Male’, Maldives – Supreme Court Justice of Maldives Aisha Shujune Muhammed hs been reelected to the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Inhumane or Degrading Treatment of Punishment for a third term.
After the election held on Thursday in Geneva, Shujune secured the seat, having have competed with 19 other candidates for 12 seats. Since her initial election in 2010 Shujune has served two consecutive terms between 2011 and 2018, where she was the Rappatorteur and the Vice-Chair on Jurispudence.
The Honourable Aisha Shujune Muhammad, Justice of the Supreme Court of the Maldives, has been elected to the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment for the term 2021 to 2024, at the elections held today in Geneva. She has also worked extensively within civil society and the judiciary, in the elimination of torture and the protection of human rights.
As the first Maldivian elected to a UN Treaty Body, Justice Shujune’s reelection comes after the Maldivian government has announced full commtment towards implementing its foreign policy based on human rights, good governance and respect for democratic norms.
The Maldives was one of the original twenty States Parties to join the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), and the first State Party from Asia. We were also among the first few countries to receive a mission from the Subcommittee on the Prevention on Torture and one of the first countries to establish a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) under the OPCAT.
The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture is an international body established by the OPCAT. It is the largest human rights treaty body of the United Nations consisting of 25 independent experts.
