Committee against Torture

Statement of the Committee against Torture, adopted at its fiftieth session,on the Guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (“the Addis Ababaguidelines”)and the amendments to its rules of procedure

During its fiftieth session, the Committee against Torture reiteratedits strong support for the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies, as affirmed in the Addis Ababa guidelines(A/67/222, annex I, and Corr.1), andfurther discussed ways to give effect to these guidelines.

The Committee revisited theseguidelines and their relation vis-à-visitsrules of procedureand, further to its statement of 23 November 2012on the guidelines (CAT/C/49/3),decided, on 13 May 2013, to amend itsrules of procedure to, inter alia, add a third paragraph to rule 15, as follows: “The Addis Ababa Guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies are annexed to these rules of procedure. These guidelines are an important tool for the interpretation of the rules concerning the independence and impartiality of the members of the Committee.”