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COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE HEARS RESPONSE OF FINLAND
10 May 2005
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Committee against Torture
AFTERNOON
10 May 2005
The Committee against Torture this afternoon heard the response of Finland to questions raised by Committee Experts on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Responding to a series of questions raised by the Committee members on Monday, 9 May on the fourth periodic report of Finland, the delegation said the Government of Finland was convinced that the Penal Code fully covered any actions or crimes which constituted torture as it was defined in article 1 of the Convention. Acts that did not cause physical injuries were punishable as coercion in the Penal Code. The delegation promised that it would recommend to the Government that it consider the issue of the definition of torture in Finnish legislation carefully once again, bearing in mind the concerns of the Committee.
On the issue of preventive detention, which the Committee recommended should be abolished during its consideration of previous Finnish reports, the delegation said a bill amending the Penal Code had been given to the Parliament in December last year. It included a proposal to abolish the current system of preventive detention.
With regard to Roma prisoners, the delegation said they still faced some problems in Finnish prisons, and a working group was set up to consider those problems. Some Roma prisoners were involved in narcotic smuggling within the prison system; however, the situation of Roma prisoners had been improved with the separation of dangerous prisoners from other prisoners and trying to arrange various activities and courses for the Roma prisoners.
Responding to a question on the use of force or medication during the deportation of a person from Finland, the delegation said the police always applied the principle of lesser force to achieve the wanted result. If resistance was aggravated, police were even allowed to renounce the task and postpone it to a later stage, and for every difficult deportation case, a private plane could be chartered. The police were not allowed to use medication as an alternative to other coercive measures in order to deport someone from the country, nor were they allowed to use electric shocks or paralysing gases under any circumstances connected with deportation.
With regards to sexual violence against women in public and private life, the delegation said the current Government Programme highlighted violence as an issue of gender equality and a phenomenon undermining people's safety. The National Council for Crime Prevention had been set up to prevent violence against women. A plan of action to prevent domestic and interfamily violence had also been put in place.
The Committee will issue its conclusions and recommendations on the report of Finland towards the end of the session on 20 May.
As one of the 139 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Finland is obliged to provide the Committee with periodic reports on the measures it has taken to fight torture.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 May, it is scheduled to take up the initial report of Uganda (CAT/C/5/Add.32).
Response of Finland
Responding to a series of questions raised by Committee Experts on Monday, 9 May on the fourth periodic report of Finland, the delegation said that the Government of Finland was convinced that the Penal Code fully covered any actions or crimes which constituted torture as it was defined in article 1 of the Convention. Acts that did not cause physical injuries were punishable as coercion in the Penal Code. The criminalization of torture in the Finnish Penal Code would have a symbolic value and it would underline the importance of the matter. The delegation would recommend to the Government that it consider that issue carefully once again, bearing in mind the concerns of the Committee.
On the issue of preventive detention, which the Committee had recommended should be abolished during its consideration of a previous report from Finland, the delegation said the bill concerning the Penal Code had been given to the Parliament in December last year. It proposed abolishing the current system of preventive detention.
Concerning the grounds for a presidential pardon, the delegation said at present, the only possibility for a life sentence prisoner to be released from a prison was a pardon by the President. The behaviour of the prisoner and the statements of the prison Director were taken into consideration for a pardon. The reform of the Penal Code included new provisions on the parole of life sentence prisoners, including for release on parole to be considered after 12 years of imprisonment.
Roma prisoners still faced some problems in Finnish prisons, the delegation said. A working group was set up to consider those problems. The group had published its report in 2003 with numerous suggestions, but many of them had not been carried out in practice yet. The situation of the Roma prisoners was quite difficult. Some Roma prisoners were involved in narcotic smuggling within the prison system. The situation of Roma prisoners had been improved with the separation of dangerous prisoners from other prisoners and trying to arrange various activities and courses for Roma prisoners.
Responding to a question on the use of force or medication during the deportation of a person from Finland, the delegation said the police always applied the principle of lesser force to achieve the wanted result. If the resistance was aggravated, the police were even allowed to renounce the task and postpone it to a later stage. For every difficult deportation case, a private plane could be chartered. Police were not allowed to use medication as an alternative to other coercive measures in order to deport someone from the country, nor were they allowed to use electric shocks or paralysing gases under any circumstances connected with deportation.
Concerning a question on the notion of a safe country of origin and on enforceability of the first instance decision in cases where an application for asylum had been examined under the accelerated procedure, the delegation said no list of safe countries of origin was used in Finland. However, when deciding on an application in the asylum procedure, a State where the applicant was not at risk of persecution or serious violation of human rights might be considered as a safe country of origin for the applicant. The notion of safe country of origin was not, however, a general assessment of a situation of a certain country.
In Finland's asylum system, the applicant's need for international protection and other grounds for granting a residence permit were examined in a single procedure, the delegation said. On the issue of refugee quotas, Finland might admit for resettlement persons considered refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or other foreigners in need of international protection. The majority of quota refugees who had arrived in Finland in recent years included people from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and the Sudan. In recent years, Finland's annual quota had been 750 persons.
On the use of involuntary treatment under the Mental Health Act, the delegation said the mental health policy of Finland focused on promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Part of the mental health policy had been the de-institutionalisation of psychiatric care. The goal was to identity problems in mental health and provide help at an early stage. Since the early 1990s, there had been a major shift away from institutional in-patient care for psychiatric patients towards out-patient community care. However, there were still situations when there was the need to provide mental health care against the will of the patient and those cases were often very difficult.
With regards to sexual violence against women in public and private life, the delegation said the current Government Programme highlighted violence as an issue of gender equality and a phenomenon undermining people's safety. The National Council for Crime Prevention had been set up to prevent violence against women. A plan of action to prevent domestic and interfamily violence had also been put in place.
* *** *
This press release is not an official record and is provided for public information only.
AFTERNOON
10 May 2005
The Committee against Torture this afternoon heard the response of Finland to questions raised by Committee Experts on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Responding to a series of questions raised by the Committee members on Monday, 9 May on the fourth periodic report of Finland, the delegation said the Government of Finland was convinced that the Penal Code fully covered any actions or crimes which constituted torture as it was defined in article 1 of the Convention. Acts that did not cause physical injuries were punishable as coercion in the Penal Code. The delegation promised that it would recommend to the Government that it consider the issue of the definition of torture in Finnish legislation carefully once again, bearing in mind the concerns of the Committee.
On the issue of preventive detention, which the Committee recommended should be abolished during its consideration of previous Finnish reports, the delegation said a bill amending the Penal Code had been given to the Parliament in December last year. It included a proposal to abolish the current system of preventive detention.
With regard to Roma prisoners, the delegation said they still faced some problems in Finnish prisons, and a working group was set up to consider those problems. Some Roma prisoners were involved in narcotic smuggling within the prison system; however, the situation of Roma prisoners had been improved with the separation of dangerous prisoners from other prisoners and trying to arrange various activities and courses for the Roma prisoners.
Responding to a question on the use of force or medication during the deportation of a person from Finland, the delegation said the police always applied the principle of lesser force to achieve the wanted result. If resistance was aggravated, police were even allowed to renounce the task and postpone it to a later stage, and for every difficult deportation case, a private plane could be chartered. The police were not allowed to use medication as an alternative to other coercive measures in order to deport someone from the country, nor were they allowed to use electric shocks or paralysing gases under any circumstances connected with deportation.
With regards to sexual violence against women in public and private life, the delegation said the current Government Programme highlighted violence as an issue of gender equality and a phenomenon undermining people's safety. The National Council for Crime Prevention had been set up to prevent violence against women. A plan of action to prevent domestic and interfamily violence had also been put in place.
The Committee will issue its conclusions and recommendations on the report of Finland towards the end of the session on 20 May.
As one of the 139 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Finland is obliged to provide the Committee with periodic reports on the measures it has taken to fight torture.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 May, it is scheduled to take up the initial report of Uganda (CAT/C/5/Add.32).
Response of Finland
Responding to a series of questions raised by Committee Experts on Monday, 9 May on the fourth periodic report of Finland, the delegation said that the Government of Finland was convinced that the Penal Code fully covered any actions or crimes which constituted torture as it was defined in article 1 of the Convention. Acts that did not cause physical injuries were punishable as coercion in the Penal Code. The criminalization of torture in the Finnish Penal Code would have a symbolic value and it would underline the importance of the matter. The delegation would recommend to the Government that it consider that issue carefully once again, bearing in mind the concerns of the Committee.
On the issue of preventive detention, which the Committee had recommended should be abolished during its consideration of a previous report from Finland, the delegation said the bill concerning the Penal Code had been given to the Parliament in December last year. It proposed abolishing the current system of preventive detention.
Concerning the grounds for a presidential pardon, the delegation said at present, the only possibility for a life sentence prisoner to be released from a prison was a pardon by the President. The behaviour of the prisoner and the statements of the prison Director were taken into consideration for a pardon. The reform of the Penal Code included new provisions on the parole of life sentence prisoners, including for release on parole to be considered after 12 years of imprisonment.
Roma prisoners still faced some problems in Finnish prisons, the delegation said. A working group was set up to consider those problems. The group had published its report in 2003 with numerous suggestions, but many of them had not been carried out in practice yet. The situation of the Roma prisoners was quite difficult. Some Roma prisoners were involved in narcotic smuggling within the prison system. The situation of Roma prisoners had been improved with the separation of dangerous prisoners from other prisoners and trying to arrange various activities and courses for Roma prisoners.
Responding to a question on the use of force or medication during the deportation of a person from Finland, the delegation said the police always applied the principle of lesser force to achieve the wanted result. If the resistance was aggravated, the police were even allowed to renounce the task and postpone it to a later stage. For every difficult deportation case, a private plane could be chartered. Police were not allowed to use medication as an alternative to other coercive measures in order to deport someone from the country, nor were they allowed to use electric shocks or paralysing gases under any circumstances connected with deportation.
Concerning a question on the notion of a safe country of origin and on enforceability of the first instance decision in cases where an application for asylum had been examined under the accelerated procedure, the delegation said no list of safe countries of origin was used in Finland. However, when deciding on an application in the asylum procedure, a State where the applicant was not at risk of persecution or serious violation of human rights might be considered as a safe country of origin for the applicant. The notion of safe country of origin was not, however, a general assessment of a situation of a certain country.
In Finland's asylum system, the applicant's need for international protection and other grounds for granting a residence permit were examined in a single procedure, the delegation said. On the issue of refugee quotas, Finland might admit for resettlement persons considered refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or other foreigners in need of international protection. The majority of quota refugees who had arrived in Finland in recent years included people from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and the Sudan. In recent years, Finland's annual quota had been 750 persons.
On the use of involuntary treatment under the Mental Health Act, the delegation said the mental health policy of Finland focused on promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Part of the mental health policy had been the de-institutionalisation of psychiatric care. The goal was to identity problems in mental health and provide help at an early stage. Since the early 1990s, there had been a major shift away from institutional in-patient care for psychiatric patients towards out-patient community care. However, there were still situations when there was the need to provide mental health care against the will of the patient and those cases were often very difficult.
With regards to sexual violence against women in public and private life, the delegation said the current Government Programme highlighted violence as an issue of gender equality and a phenomenon undermining people's safety. The National Council for Crime Prevention had been set up to prevent violence against women. A plan of action to prevent domestic and interfamily violence had also been put in place.
* *** *
This press release is not an official record and is provided for public information only.
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