COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE STARTS CONSIDERATION OF REPORT FROM ITALY

MORNING
HR/CAT/99/10
3 May 1999




The Committee against Torture this morning took up the third periodic report of Italy as it considered how that country implemented the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment.

Claudio Moreno, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy and head of the delegation, said that his country had taken particular care in enacting new legislation as suggested by the Committee when it last reviewed a report by Italy in 1995. Since then, the country had witnessed massive immigration and had been forced to implement new laws.

Last year, Italy had adopted a new law guaranteeing that all foreigners were afforded the maximum respect of their rights, namely enjoying the same rights and opportunities as Italian citizens, Mr. Moreno said. The most alarming fact concerning illegal entry, however, was that many immigrants were linked to organized crime, and many were trafficking in drugs or prostitution.

The Italian delegation also included Luigi Citarella, the Secretary-General of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights; Paolo Mancuso of the Ministry of Justice; Massimo Pierangelini and Carmine Corvo of the Ministry of Interior; and Gaetano Maruccia, of the General Command of the Carabinieri.

Sayed Kassem El Masry, who served as the Committee's rapporteur to the report, praised the delegation for presenting a thorough document. He underlined the State's failure to adopt a specific crime and definition of torture in its domestic laws as mandated by the Convention. He also asked about the depth of the Government's investigation into individual cases, particularly the allegations of torture and mistreatment of Somalis by Italian military personnel who were in that country as part of a United Nations peace-keeping mission.

Peter Thomas Burns, the Committee's co-rapporteur to the report, lauded the inclusion of human rights education for the new recruits of the Carabinieri police force, but wondered if that was also applicable to the current staff. He also pressed the delegation for answers on certain individual investigations, including the 1985 death of a suspect in a police station. The investigation in that matter was still not completed.

The Italian delegation will return to the Committee on Tuesday, 4 May, at 3:30 p.m. to respond to the questions raised by the experts. The Committee will resume its meeting this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. to issue its conclusions and recommendations on the report of Mauritius, and to hear the replies to the questions put to the Bulgarian delegation last week.

Report of Italy

The third periodic report of Italy (CAT/C/44/Add.2) reviews what the country has done in terms of promotion and protection of human rights since it presented its second report to the Committee in April 1995. The report also describes Italy's attempts to comply with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

According to the report, the Government recently adopted new laws to improve conditions for foreigners in Italy. It stipulates that all aliens within Italy’s borders should enjoy all fundamental human rights, including rights in all matters concerning health assistance, education, and housing. Reforms were also made to the State's prison system, including “implementing absolute impartiality” without discrimination to nationality, race, economic and social conditions, political opinions or religious beliefs. The reform also contains a specific provision allowing prisoners who are not Roman Catholic to practice their own religion.

Introduction of Report of Italy

CLAUDIO MORENO, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy, said the conclusions of the Committee on the second report were exhaustively examined by the Italian authorities with a view to improve the aspects on which the Committee had expressed its concerns. This report gave an overall view of the developments concerning Italian legislation, and dealt with the problems that had been discussed on 27 April 1995 before this Committee, including the substance of the recommendations and the concerns expressed at the end of the meeting. It also contained information on situations and individual cases of ill-treatment, including those mentioned at the time by Amnesty International. Italy was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention and to accept the optional clause concerning individual complaints. The point of the Committee that no country was perfect was fully shared. Additional efforts should be made by those countries that were more advanced in the full respect of human rights to eradicate, step by step, at their root, any fact that could appear to be not in line with the principles and the norms of the Convention.

Mr. Moreno said hundreds of thousands of foreign citizens had been entering Italy illegally. Some of the immigrants originated from the Maghreb area, others from Bosnia, Kurdistan and Albania, and more recently, from Kosovo. In 1998, the Government had taken two major initiatives to meet the increasing presence of foreigners: a new law on immigration in Italy and another guaranteeing to all foreigners the maximum respect of their rights. Moreover, the law envisaged special jurisdictional procedures in order to decide - without the usual formalities and in a very short period of time - on any complaint that any foreigner may present. The principle leading the activities of the Government and local authorities was that all foreigners should have exactly the same rights and chances as Italian citizens.

On the other hand, it was necessary to underline that the presence of so many foreigners - of different cultures and nationalities - created many problems in the current everyday life in Italy, Mr. Moreno said. While no signs of a discriminatory attitude towards foreigners were present in the Italian population, initiatives at all levels were being taken for their full integration. However, there had been sporadic episodes by some extremists, especially teenagers or youths. The most alarming fact concerning illegal entry, however, was that many immigrants were linked to organized crime, and many were trafficking in drugs or prostitution. It was the duty of the Government to underline that most of these criminal organizations lived on the exploitation and the most brutal ill-treatment of the masses of desperate refugees and people fleeing from the disasters of war and of ethnic cleansing.

Statistics on Italian prisons gave very strong evidence of the presence of foreigners there. In 1987, the Italian prison population was 72,577 inmates, 10,141 of whom were foreigners. In 1998, the respective figures were 58,403 and 28,731. In June 1998, the Simeone-Saraceni Law introduced alternative measures to detentions in prison, with the declared purpose of lowering progressively the prison population. The statistical data confirmed that the law had a positive impact in reducing the number of detainees.

Discussion

SAYED KASSEM EL MASRY, who served as the Committee's rapporteur to the report, said Italy should be thanked for the comprehensiveness of the document. The report did not strictly follow the guidelines of the Convention and it did not present information on an article by article basis. At the same time, this was the third report, and all had been submitted on time, which was appreciated.

Mr. El Masry said the crime of torture had not been introduced into the legal code of Italy. There was no specific definition, and the reason given in other reports was that other acts of torture were separate and specific crimes. The Committee did not agree with this, and had suggested a further study of this situation. This had not yet been done. Several bills dealing with the crime of torture had been tabled in Parliament.

There was a question about the 20-day maximum stay in prison for an illegal immigrant. What happened if the detainee had to be held for longer than that, Mr. El Masry asked.

Recent events had shown that Italy had a new policy of accepting foreigners, he said. The recent influx of Albanians from Kosovo and Albania, and Kurds before that, made the new laws necessary.

About individual cases, Mr. El Masry referred to the Somali cases in paragraphs 76 through 79 of the report. In 1997, there were allegations that in 1993 and 1994, Italian paratroopers had witnessed some of their colleagues inflicting torture and mistreatment on Somalis. The Government had found that the practice was not widespread but that did not diminish its gravity. The Government report said there was a failure to make preventive checks. The Commission said there was a need to better teach ethics in military training, and said in the future, similar missions should include more military police and at least one magistrate. There was a gang rape. One Somali was administered electric shock. Members of the armed forces attempted to cover up the incident. The Commission, in its investigation, did not make one trip to Somalia. That was wrong. If it were not for the testimony of a former paratrooper, this incident may never had been known. The report did not refer to any disciplinary measures to the perpetrators.

Mr. El Masry said there were other reports that contained information on racial bias. One report said that racial prejudice seemed to be a factor in mistreatment by police in Italy. It was noted that every new member of the police must pass tests, including psychological tests. Would those tests be extended to the current members as well, to make sure they were able to carry out their functions?

PETER THOMAS BURNS, the Committee's co-rapporteur to the report, said a number of regional and international bodies had reached similar conclusions when they examined the situation in Italy about five years ago. They concluded that overcrowding in prisons had created a number of problems. There had been problems with conflicts between police officers and immigrants. It was pointed out that because of the waves of immigrants, Italy was addressing that problem. Often, problems started when foreigners were unable to produce identification documents when police demanded them. What were the regulations and obligations on identification documents?

Mr. Burns praised the human rights education for the Carabinieri trainees, and said it demonstrated the sincerity of the Government in that field. It was also pleasing to see reforms of non-judicial detention and methods of recording actions. Police would now be required to record what was taking place which provided good protection both for the individual and for the police themselves.

The five days of detention without access to counsel was very problematic, Mr. Burns said. That was a long time. He asked if it was a genuine incommunicado period? In other countries where there were long periods of detention, the Committee learned that that was when violations could occur. Could that policy be justified?

Mr. Burns also had questions about the timeliness of investigations in individual cases. There was a case of someone killed in a police station in 1985. Why was the investigative report still not completed? In the report, paragraph 78 spoke of carnal violence. What was that? Was it a euphemism for rape? In paragraph 80, there was a question about the jurisdiction of the Italian prosecutor.

Other questions raised by Committee experts centred around the State's efforts to offer redress and compensation to victims of torture.