Committee against Torture recommends prompt and impartial investigations into complaints of torture in Bolivia

CAT
26th session
10 May 2001
Afternoon




Hears Response of Kazakhstan to Questions Raised by Experts


The Committee against Torture this afternoon expressed concern at the number of complaints against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in Bolivia which had resulted on many occasions in deaths in police stations, prisons and military barracks.

The Committee expressed its concerns as it offered its concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Bolivia in the presence of a Government delegation from that country.

The Committee noted with satisfaction the adoption of a new code of criminal procedure, shortly to enter into force, and the public procurator's office organization act, which were designed to remedy shortcomings in the country's current system for the administration of justice. It expressed concern at the excessive and disproportionate use of force and of fire arms by the national police and the armed forces in suppressing mass demonstrations related to social conflicts; and about frequent cases of kidnapping, threats and acts of aggression of which human rights defenders had been victims.

Among its recommendations, the Committee urged the Government to adopt the necessary measures to ensure effective compliance by procurators with their duty to conduct criminal investigations into any complaint of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in a prompt and impartial manner.

Also this afternoon, the Committee heard the response of Kazakhstan to questions raised by Experts on Wednesday. The Government delegation said that there was a problem of tuberculosis in prisons in Kazakhstan which had prompted the Government to take further actions to fight the spread of the disease; the problem was that tuberculosis had also spread among the general population, not just in prisons; in 1999, 345 prisoners had died from tuberculosis, while 175 prisoners died in 2000 in the same manner.

The Committee will offer its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Kazakhstan at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 16 May, in the presence of a representative of the Kazakhstan Government.

Bolivia and Kazakhstan are among the 123 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and as such they are obligated to prepare periodic reports on their efforts to give effect to the anti-torture treaty. They are also expected to send Government delegations to present their respective reports and to answer questions raised by the Committee's 10 independent Experts.

The Committee will meet in public at 3 p.m. on Friday, 11 May to deliver its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Slovakia. It will also continue its debate on the situation in Costa Rica after hearing the response of the Government delegation to questions raised by Experts this morning. The Committee will devote its morning meeting, which will be private, to discussions on matters pertaining to its mandate.


Conclusions and Recommendations on Report of Bolivia

In its concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Bolivia, the Committee noted with satisfaction the adoption of a new code of criminal procedure, shortly to enter into force, and the public procurator's office organization act, which were designed to remedy shortcomings in the country's current system for the administration of justice. It also noted the efforts by the Ombudsman's office and that of the Human Rights Commission to improve the human rights situations. It further noted the measures adopted by the State party to implement human rights training programmes, not only for public officials but also in universities and secondary schools, with the participation of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among factors and difficulties impeding the application of the Convention, the Committee took note of the lack of training in human rights and the issue of prohibition of torture given to law enforcement officials and members of the armed forces, which had resulted in a situation of serious ill-treatment and torture; and also the deficiencies in the legal aid system, which in practice meant that most detainees were deprived of their constitutional right to a defence lawyer.

The unsatisfactory definition of the crime of torture in the criminal code, which did not cover some of the situations including article 1 of the Convention, and the mild penalty prescribed which was not consistent with the seriousness of the crime, were among the subjects of concern to the Committee. It was also concerned about the number of complaints against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment which had resulted on many occasions in deaths, both in police stations, prisons and military barracks.

The Committee further expressed concern about the impunity accorded to the perpetrators of human rights violations and, in particular, the use of torture, which appeared to be widespread, resulting from the lack of any investigation of complaints and the slow pace and inadequacy of such investigations; the failure to respect the maximum period for holding persons incommunicado, set at 24 hours in the Constitution, which facilitated the practice of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and impunity; and the judicial delay which would appear to affect two thirds of the prison population who were kept waiting for their cases to be heard, a situation which was largely responsible for the serious overcrowding of prisons.

The Committee was particularly concerned about the information which it had received regarding the inhuman conditions under which convicts were being held in the facilities know as "circulates" in the Chapare area, in Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and other cities; about detainees who were also held in sub-human conditions for indeterminate periods, sometimes lasting several months; and about overcrowding, lack of amenities and poor hygiene in penitentiary establishments, the lack of basic services, in particular of appropriate medical attention, and the inability of the authorities to guarantee protection of detainees in situations involving prison violence.

Further, the Committee was concerned about the excessive and disproportionate use of force and of fire arms by the national police and the armed forces in suppressing mass demonstrations related to social conflicts. It said the torture, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment perpetrated by the police and military forces in their own precincts attained levels of particular seriousness during periods when a state of siege had been declared. The Committee was concerned about frequent cases of kidnapping, threats and acts of aggression of which human rights defenders had been victims. It said the exceptional nature of those few cases in which the State had accepted its obligation to redress damage caused by serious violations of the right to life would appear to bear out the absence of any State policy relating to reparations for victims of human rights violations.

The Committee recommended, among other things, that the State party incorporate in its criminal legislation the definition of torture as set forth in the Convention; step up the activities to protect, defend and promote human rights which the State had began to develop, particularly those relating to vocational training of all law enforcement officials; adopt the necessary legal and administrative measures to set up a national public register of persons deprived of liberty, indicating the authority which made the decision, the grounds or motives for such decisions and the type of proceedings; adopt the necessary measures to ensure effective compliance by Government procurators with their duty to conduct criminal investigations into any complaints of torture in a prompt and impartial manner; adopt measures to guarantee the free exercise by human rights defenders of the right to promote respect for such rights; and that the State party adopt measures capable of ensuring that no person could be expelled, returned, or extradited to another State where there were substantial grounds for believing that that person would be in danger of being subjected to torture.


Response of Kazakhstan

In response to the queries put by Committee Experts during the consideration of the initial report, the members of the Kazak delegation said the Government had been engaged in reforming its legislative system and the suggestions by the Committee would be an asset in its efforts to further amend the legal system.

The political power structure of Kazakhstan was different than in other countries, with the President being the head of the executive, legislative and judiciary, the delegation said. The President assured the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution. In addition, the Human Rights Commission was attached to the President's office and it had an advisory role. The members of the Commission were elected from among parliamentarians and other independent personalities.

The steps taken to deal with torture had so far been positive, the delegation said. The President had denounced acts of torture committed by public officials and had indicated his intentions to combat such incidents from taking place in the future.

Asked if Kazakhstan was ready to ratify other United Nations conventions, the delegation said that so far, the State had ratified about 20 international conventions and envisaged to continue its ratification of pertinent conventions.

The role of the office of the Ombudsman was to bring complaints to the attention of the Government, the delegation said. However, the Government was also preparing laws on which the Ombudsman could establish its authority and work.

There was a problem of tuberculosis in prisons which had prompted the Government to take further actions to fight the spread of that contagious disease, the delegation said. The disease had also spread among the general population, not only in the prisons. In 1999, 345 prisoners had died from tuberculosis, while in 2000, 175 prisoners had died in the same manner.

With regard to self-injuring by prisoners, last year, the authorities were only aware of two cases, the delegation said. In 1999, in the Alma Ata prison, 45 prisoners had cut themselves causing light injuries. Following that incident, some of the responsible authorities of the prison system had been dismissed from their posts.

The Government had created an inter-ministerial committee to amend the criminal code to include provisions which could criminalize the act of torture, the delegation said. No exceptional circumstances would be justified for the commission of acts of torture. Although the criminal code did not mention the nature of the act inflicted in obtaining confession, any information or confession extracted from an accused with the use of force was not admissible. The courts, upon verifying the situation in which the evidence was obtained, could declare it null and void.

Referring to the United States’ State Department Report on Kazakhstan, the delegation said that the information included in the report was made without consulting the authorities and that the report was disseminating information without any foundation. The information was obtained from persons in the street who were not fully aware of the situation.

With regard to the allegation of rape committed against a woman during interrogation, which was alluded to by one of the Experts, the delegation said that the women was already four months pregnant before her interrogation. She had later died due to kidney failure.

Asked why a person was initially detained for 72 hours rather than 24 hours, the delegation said that because of the dispersion of the population and the lack of transportation, the timing was objective from the geographical prospective.



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