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COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE ISSUES CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON REPORT OF CZECH REPUBLIC
13 May 2004
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13 May 2004
The Committee against Torture issued its conclusions and recommendations this afternoon on the third periodic report of the Czech Republic, welcoming the ongoing efforts to revise its legislation in order to safeguard human rights in general and, more specifically, those relating to the implementation of the Convention against Torture.
The Committee expressed concern, among other things, about the persistent occurence of acts of violence against the Roma community and the allegations of police violence towards them, including the alleged reluctance by the police to take action with regard to violence perpetrated against that community by private individuals.
It recommended, among other things, that the State party monitor and document incidents of inter-prisoner violence with a view to revealing the root causes and designating appropriate prevention strategies; and ensure that medical examinations were confidential and consider the possibility of transferring the medical services from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Health.
As one of the States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Czech Republic must provide periodic reports to the Committee on how it is giving effect to the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee will reconvene in public session at 10 a.m. on Friday, 14 May, to issue its conclusions and recommendations on the second periodic report of Monaco.
Conclusions and Recommendations on Third Periodic Report of Czech Republic
The Committee welcomed the ongoing efforts by the State party to revise its legislation in order to safeguard human rights in general and, more specifically, those related to the implementation of the Convention against Torture. Among other positive aspects, the Committee welcomed the amendments to the Residence of Aliens Act establishing an independent judicial second instance body to review asylum cases; the amendment of the Act on Servicing Prison Terms, which defined conditions in prison that were more favourable to inmates; the amendment to the Penal Code providing for the direction of investigation to criminal offences allegedly committed by members of the Police to the State Prosecuting Attorney instead of the Police investigator as was previously the case; the Law on the Special Protection of Witnesses; and the introduction in 2003 of the National Strategy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
The Committee said it was concerned about the persistence occurrence of acts of violence against the Roma community and the allegations of police violence towards them, including the alleged reluctance by the police to take action with regard to violence perpetrated against that community by private individuals. It added that it was concerned at the lack of explicit legal guarantees of the rights of all persons deprived of liberty to have access to a lawyer, and to notify next of kin from the very outset of their custody; the fact that minors were not kept separately from adults in all situations of detention; and the current system under which inmates were required to cover a portion of the expenses related to their imprisonment.
The Committee also expressed concern at the findings of the investigations into the excessive use of force by the police following the demonstration in Prague during the September 2000 International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank meeting, according to which only one case qualified as a criminal offence; the lack of complete information from the State party on redress and compensation provided to victims of acts of torture, or to their families; the amendments to the law on the right to asylum, amplifying the grounds for rejecting asylum requests and allowing for the detention of persons in the process of being removed to be held in aliens’ detention centres for a period up to 180 days; and allegations regarding some incidents of uniformed and involuntary sterilization of Roma women, as well as the Government’s inability to investigate due to the insufficient identification of the individual complainants.
The Committee recommended, among other things, that the State party exert additional efforts to combat racial intolerance and xenophobia and to ensure that the comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation being discussed included all relevant grounds covered by the Convention; take measures to establish an effective, reliable and independent complaints system to undertake prompt and impartial investigations into all allegations of ill-treatment or torture by police and other public officials, including allegations of racially motivated violence by non-state actors, in particular any that had resulted in deaths, and to punish the offenders; strengthen existing efforts to reduce occurrence of ill-treatment by police and other public officials; and strengthen safeguards provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure against ill-treatment and torture.
The Committee also recommended that the State party monitor and document incidents of inter-prisoner violence with a view to revealing the root causes and designating appropriate prevention strategies; and ensure that medical examinations were confidential and consider possibilities of transferring the medical services from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Health; review the independence and effectiveness of the investigations into complaints of excessive use of force related to the IMF/World Bank demonstrations of September 2000; and review the strict regime of detention for illegal immigrants with a view to its repeal and ensure that all children held in those detention centres were removed with their parents to family reception centres.
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The Committee against Torture issued its conclusions and recommendations this afternoon on the third periodic report of the Czech Republic, welcoming the ongoing efforts to revise its legislation in order to safeguard human rights in general and, more specifically, those relating to the implementation of the Convention against Torture.
The Committee expressed concern, among other things, about the persistent occurence of acts of violence against the Roma community and the allegations of police violence towards them, including the alleged reluctance by the police to take action with regard to violence perpetrated against that community by private individuals.
It recommended, among other things, that the State party monitor and document incidents of inter-prisoner violence with a view to revealing the root causes and designating appropriate prevention strategies; and ensure that medical examinations were confidential and consider the possibility of transferring the medical services from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Health.
As one of the States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Czech Republic must provide periodic reports to the Committee on how it is giving effect to the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee will reconvene in public session at 10 a.m. on Friday, 14 May, to issue its conclusions and recommendations on the second periodic report of Monaco.
Conclusions and Recommendations on Third Periodic Report of Czech Republic
The Committee welcomed the ongoing efforts by the State party to revise its legislation in order to safeguard human rights in general and, more specifically, those related to the implementation of the Convention against Torture. Among other positive aspects, the Committee welcomed the amendments to the Residence of Aliens Act establishing an independent judicial second instance body to review asylum cases; the amendment of the Act on Servicing Prison Terms, which defined conditions in prison that were more favourable to inmates; the amendment to the Penal Code providing for the direction of investigation to criminal offences allegedly committed by members of the Police to the State Prosecuting Attorney instead of the Police investigator as was previously the case; the Law on the Special Protection of Witnesses; and the introduction in 2003 of the National Strategy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
The Committee said it was concerned about the persistence occurrence of acts of violence against the Roma community and the allegations of police violence towards them, including the alleged reluctance by the police to take action with regard to violence perpetrated against that community by private individuals. It added that it was concerned at the lack of explicit legal guarantees of the rights of all persons deprived of liberty to have access to a lawyer, and to notify next of kin from the very outset of their custody; the fact that minors were not kept separately from adults in all situations of detention; and the current system under which inmates were required to cover a portion of the expenses related to their imprisonment.
The Committee also expressed concern at the findings of the investigations into the excessive use of force by the police following the demonstration in Prague during the September 2000 International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank meeting, according to which only one case qualified as a criminal offence; the lack of complete information from the State party on redress and compensation provided to victims of acts of torture, or to their families; the amendments to the law on the right to asylum, amplifying the grounds for rejecting asylum requests and allowing for the detention of persons in the process of being removed to be held in aliens’ detention centres for a period up to 180 days; and allegations regarding some incidents of uniformed and involuntary sterilization of Roma women, as well as the Government’s inability to investigate due to the insufficient identification of the individual complainants.
The Committee recommended, among other things, that the State party exert additional efforts to combat racial intolerance and xenophobia and to ensure that the comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation being discussed included all relevant grounds covered by the Convention; take measures to establish an effective, reliable and independent complaints system to undertake prompt and impartial investigations into all allegations of ill-treatment or torture by police and other public officials, including allegations of racially motivated violence by non-state actors, in particular any that had resulted in deaths, and to punish the offenders; strengthen existing efforts to reduce occurrence of ill-treatment by police and other public officials; and strengthen safeguards provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure against ill-treatment and torture.
The Committee also recommended that the State party monitor and document incidents of inter-prisoner violence with a view to revealing the root causes and designating appropriate prevention strategies; and ensure that medical examinations were confidential and consider possibilities of transferring the medical services from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Health; review the independence and effectiveness of the investigations into complaints of excessive use of force related to the IMF/World Bank demonstrations of September 2000; and review the strict regime of detention for illegal immigrants with a view to its repeal and ensure that all children held in those detention centres were removed with their parents to family reception centres.
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