October 7, 2015 – Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez concluded his follow-up visit to Ghana, which was undertaken with the support of the Anti-Torture initiative. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur and his team met with high-level government officials, visited places of deprivation of liberty, including prisons, a psychiatric hospital, and a prayer camp, and hosted in a roundtable with civil society in Accra. “I welcome the steps taken by the Government of Ghana in its fight against torture and other ill-treatment in the country, but much remains to be done,” the Special Rapporteur stated at the end of the visit, urging the government to set-up its effort to implement the recommendations issued after his first mission to the country in November 2013. The Special Rapporteur expressed particular concern about reports of incidence of torture and ill-treatment that occur during arrest and interrogation by police, severe overcrowding and substandard conditions of detention, and the treatment of persons with mental disabilities, including shackling, in prayer camps. The Special Rapporteur will present his findings and recommendations in a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council March 2016. To read the end-of-visit press statement in full, please visit the OHCHR website.