Nora Sveaas, right, leader of the International Society for Health and Human Rights (ISHHR), one of the in-house member organisations of the Norwegian Human Rights House, was yesterday elected one of five new members of the United nations? Committee on Torturethe Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has lobbied for Sveaas?s candidature, announces. (01-DEC-05)
For the five vacant seats, there were nine candidates. Sveaas was elected in the first round, with 86 countries supporting her candidature. The ten-member strong committee meets twice a year in Geneva to monitor and report on how and to what extent the 140 countries who have ratified the UN Convention on Torture honour their commitments. The committee goes through all the different countries? reports and respond with specific recommendatons, In addition, the committee deal with a high number of individual complaints, all adding nuance to the reports received.
