please submit evidence using the below form. Please read the guidance questions and submission guidelines below before submitting. Alternatively, you may send your evidence to Josie Fathers at [email protected].

Deadline: 16 November 2018

We are also offering in-person consultation and capacity-building events on this process in Manchester, Cardiff, London and Birmingham throughout October and November 2018. Click here to book.

Submission Guidelines

The report will cover the implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention against Torture in England and Wales and will cover the period since the publication of the last concluding observations in May 2013 (this includes, for example, investigations into past abuses).

Submissions should be between 500-1000 words per issue (strict maximum limit of 3,000 words) and include:

  • Comments and evidence, including case studies, of how the UK Government has implemented the provisions under the UN Convention against Torture since its last periodic review in 2013. Please see the detailed guidance on the list of issues to see what the Committee is specifically looking for.
  • References to studies, data or reports that have come out since the last periodic review that can be cited as evidence of how the UK Government is (or is not) implementing the UN Convention against Torture.
  • Statistical data where possible.
  • Specific recommendations on how the UK Government can better implement the Convention.
  • New or emerging issues or any other concise information that would be relevant to the UN Convention against Torture that may not have been highlighted in the Committee’s list of issues or may have developed since 2016.
  • Evidence of the likely impact of Brexit on the UK Government’s commitments.

Joint submissions from organisations on specific issues are encouraged.  Please indicate clearly all organisations that support the evidence submitted.

Each submission should:

  • Be concise, between 500-1000 words per issue with a maximum limit of 3000 words.
  • Begin with an executive summary in bullet point form of the main points made in the submission.
  • Include a brief introduction about your organisation(s).
  • Have numbered paragraphs.
  • Include case studies and factual evidence and be fully referenced where needed.
  • Include recommendations for the UK Government.

Please note:

  • We may publish your submission.
  • If you do not wish for your submission to be published, you must clearly say so and explain your reasons for this. This should be discussed with REDRESS prior to submission.
  • We are not obliged to accept your submission as evidence for the joint shadow report.

The written evidence will be used to draft the joint shadow report. Organisations and individuals which have contributed evidence to the report will be asked if they would like to support the final draft submitted to the UN Committee against Torture in March 2019.

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