Interview with Special Rapporteur on Torture Nigel Rodley
| Author | Kevin Boyle |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934419501300404 |
| Published date | 01 December 1995 |
| Date | 01 December 1995 |
| Subject Matter | Part A: Article |
Interview with Special Rapporteur on Torture Nigel Rodley
Kevin Boyle
Introduction
Professor Nigel Rodley was appointed United
Nations Commission on Human Rights Special
Rapporteur on Torture in the spring of 1993,
following the resignation of his predecessor
professor Peter Kooijmans when he became
Foreign Minister of the Netherlands. Professor
Rodley who is completing a period as Dean of
the Faculty
of
Law of the University of Essex
was the first national of a permanent member of
the Security Council (UK) to be appointed as a
thematic rapporteur. He gained his expertise in
the field while he served as the founder and
head of Amnesty International's Legal Office
where he worked from 1973-1990, when he
joined the faculty and Human Rights Centre at
the University
of
Essex. In 1987 he published
his authoritative The Treatment
of
Prisoners in Photo: Amnesty International
International Law, Oxford UNESCO. This year
the Commission on Human Rights renewed his mandate as Special Rapporteur for a full
three-year term. He has also acted as rapporteur
of
the first two meetings of Special
Rapporteurs/RepresentativeslExperts/ Chairpersons
of
Working Groups in 1994and 1995.
• Can
you
give a short description
of
tile Special Rapporteur
of
tile United Nations
Human
Rights Commission?
It
basically involves responding to information that comes in to the UN Centre for Human
Rights.in Geneva, normally from NGOs alleging
that
X or Y in country A or B has been,
or is tftteatened with being, tortured and the idea is to try and act to prevent the torture
if it is anticipatory or to get action by the State to do something about it if it seems to
have happened. Inevitably, as I say, most of the information comes from NGOs even
though other sources of information are open to me. The idea is that the information
comes in;
if
it is urgent it is transmitted by fax direct to the Foreign Ministry of the
country concerned; if it is non-urgent, i.e. relates to situations that are alleged already to
have happened, then it is sent by letter - normally a resume
ofthe
allegation or allegations
are sent by letter to the permanentrepresentative
of
the country in question in Geneva, for
onward transmission to the capital of the country. Then I produce an annual report which
resumes both the information I have transmitted to the government and the responses, if
any, that I have received from them. Sometimes I am invited to visit countries and
sometimes I seek such invitations, and then a separate report will be prepared on the visit.
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