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22 November 2000
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CAT
25th session
22 November 2000
Afternoon
Continues Review of Report of Guatemala
The Committee against Torture offered conclusions and recommendations this afternoon on a third periodic report of Canada, saying the country should consider creating an investigative body for receiving and investigating complaints regarding the Convention against Torture, including allegations related to members of the indigenous population; and that it continue and enhance training of military personnel on standards required by the Convention and related human rights matters, including those regarding discriminatory treatment.
Among its other recommendations, the panel urged the Canadian Government to comply fully with the Convention's prohibition of the return of a person to another State where there were substantial grounds for believing that the individual would be subject to torture, whether or not the individual was a serious criminal or security risk; and that the Government prosecute every case of an alleged torturer in a territory under its jurisdiction where it did not extradite that person and the evidence warranted it, and prior to any deportation.
The panel of 10 independent Experts cited numerous positive aspects to the Canadian report, among them the extensive legal protections against torture that existed in Canada and the transparency of the procedures involved; the appointment of a Correctional Investigator, independent of the Corrections Service, to act as an Ombudsman for detained federal offenders, and the establishment of a Human Rights Division in the Correctional Service to assist in monitoring and evaluating policies and practices; and development of a national strategy on Aboriginal corrections and other measures taken to address the historical, social and economic disadvantages experienced by the indigenous population.
The Committee noted several matters of concern, including allegations of inappropriate use of pepper spray and force by police authorities to break up demonstrations and restore order; allegations that female detainees had been treated harshly and improperly, and that many recommendations of an investigation into such incidents remained to be implemented; and excessive imprisonment of Aboriginal people and their over representation throughout the criminal justice system.
Marcus Jewett, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of the Canadian Department of Justice, said Canada would review the conclusions and recommendations carefully and would be pleased to receive from the Committee details on the creation of the new investigative body it had recommended.
Canada, as one of 123 States parties to the Convention against Torture, is required to submit periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to implement the treaty.
The Committee also continued this afternoon its review of a third periodic report of Guatemala, hearing responses from a Government delegation to questions put by Committee members at an earlier meeting. The delegation said, among other things, that the Human Rights Procurator had established a new office on due process that was responsible for monitoring prison conditions and for periodic visits to prisons and for visits after complaints, and that COPREDEH (Commission of the President for the Coordination of Human Rights Policies in the Executive Branch) had recommended that the Guatemalan Government make the relevant declarations under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention to allow the Committee to receive individual complaints.
The Committee announced that due to a heavy workload, a press conference announced for noon Friday, 24 November, at the Palais des Nations, was cancelled; but that Committee Chairman Peter Thomas Burns would be available to answer questions from journalists from 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24, at the Palais Wilson.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 23 November, to issue conclusions and recommendations on a report of Cameroon.
Conclusions and recommendations on third periodic report of Canada
The Committee cited a series of positive aspects to the report, including the extensive legal protections against torture that existed in Canada and the transparency of the procedures involved; the entry into force of a Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act, overcoming many of the obstacles to prosecution of persons accused of such crimes, and ratification of the statute of the International Criminal Court; the systematic review since December 1999 of all allegations against individuals involved in genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity; the introduction of proposed legislation under which the criteria for granting refugee protection would include grounds outlined in the Convention against Torture; the appointment of a Correctional Investigator, independent of the Corrections Service, to act as an Ombudsman for detained federal offenders, and the establishment of a Human Rights Division in the Correctional Service to assist in monitoring and evaluating policies and practices; development of a national strategy on Aboriginal corrections and other measures taken to address the historical social and economic disadvantages experienced by the indigenous population; the policy of Canada in seeking the views of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in preparing its reports to the Committee, along with assurances that "criticisms and concerns" of NGOs would be explicitly included in Canada's next report; and the increase in Canada's contribution to the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and its continued support of national rehabilitation centres for torture victims.
Concern was cited by the Committee over, among other things, allegations of actions not in conformity with the Convention, including the inappropriate use of pepper spray and force by police authorities to break up demonstrations and restore order, notably at the time of the 1997 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference; allegations that female detainees had been treated harshly and improperly, and that many recommendations of an investigation into these incidents remained to be implemented; allegations of the use of undue force and involuntary sedation in the removal of rejected asylum-seekers; and the excessive imprisonment of Aboriginal people and their over representation throughout the criminal justice system.
The Committee recommended:
-- that Canada comply fully with Convention article 3 (1) prohibiting return of a person to another State where there were substantial grounds for believing that the individual would be subject to torture, whether or not he was a serious criminal or security risk;
-- that Canada enhance the effectiveness of remedies to protect the rights granted under Convention article 3 (1); the Committee noted assurances that a proposed Act provides for a pre-removal risk assessment, and the Committee encouraged Canada to ensure that the proposed legislation permitted in-depth examination by an independent entity of claims, including those from persons already assessed as security risks; and it urged the Government to ensure that obstacles to the full implementation of article 3 were removed, so that an opportunity was given to the individual concerned to respond before a security-risk decision was made, and that assessments of humanitarian and compassionate grounds were made without demanding a fee from the person who sought protection;
-- that the Government prosecute every case of an alleged torturer in a territory under its jurisdiction where it did not extradite that person and the evidence warranted it, and prior to any deportation;
-- that Canada remove from current legislation the defenses that could grant an accused torturer immunity;
-- that it consider creating a new investigative body for receiving and investigating complaints regarding the Convention, including allegations related to members of the indigenous population;
-- and that Canada continue and enhance training of military personnel on standards required by the Convention and related human rights matters, including those regarding discriminatory treatment.
Discussion of third periodic report of Guatemala
A Government delegation, responding to questions put by Committee members, said, among other things, that Article 46 of the Constitution of Guatemala gave international treaties ratified by the Government precedence over national legislation, and the Constitutional Court hence had ruled that the death sentence could not be applied to persons who had carried out kidnappings in which the victims had not been killed, as this would violate the terms of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.
Reservations of the Government to international treaties were not necessarily permanent, the delegation said, and the Government likely could be persuaded to rescind its reservation related to enforced disappearances mentioned by the Committee, as the reservation had been entered into by the previous Government.
There was no reason for Guatemala not to define torture as defined in the Convention, the delegation said; the Government, after consultation, had said it was committed to amending current legislation on prohibiting torture so that it conformed exactly with the Convention's definition.
It had been recommended by COPREDEH (Commission of the President for the Coordination of Human Rights Policies in the Executive Branch) that the Government make the relevant declarations under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention to allow the Committee to receive individual complaints, the delegation said; the matter was now being reviewed by other Government Ministries and COPREDEH would continue to push for such a declaration.
Reforms of the prison system had been undertaken because of the urgent need for improvements, the delegation said. There was no systematic approach to the interrogation of prisoners or to the recording of such interrogations; rules for interrogation had been laid down, and records on each prisoner were kept, but records did not show -- because no doctor was present at interrogations -- if a prisoner was showing signs of maltreatment or torture. Drug trafficking and smuggling were a serious source of crime in the country, and maximum-security prisons had been built in part because of this problem; in any case, these new institutions would help reduce prison overcrowding, which, it had been admitted, was a problem throughout the prison system. A modernization plan for the prison system had been laid down in cooperation with MINUGUA (Mission of the United Nations to Guatemala), including a scheme for a better record-keeping system on prisoners, in part to keep things clear on who was awaiting trial and who had been sentenced. Young offenders were kept in a separate prison system. Prisoners who were HIV-positive were housed separately from other prisoners.
Through 1 August, there were 17 prisons centres for women, holding 353 women, of whom 163 had been sentenced, with the rest in preventive custody or awaiting trial, the delegation said. Detention centres for women had women prison guards. The only male prison guards were there to guard the outside of the prison. In most cases women's centres were completely separate from men's detention centres, but in a few cases women and men were held in adjoining buildings or in the same building, but always in separate areas. There were no statistics on cases of sexual harassment or violence in prisons.
The Human Rights Procurator had established a new office on due process, the delegation said; this office was responsible for monitoring prison conditions and for periodic visits to prisons and for visits after complaints. It was true that sometimes prisoners were afraid to file complaints; one option for them was to get a relative to send a complaint to the authorities. The Human Rights Procurator had always paid attention to such complaints.
No one to date had been sentenced to prison for commission of torture, the delegation said; some decisions had been handed down of grievous bodily harm or abuse of authority; no offense to date had been considered to be a case of torture.
Statistics currently available on torture were not from the Government but from MINUGUA, the delegation said; there were 16 MINUGUA offices in the 22 department of the country, and they did receive complaints of torture; MINUGUA opened a file on each complaint, then sent it to COPREDEH, which then looked into it. Sometimes it was difficult to ascertain the facts. Recent MINUGUA reports indicated that the number of cases had increased; despite the increase, very few cases were currently being dealt with by the public prosecutor.
Most of the cases raised of abuse of street children were being dealt with by the Inter-American human-rights system, the delegation said; an effort was being made by the Government to settle these street children cases out of court, and a COPREDEH delegation was now discussing the matter of compensation in the cases for which the Government had accepted responsibility. The Government was seeking to ensure that people were treated with dignity and to make reparations for damage done.
During all the years of the country's lengthy armed conflict, a number of amnesties had been declared, the delegation said; there was also an amnesty as a result of the peace agreement signed in 1996; it was not called an amnesty, however, but a measure of national reconciliation. However, laws where there was no statute of limitations were not covered by the amnesty. Many people had invoked the latest amnesty in court. There were many crimes that related to the period of armed conflict that had to be dealt with.
Amnesty International had suggested expanding the crime of torture in scope to include enforced disappearances, the delegation said; it was true that enforced disappearances were especially cruel crimes. Almost no family in Guatemala was unscarred by such crimes. But the intent in many enforced disappearances was not to torture the victims' families, even if that in fact was the result. The current law did not take into account the suffering of relatives, and as part of the peace agreement provisions, Guatemala had defined enforced disappearance as a crime to be punished by national legislation; the State also had committed itself to promoting the relevant international Convention on enforced disappearances.
Enforced disappearances had been estimated by the Indian Commission of Jurists some years ago as first beginning in 1976 in Guatemala, and unfortunately, that was true -- the number of such disappearances was considerable, was probably greater than the total of those reported disappeared, and was a matter the State was now paying great attention to. A law was expected soon to be passed to carry out comprehensive searches for disappeared persons and to deal with compensation. Because of all this, and because the problem was so great, it was felt that enforced disappearances should be dealt with specifically, as a separate matter, rather than including it in the category of torture.
A witness protection programme existed, and in some cases had worked well, the delegation said; unfortunately funds were lacking and some who needed protection had not received it.
A specific case mentioned by the Committee, in which a person reportedly was killed by three members of the Guatemalan Army, investigation of which reportedly had been going for seven years, was continuing through the Inter-American system, the delegation said, but the Ministry of Defense had consistently refused to supply relevant information, citing national security. That had resulted in very lengthy delays. The accused perpetrators were not in custody and never had been; they also were no longer in the army.
* *** *
25th session
22 November 2000
Afternoon
Continues Review of Report of Guatemala
The Committee against Torture offered conclusions and recommendations this afternoon on a third periodic report of Canada, saying the country should consider creating an investigative body for receiving and investigating complaints regarding the Convention against Torture, including allegations related to members of the indigenous population; and that it continue and enhance training of military personnel on standards required by the Convention and related human rights matters, including those regarding discriminatory treatment.
Among its other recommendations, the panel urged the Canadian Government to comply fully with the Convention's prohibition of the return of a person to another State where there were substantial grounds for believing that the individual would be subject to torture, whether or not the individual was a serious criminal or security risk; and that the Government prosecute every case of an alleged torturer in a territory under its jurisdiction where it did not extradite that person and the evidence warranted it, and prior to any deportation.
The panel of 10 independent Experts cited numerous positive aspects to the Canadian report, among them the extensive legal protections against torture that existed in Canada and the transparency of the procedures involved; the appointment of a Correctional Investigator, independent of the Corrections Service, to act as an Ombudsman for detained federal offenders, and the establishment of a Human Rights Division in the Correctional Service to assist in monitoring and evaluating policies and practices; and development of a national strategy on Aboriginal corrections and other measures taken to address the historical, social and economic disadvantages experienced by the indigenous population.
The Committee noted several matters of concern, including allegations of inappropriate use of pepper spray and force by police authorities to break up demonstrations and restore order; allegations that female detainees had been treated harshly and improperly, and that many recommendations of an investigation into such incidents remained to be implemented; and excessive imprisonment of Aboriginal people and their over representation throughout the criminal justice system.
Marcus Jewett, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of the Canadian Department of Justice, said Canada would review the conclusions and recommendations carefully and would be pleased to receive from the Committee details on the creation of the new investigative body it had recommended.
Canada, as one of 123 States parties to the Convention against Torture, is required to submit periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to implement the treaty.
The Committee also continued this afternoon its review of a third periodic report of Guatemala, hearing responses from a Government delegation to questions put by Committee members at an earlier meeting. The delegation said, among other things, that the Human Rights Procurator had established a new office on due process that was responsible for monitoring prison conditions and for periodic visits to prisons and for visits after complaints, and that COPREDEH (Commission of the President for the Coordination of Human Rights Policies in the Executive Branch) had recommended that the Guatemalan Government make the relevant declarations under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention to allow the Committee to receive individual complaints.
The Committee announced that due to a heavy workload, a press conference announced for noon Friday, 24 November, at the Palais des Nations, was cancelled; but that Committee Chairman Peter Thomas Burns would be available to answer questions from journalists from 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24, at the Palais Wilson.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 23 November, to issue conclusions and recommendations on a report of Cameroon.
Conclusions and recommendations on third periodic report of Canada
The Committee cited a series of positive aspects to the report, including the extensive legal protections against torture that existed in Canada and the transparency of the procedures involved; the entry into force of a Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act, overcoming many of the obstacles to prosecution of persons accused of such crimes, and ratification of the statute of the International Criminal Court; the systematic review since December 1999 of all allegations against individuals involved in genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity; the introduction of proposed legislation under which the criteria for granting refugee protection would include grounds outlined in the Convention against Torture; the appointment of a Correctional Investigator, independent of the Corrections Service, to act as an Ombudsman for detained federal offenders, and the establishment of a Human Rights Division in the Correctional Service to assist in monitoring and evaluating policies and practices; development of a national strategy on Aboriginal corrections and other measures taken to address the historical social and economic disadvantages experienced by the indigenous population; the policy of Canada in seeking the views of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in preparing its reports to the Committee, along with assurances that "criticisms and concerns" of NGOs would be explicitly included in Canada's next report; and the increase in Canada's contribution to the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and its continued support of national rehabilitation centres for torture victims.
Concern was cited by the Committee over, among other things, allegations of actions not in conformity with the Convention, including the inappropriate use of pepper spray and force by police authorities to break up demonstrations and restore order, notably at the time of the 1997 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference; allegations that female detainees had been treated harshly and improperly, and that many recommendations of an investigation into these incidents remained to be implemented; allegations of the use of undue force and involuntary sedation in the removal of rejected asylum-seekers; and the excessive imprisonment of Aboriginal people and their over representation throughout the criminal justice system.
The Committee recommended:
-- that Canada comply fully with Convention article 3 (1) prohibiting return of a person to another State where there were substantial grounds for believing that the individual would be subject to torture, whether or not he was a serious criminal or security risk;
-- that Canada enhance the effectiveness of remedies to protect the rights granted under Convention article 3 (1); the Committee noted assurances that a proposed Act provides for a pre-removal risk assessment, and the Committee encouraged Canada to ensure that the proposed legislation permitted in-depth examination by an independent entity of claims, including those from persons already assessed as security risks; and it urged the Government to ensure that obstacles to the full implementation of article 3 were removed, so that an opportunity was given to the individual concerned to respond before a security-risk decision was made, and that assessments of humanitarian and compassionate grounds were made without demanding a fee from the person who sought protection;
-- that the Government prosecute every case of an alleged torturer in a territory under its jurisdiction where it did not extradite that person and the evidence warranted it, and prior to any deportation;
-- that Canada remove from current legislation the defenses that could grant an accused torturer immunity;
-- that it consider creating a new investigative body for receiving and investigating complaints regarding the Convention, including allegations related to members of the indigenous population;
-- and that Canada continue and enhance training of military personnel on standards required by the Convention and related human rights matters, including those regarding discriminatory treatment.
Discussion of third periodic report of Guatemala
A Government delegation, responding to questions put by Committee members, said, among other things, that Article 46 of the Constitution of Guatemala gave international treaties ratified by the Government precedence over national legislation, and the Constitutional Court hence had ruled that the death sentence could not be applied to persons who had carried out kidnappings in which the victims had not been killed, as this would violate the terms of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.
Reservations of the Government to international treaties were not necessarily permanent, the delegation said, and the Government likely could be persuaded to rescind its reservation related to enforced disappearances mentioned by the Committee, as the reservation had been entered into by the previous Government.
There was no reason for Guatemala not to define torture as defined in the Convention, the delegation said; the Government, after consultation, had said it was committed to amending current legislation on prohibiting torture so that it conformed exactly with the Convention's definition.
It had been recommended by COPREDEH (Commission of the President for the Coordination of Human Rights Policies in the Executive Branch) that the Government make the relevant declarations under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention to allow the Committee to receive individual complaints, the delegation said; the matter was now being reviewed by other Government Ministries and COPREDEH would continue to push for such a declaration.
Reforms of the prison system had been undertaken because of the urgent need for improvements, the delegation said. There was no systematic approach to the interrogation of prisoners or to the recording of such interrogations; rules for interrogation had been laid down, and records on each prisoner were kept, but records did not show -- because no doctor was present at interrogations -- if a prisoner was showing signs of maltreatment or torture. Drug trafficking and smuggling were a serious source of crime in the country, and maximum-security prisons had been built in part because of this problem; in any case, these new institutions would help reduce prison overcrowding, which, it had been admitted, was a problem throughout the prison system. A modernization plan for the prison system had been laid down in cooperation with MINUGUA (Mission of the United Nations to Guatemala), including a scheme for a better record-keeping system on prisoners, in part to keep things clear on who was awaiting trial and who had been sentenced. Young offenders were kept in a separate prison system. Prisoners who were HIV-positive were housed separately from other prisoners.
Through 1 August, there were 17 prisons centres for women, holding 353 women, of whom 163 had been sentenced, with the rest in preventive custody or awaiting trial, the delegation said. Detention centres for women had women prison guards. The only male prison guards were there to guard the outside of the prison. In most cases women's centres were completely separate from men's detention centres, but in a few cases women and men were held in adjoining buildings or in the same building, but always in separate areas. There were no statistics on cases of sexual harassment or violence in prisons.
The Human Rights Procurator had established a new office on due process, the delegation said; this office was responsible for monitoring prison conditions and for periodic visits to prisons and for visits after complaints. It was true that sometimes prisoners were afraid to file complaints; one option for them was to get a relative to send a complaint to the authorities. The Human Rights Procurator had always paid attention to such complaints.
No one to date had been sentenced to prison for commission of torture, the delegation said; some decisions had been handed down of grievous bodily harm or abuse of authority; no offense to date had been considered to be a case of torture.
Statistics currently available on torture were not from the Government but from MINUGUA, the delegation said; there were 16 MINUGUA offices in the 22 department of the country, and they did receive complaints of torture; MINUGUA opened a file on each complaint, then sent it to COPREDEH, which then looked into it. Sometimes it was difficult to ascertain the facts. Recent MINUGUA reports indicated that the number of cases had increased; despite the increase, very few cases were currently being dealt with by the public prosecutor.
Most of the cases raised of abuse of street children were being dealt with by the Inter-American human-rights system, the delegation said; an effort was being made by the Government to settle these street children cases out of court, and a COPREDEH delegation was now discussing the matter of compensation in the cases for which the Government had accepted responsibility. The Government was seeking to ensure that people were treated with dignity and to make reparations for damage done.
During all the years of the country's lengthy armed conflict, a number of amnesties had been declared, the delegation said; there was also an amnesty as a result of the peace agreement signed in 1996; it was not called an amnesty, however, but a measure of national reconciliation. However, laws where there was no statute of limitations were not covered by the amnesty. Many people had invoked the latest amnesty in court. There were many crimes that related to the period of armed conflict that had to be dealt with.
Amnesty International had suggested expanding the crime of torture in scope to include enforced disappearances, the delegation said; it was true that enforced disappearances were especially cruel crimes. Almost no family in Guatemala was unscarred by such crimes. But the intent in many enforced disappearances was not to torture the victims' families, even if that in fact was the result. The current law did not take into account the suffering of relatives, and as part of the peace agreement provisions, Guatemala had defined enforced disappearance as a crime to be punished by national legislation; the State also had committed itself to promoting the relevant international Convention on enforced disappearances.
Enforced disappearances had been estimated by the Indian Commission of Jurists some years ago as first beginning in 1976 in Guatemala, and unfortunately, that was true -- the number of such disappearances was considerable, was probably greater than the total of those reported disappeared, and was a matter the State was now paying great attention to. A law was expected soon to be passed to carry out comprehensive searches for disappeared persons and to deal with compensation. Because of all this, and because the problem was so great, it was felt that enforced disappearances should be dealt with specifically, as a separate matter, rather than including it in the category of torture.
A witness protection programme existed, and in some cases had worked well, the delegation said; unfortunately funds were lacking and some who needed protection had not received it.
A specific case mentioned by the Committee, in which a person reportedly was killed by three members of the Guatemalan Army, investigation of which reportedly had been going for seven years, was continuing through the Inter-American system, the delegation said, but the Ministry of Defense had consistently refused to supply relevant information, citing national security. That had resulted in very lengthy delays. The accused perpetrators were not in custody and never had been; they also were no longer in the army.
* *** *