COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE OFFERS CONCLUSIONS ON REPORT OF SWEDEN

CAT
28th session
7 May 2002
Afternoon





Panel Continues Review of Report of Norway


The Committee against Torture released its conclusions and recommendations this afternoon on a fourth periodic report of Sweden, saying among other things that a definition of torture as contained in the Convention against Torture should be incorporated into Swedish domestic law, and that allegations of maltreatment by police and prison personnel should be investigated promptly and impartially.

The Committee also recommended that Sweden ensure that if foreigners were sent back, they were sent back to a country of their choice, or, at all events, a country with which they had real ties and where there was not a risk that they would be subject to torture; that Sweden bring its Special Control of Foreigners Act into line with the Convention; and that it strengthen human rights education programmes intended for police personnel, prison guards and other law-enforcement officers.

Among positive aspects to the report, the Committee cited the adoption of a national action plan for human rights for the years 2002-2004; and the establishment in December 2000 of an official Parliamentary committee to determine whether the existing framework for handling allegations of criminal actions by the police was satisfactory.

One matter of concern noted by the Committee -- that three people had been killed by police quelling riots in Goteburg in 2001 -- was contested by the Swedish delegation. A Government representative said no one had been killed during the riots and requested that the assertion be deleted from the Committee's findings.


The Committee also carried on this afternoon with its consideration of a fourth periodic report of Norway. A Norwegian Government delegation, responding to questions put by Committee members on Monday upon presentation of the report, said among other things that a proposed amendment was intended to reduce the use of solitary confinement -- that it would make solitary confinement dependent on an explicit order by a court order and would make it subject to time limits; and that a working group for evaluating the quality of investigative work carried out upon complaints of ill-treatment found that 6 per cent of cases dropped should have resulted in investigations and that the percentage of cases dropped (95 per cent) should have been somewhat lower. The working group also recommended that police personnel involved should be questioned whenever there was an allegation, and that when a case was not investigated, a reason should be given.

Sweden and Norway, as among the 129 States parties to the Convention against Torture, must submit periodic reports to the Committee on national efforts to implement the treaty.

The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 8 May, to begin its review of an initial report of Saudi Arabia.


Conclusions and Recommendations on Fourth Periodic Report of Sweden

The Committee cited among positive aspects of the report the adoption of a national action plan for human rights for the years 2002-2004; the setting up of a special commission to study the manner in which the criminal investigation into the 1995 death in detention of Osmo Vallo was carried out; and the establishment in December 2000 of an official Parliamentary committee to determine whether the existing framework for handling allegations of criminal actions by the police was satisfactory.

Among matters of concern, the Committee noted that there had been several cases of excessive use of force by police personnel and prison guards, leading to the deaths of the persons concerned, in recent years, and that in 2001 the Goteborg riots had led to police response in which use of weapons was authorized and many complaints of ill-treatment were made; that there were allegations that guidelines given to police personnel and prison guards regarding the use of force were often subjective and imprecise; and that there seemed to be no legislative rule which clearly spelled out a prohibition of the use of statements obtained under duress as evidence in legal proceedings.

Among the Committee's recommendations were that the definition of torture set out in article 1 of the Convention against Torture be incorporated into Swedish domestic law; that Sweden ensure that if foreigners were sent back, they were sent back to a country of their choice, or, at all events, a country with which they had real ties and where there was not a risk that they would be subject to torture; that Sweden bring its Special Control of Foreigners Act into line with the Convention; that it strengthen machinery for following the guarantees of proper treatment offered by States to which foreigners were expelled; that it undertake more comprehensive and detailed investigations into the human rights situations in the countries of origin of asylum-seekers; that it ensure that all allegations of violations committed by police personnel and prison guards were investigated promptly and impartially; that Sweden strengthen human rights education programmes intended for police personnel, prison guards and other law-enforcement officers; and that it ensure that the prohibition on the use of statements obtained under duress as evidence in court proceedings was clearly spelled out in domestic law.


Discussion of Fourth Periodic Report of Norway

A Norwegian Government delegation, responding to questions put by Committee members during presentation of the Norwegian report on Monday, said among other things that a proposal was being circulated to introduce a penal provision incorporating article 1 of the Convention into domestic law; that a working group for evaluating the quality of investigative work carried out by special investigative bodies (SBI) upon complaints of ill-treatment found that in 6 per cent of cases that were not investigated investigations should have been opened, that the percentage of cases dropped (95 per cent) should have been lower, although not a great deal lower, that police personnel involved should be questioned whenever there was an allegation, and that when a case was not investigated, a reason should be given. The recommendations of the working group were being considered by the Government and a final response had not been made.

When asylum seekers committed criminal acts, measures were taken to speed up consideration of their cases, the delegation of Norway said; units were being planned to house detained asylum seekers separately from prisoners.

Norway's reservation to article 14, paragraph 5, relative to the right to appeal convictions, would continue to stand only in very narrow circumstances, the delegation said.

Training of health personnel and use of force by psychiatric personnel were the focus of four new acts adopted to establish a health and welfare policy based on human dignity, the delegation said; the new legislation was aimed among other things at ensuring that health personnel were qualified to meet the needs and respect the rights of patients; given the short time during which the laws had been in effect, it was not yet possible to judge how well they were working, but statistics to that end were being collected.

On solitary confinement, a court could decide that a person in custody could not receive visits or exchange letters, the delegation said; a proposed amendment was intended to reduce the use of solitary confinement; a suggested change in procedure would make solitary confinement dependent on an explicit order by a court; proposed reasons would include allowing such confinement for very limited reasons and only if it were proportional to the concern behind its imposition; and the proposal would make solitary confinement subject to time limits -- it would normally not exceed two weeks, with two-week extensions possible, but subject to a maximum limit of six weeks for a suspected crime with a maximum six-year sentence or 12 weeks for a suspected crime with a longer sentence; in exceptional circumstances, a detainee could be held in solitary confinement for more than 12 weeks. Under-age detainees could under no circumstances be isolated for more than eight weeks. Under the proposal a detainee could not be held in complete isolation if partial isolation was sufficient, and the Ministry of Justice was considering establishing separate units in prisons where remanded prisoners subject to partial isolation could be held.

An arrested person had to be asked if he wished a member of his household or another person to be notified, the delegation said; such notification could only be postponed if it was expected to significantly hinder police investigation of the case; notification was to be noted in the arrest register; a detainee was to be notified of his right to notify a lawyer of his arrest; a request to notify a lawyer should be granted within two hours of the request; an arrested person was not currently entitled to a State-paid lawyer until the case was brought to court, but a proposal had been made to allow such legal aid within 24 hours of arrest; and a person detained in police custody was entitled to medical attention upon request and no less than two hours after being brought into custody.

It appeared that only two prison officers had been convicted of sexual abuse of prisoners over the last five or six years, the delegation said; one case was not violent, as it was with the female prisoner's consent; the Government was not aware of any studies of sexual abuse in prisons. Statistics were not available on the ethnicity of prisoners, as it was against Government policy to compile such ethnic data, as it had the potential to be misused.




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