UN Committee against Torture to review Finland

GENEVA (3 November 2016) - The UN Committee against Torture is due to review Finland on 9 and 10 November in Geneva. Finland has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and so is required to be reviewed regularly by the Committee.

Among the possible issues for discussion between CAT members and a delegation from the Finnish Government are:

• Treatment of asylum seekers, irregular immigrants and other foreigners;
• Non-refoulement of asylum seekers;
• Detention conditions of detention, including the lack of sanitary equipment;
• Treatment of people in detention,  including in psychiatric hospitals;
• Training provided to police, border guards and other law enforcement officials;
• Measures taken to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women;
• Combatting human trafficking, protection of victims.

The review will take place at Palais Wilson in Geneva from 10:00-13:00 (11:00-14:00 in Helsinki) on 9 November and 15:00 to 18:00 on 10 November (16:00-19:00) and be webcast live at http://webtv.un.org/. The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives.

More information, including Finland’s submitted written report, at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1085&Lang=en

The Committee has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday, 7 December at 12:30 at the Palais des Nations to discuss its findings on Finland and the other States being reviewed – Ecuador, Monaco, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Cape Verde. These findings, officially known as concluding observations, will be published here on 7 December: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1085&Lang=en
         
ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org)

Media accreditation:    http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background
Members of the CAT are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:  http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cat/pages/catindex.aspx

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