COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE OPENS SPRING SESSION

HR/CAT/99/2
26 April 1999


The Committee Against Torture held a brief meeting this morning at the beginning of its three-week spring session, electing officers and reviewing its agenda and organization of work.

Elected Chairman was Peter Thomas Burns. Chosen as Vice Chairmen were Guibril Camara, Alejandro Gonzalez Poblete, and Yu Mengjia. Bent Sorensen was appointed Rapporteur.

The Committee will be meeting in morning and afternoon sessions through 14 May and will consider reports and hear presentations from the following countries: the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mauritius, Venezuela, Bulgaria, Italy, Luxembourg, Libya, Morocco, Egypt and Liechtenstein.

The Committee also reviewed this morning a list of States that had yet to submit already overdue reports on their efforts to implement the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Many of these reports are years overdue.

The secretariat informed the Committee that for the period from June 1998 to March 1999, 32 out of 105 expected reports were not submitted. Of those, 22 were more than three years late. The countries involved were Uganda, Togo, Guyana, Brazil, Guinea, Somalia, Estonia, Yemen, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Latvia, the Seychelles, Antigua, Burundi, Slovakia, Slovenia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Albania, and the United States. Each had received between four and 17 reminders from the Committee.

For the period from June 1992 to March 1999, according to the secretariat, 28 out of 80 second periodic reports were late. The 13 that were more than three years late were owed by Afghanistan, Belize, Cameroon, Uganda, the Philippines, Togo, Guyana, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Guinea, Somalia, and Romania. Between three and 10 reminders had been sent to these States.

For the period from June 1996 to March 1999, only 19 of the 49 expected reports had been submitted.

The Committee will meet privately this afternoon, and then begin its substantive deliberations at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 27 April, when it will take up a report from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.