Dhaka, Dec. 9 -- Human rights experts, government officials and international partners have called for swift and substantive implementation of Bangladesh's new obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), arguing that ratification must now translate into real accountability and protection for detainees.

At a seminar held on Tuesday at BRAC University in Dhaka - jointly organised by the Embassy of Switzerland, the UN Human Rights Office in Bangladesh (OHCHR) and BRAC University's School of Law - speakers discussed how Bangladesh should operationalise the protocol, ratified earlier this year, and establish an effective National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to monitor detention facilities and prevent tort...