COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE BEGINS REVIEW OF REPORT FROM LITHUANIA

17 November 2003

The Committee against Torture this afternoon began its consideration of the initial report of Lithuania on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention against Torture.
The report was introduced by Gintaras Svedas, Deputy Minister of Justice for Lithuania, who said among other things that in order to ensure effective implementation of criminal laws, a large number of regulations and recommendations had been adopted by Lithuania. Among them were a regulation on correctional institutions and a resolution on nutrition standards for detained persons. In 2002, Lithuania opted for the development of a National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, as recommended in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference of Human Rights in 1993.
Committee Expert Alexander Yakovlev, who served as Rapporteur for the Lithuanian report, asked for more specific information concerning the several thousand petitions received in connection with abuse by the police, and in general about the conditions of places of detention and whether they were under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Justice. The Rapporteur also asked whether there was a possibility to appeal cases on the expulsion of foreigners.
Serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of Lithuania was Committee Expert Felice Gaer who asked, among other things, how the current system of internal investigation differed from the old Soviet system. She raised questions with regard to brutality in the army, the witness protection programme in Lithuania, and inter-prisoner violence and sexual violence in prisons. She specifically asked for information as to where women inmates were detained, who guarded them and general statistics about complaints brought forward by them.
The Lithuanian delegation also included Algimantas Rimkunas, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Ausra Bernotiene, Deputy Director of the International Law Department in the Ministry of Justice; Darius Grebliauskas, Commissioner in the Strategy Division of the Police of the Ministry of Interior; Jurga Kasputiene, Second Secretary in the Human Rights and NGO Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affair; and Ilona Petrikiene, Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Lithuania, as one of the 134 States parties to the Convention against Torture, must provide the Committee with periodic reports on efforts to put the Convention’s provisions into effect.
The delegation will return to answer the Committee’s questions at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 19 November. The Committee’s formal conclusions and recommendations on the report will be issued at 10 a.m. on 21 November.
The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 18 November, to begin its review of the third periodic report of Cameroon.
Initial Report of Lithuania
The Lithuanian report (CAT/C/37/Add.5) reviews efforts to implement the Convention, considering the steps taken on an article-by-article basis in relation with the Convention. It notes that the Convention entered into force for Lithuania on 20 March 1996. Human rights and the prohibition of torture, in particular, are enshrined in the Lithuanian Constitution, the report states. It notes that Lithuania abolished the death penalty in 1998 and ratified the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as well as its additional protocols. Under the country’s criminal statutes any act of torture shall be considered as a crime.
Relating to the expulsion of aliens, the report states that the Migration Department has to ascertain whether the life or health of the alien in the State where they will be deported will not be in real danger. Furthermore, aliens who arrive in Lithuania with a view to seeking asylum from persecution have the right to apply for refugee status pursuant to Lithuania’s Law on Refugee Status.
Training in human rights and providing information about acts or signs of torture are included into programmes for officials who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any arrested, detained or imprisoned individuals. The Lithuanian Police Training Centre together with the Lithuanian Public Police Bureau has organized such training sessions, according to the report.
Presentation of Report
GINTARAS SVEDAS, Deputy Minister of Justice for Lithuania, said that the Convention entered into force for Lithuania on 2 March 1996. Lithuania’s Constitution and criminal laws prohibited torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment. Among the international conventions and treaties which Lithuania had ratified were the Rome Statute on an International Criminal Court, the 13th Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights, and various criminal and civil law conventions. This year the new Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Enforcement of Punishments had entered into force which, he said, had had a significant influence for the implementation of the Convention against Torture.
The Minister presented figures on the prison population to illustrate the changes of Lithuania’s criminal policy. The new Code of the Enforcement of Punishments stipulated that punishment enforcement should be based on the principles of lawfulness, equality of convicts before laws on the enforcement of sentences, and humanism, among other things. The Civil Code regulated the issues of responsibility for damage arising from illegal actions or decisions of the authorities as well as pre-trial investigation officials, prosecutors, judges and courts. To ensure effective implementation of criminal laws a large number of regulations and recommendations had been adopted, he noted. Among them were a regulation on correctional institutions and a resolution on nutrition standards for detained persons.
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) had issued a report which indicted basic guidelines for the improvement of different areas in the Lithuanian policy. In 2002, Lithuania had opted for the development of a National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, as recommended in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference of Human Rights in 1993. Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, during her visit to Lithuania in 2002, had emphasized that “Lithuania’s experience may be useful to other countries desiring to develop Human Rights Actions Plans”, he noted.
The Minister mentioned the Law on State-Guaranteed Legal Aid which made Lithuania the first country in the region of Eastern and Central European countries to set up an institutional structure to guarantee free legal aid for indigent people, the establishment of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men, the Children’s Rights Ombudsman and the creation of a specialized police institution which organized and carried out complex implementation of the measures for the protection against criminal influence. The Minister referred to training programmes on torture for officers dealing with arrests, detention and/or interrogation of detained or imprisoned persons.
Discussion
Serving as Rapporteur for the report of Lithuania was Committee Expert ALEXANDER YAKOVLEV who praised the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsmen and the Office for the Development of a National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights. He asked for more specific information concerning the several thousand petitions received in connection with abuse by the police. He asked how the Lithuanian Courts were constituted, who proposed the candidacy of judges, what were the procedures by which judges were elected and what their terms were.
Mr. Yakovlev also asked for the general conditions of places of detention and whether they were under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Justice. He asked whether there was a possibility to appeal cases on the expulsion of foreigners, what the time limits were for preliminary investigations and for more detailed information about the Offices of Ombudsmen.
Serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of Lithuania was Committee Expert FELICE GAER who asked for clarification on “watch units” and police coercion as stated in the report. With regard to training, she asked to what extent the courses on human rights and those on torture were integrated.
On the question of detention and interrogation, the Co-Rapporteur asked for an elaboration on the situation of overcrowded prisons and actions taken with regard to monitoring detention facilities, for an elaboration on surveillance of interrogation methods, and whether an offender was given a medical and psychiatric examination. Had a code of conduct been developed for questioning suspects by police and when did a suspect have access to a lawyer, she asked? More specifically, she asked how investigations into allegations of torture took place, for statistics on those accused and convicted and what happened to those who had been convicted for abuse of authority. In this regard, she asked how the current system of internal investigation differed form the old Soviet system.
The Expert asked for clarification on the reduced number of complaints in recent years by inmates about ill treatment, as stated in the report, and for information about brutality in the army. She asked about the witness protection programmes in Lithuania, inter-prisoner violence and sexual violence in prisons and what mechanisms were in place to monitor such acts. She specifically asked for information as to where women inmates were detained, who guarded them and general statistics about complaints brought forward by them.
Ms. Gaer requested information about the Foreigners Registration Centre in Pabrade and what training on torture the border police there had. Finally, she asked for the composition of the alien population by sex, age, and nationality.
Other Committee Experts also put questions, asking for more information on the proposed higher non-university training for police officials on torture; for more specific information on the conditions of police detention centres, in particular whether they had mattresses, blankets, hygiene conditions; and the cases of tuberculosis in prisons. An Expert asked about whether minors were separated from adult inmates and what and how many juvenile institutions were in Lithuania.