Under-Secretary(s) Torres introduces Chilean candidate to Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture

Undersecretary(s) of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Patricio Torres, today led a meeting with the accredited diplomatic corps in Chile to present Patricia Arias as the Chilean candidate for the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, a treaty body in the United Nations human rights system that is composed of 25 independent and impartial experts from different backgrounds and regions of the world.

Patricia Arias holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Criminology from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. She has extensive experience and a recognized track record in researching, monitoring, evaluating and proposing public policies aimed at the prevention, control and redress of various expressions of violence and criminality, in line with international standards for the promotion and protection of human rights as well as the due diligence obligations of States.

Between August 2011 and May 2018, she served as a Member of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right to self-determination of peoples. She was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, representing Latin America and the Caribbean.

As Chairperson of the Working Group, she presented and participated in the interactive dialogue, at the Human Rights Council in September 2014 and 2016; and at the General Assembly in 2014.