UN Torture Prevention Body Says Suspends Visit To Argentina, Other Missions Amid COVID-19

UN Torture Prevention Body Says Suspends Visit to Argentina, Other Missions Amid COVID-19

The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has suspended a planned visit to Argentina and postponed other upcoming missions amid the ongoing threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement on Wednesday

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th March, 2020) The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has suspended a planned visit to Argentina and postponed other upcoming missions amid the ongoing threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture has suspended its visit to Argentina in view of the current situation caused by the coronavirus, and also postponed other upcoming missions," the statement said.

The OHCHR said that with a view toward the "do no harm" principle and given the fast-evolving situation around the virus, the mission decided to suspend the visit to Argentina, which began on March 9, and intends to resume it when conditions allow.

SPT's next planned missions for March and April, including to Bulgaria, Australia and Nauru, had also been postponed. However, national monitoring bodies, whenever possible, continue to conduct preventive visits, including to places of quarantine, the statement added.

On Sunday, Argentina reported the first death from coronavirus-related complications.

Among the countries in Latin America that have already confirmed COVID-19 cases are Brazil with 31 cases, Argentina with 19, Chile with 17, Ecuador with 15, Peru with 11, Panama with 8, Mexico with 7, Paraguay with 5, Colombia with 3 and Bolivia with 2.