Between 2006 and 2009 Professor Rachel Murray and Professor Sir Malcolm Evans held a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) which examined the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture. Dr Elina Steinerte and Mr Antenor Hallo de Wolf were the Research Associates on the project. 

The aim of the project was to evaluate the implementation of the newly created Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) which came into force at the start of the project.

The research process in the remits of this project was extensive. Over the three years of the project, there were some 150 interviews conducted with individuals from national governments, NHRIs, national NGOs and civil society organisations of nearly 30 countries. All the regions of the world were covered, selecting countries that have ratified OPCAT and already had established or were in the process of establishing their NPMs, as well as those that were preparing for ratification. The members of the SPT were interviewed as were the staff of the OHCHR and representatives of international civil society.

The project team participated in events surrounding the implementation of OPCAT, provided expert advice to various countries on the aspects of its implementation, produced a number of policy papers  and held a number of high-level meetings and conferences ourselves, most notably:

• The Optional Protocol to the UNCAT: Preventive Mechanisms and Standards. First Annual Conference on the implementation of OPCAT 19 - 20 April, 2007 (Bristol UK); see Final Proceedings (PDF, 403kB).

• The OPCAT in the African Region: Challenges of Implementation. Second Annual Conference on the implementation of OPCAT organised. 3-4 April, 2008 (Cape Town, South Africa); see OPCAT in the African Region: Challenges of Implementation Summary and recommenda (PDF, 161kB)

• ‘OPCAT in the OSCE region: What it means and how to make it work?' 25-26 November 2008 (Prague, Czech Republic); see Summary and recommendations from the conference 'OPACT in the OSCE region: What (PDF, 236kB)

In September 2006 we established OPCAT Contact Group, a gathering of civil society organisations that all work on aspects of OPCATs’ implementation. The OPCAT Contact Group participated in a number of the SPT sessions, providing assistance and support to its work.

Although the funding ended, the project has continued through our work in various countries including Rwanda, Nigeria, the Article 5 Initiative, and with the UK NPM in particular.

The culmination of the project was the publication of the book The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture by the Oxford University Press.