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20 November 2000
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CAT
25th session
20 November 2000
Morning
Government Delegation Questioned on Reported Police Abuses
"Administrative Internment", Specifics of Recent Legislation
The Committee against Torture began consideration this morning of a second periodic report of Cameroon, with the panel's 10 independent Experts querying a Government delegation, among other things, on reports of widespread abuses by police officers during arrests and detention; on allegations that a system of "administrative internment" could allow indefinite detention of persons with no opportunity for appeal; and on complaints that crimes, including extra-judicial executions, had been committed under an "operational command" set up to combat robbery and organized crime.
The Committee also asked for specifics on 1997 Cameroonian legislation said to prohibit acts of torture, and for information on Government efforts to ensure the independence of the judiciary -- a concern raised by the Committee in the past.
The Committee congratulated Cameroon on its compliance with provisions of the Convention against Torture barring the return of persons to countries where they stood a risk of suffering torture; and for its extradition of persons charged in other countries with committing torture.
The Cameroonian delegation will respond to the questions at a Committee meeting on Tuesday, 21 November, at 3 p.m.
The report was introduced by Francois-Xavier Ngoubeyou, Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who said, among other things, that a 1997 law had modified and expanded certain provisions of the Penal Code, adding a prohibition of torture; that the extradition system had been modified; that new legislation, called "laws of freedom", had been adopted in 1990, ending a state of emergency; and that strict measures had been established to control the procedures and activities of the police.
Also present were Jean Pierre Soh, Mission Officer of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon; Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, Director for United Nations Matters of the Ministry of International Affairs; Tchankou Adamou, Director of Military Justice; Godwe Mandandi, Inspector General; Sontia Sadate, Technical Counsellor to the General Delegation on National Security; Michel Mahouve, Deputy Director of Criminal Legislation, Ministry of Justice; Catherine Mfoula, Chief of the Ministry of Territorial Administration; and Marie Therese Chantal Mfoula, Director of Legal Services of the Ministry of International Affairs.
Cameroon, as one of the 123 States parties to the Convention against Torture, is required to submit periodic reports to the Committee. States parties customarily also send Government delegations to answer questions about the reports.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to offer conclusions and recommendations on a third periodic report of Belarus, and to continue its examination of a third periodic report of Canada.
Second periodic report of Cameroon
The report (CAT/C/17/Add.22) reviews implementation of the Convention on an article-by-article basis. A second section provides additional information requested by the Committee following its consideration of a supplementary report of Cameroon in April 1991. An introduction notes that "the country's socio-political and juridical environment has developed considerably" and describes multiparty elections held in 1992 and 1996, election of a National Assembly, and revision in 1996 of the Constitution. The report remarks that "no specific definition of torture, as understood in Article 1 of the Convention, had yet been incorporated in Cameroonian legislation during the periods in question. However, that shortcoming was rectified in 1997 and the definition will be analyzed in the next periodic report. Offences that could be equated with acts of torture. . . continued to be punished in cases in which the offence. . . could have been reasonably substantiated".
The report states, among other things, that "the attention of police personnel is constantly being drawn to violations of human rights and freedoms" and that a Decree of 1992 established a post of police superintendent, "one of whose principle functions is to ensure the safety of persons held in police custody". In addition, a 1993 circular on "cruelty and inhuman treatment at police stations" condemned "cruelty, acts of brutality and occasional lethal assault and battery as a working or investigative method of crimination investigation officers" and prescribed "strict working procedures designed to put an end, once and for all, to those aberrations".
Introduction of report
FRANCOIS-XAVIER NGOUBEYOU, Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said, among other things, that the Government had made major efforts to ensure full respect for human rights. There had been very worrying violations and the country was working with growing international consensus to combat such difficulties. Following consideration of a 1991 supplementary report, the Committee had presented a number of recommendations and had raised a number of questions which the current report attempted to answer; it also covered new developments and positive steps taken by the Government; in addition it attempted to answer further questions raised by the Committee following Cameroon's submission of the supplementary report.
Significant legislative and judicial advances had been made, Mr. Ngoubeyou said. Since 1982 there had been consolidation of the State founded on the rule of law; promotion and safeguarding of fundamental human rights; and improvement of the functioning of national institutions. Between 1988 and 1996, although Cameroonian legislation had not had a definition of torture along the lines of the Convention, there were nevertheless some criminal offenses that were substitutes for the offense of torture, and could be used when torture occurred. The gap in legislation had been closed in 1997, when a law had modified and expanded certain provisions of the Penal Code. The extradition system also had been modified in reflection of the political will to combat torture whether it was committed within or outside national borders. In addition, new legislation, called "laws of freedom", better suited to the democratic requirements of the country, had been adopted in 1990 and had ended a state of emergency under which there had been police abuse and police brutality during investigations and arrests. Strict measures had been established to control the procedures and activities of the police, including the judicial police, and to prohibit all cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
When acts nonetheless occurred in contravention of the Convention, prosecution resulted under the Criminal Code, Mr. Ngoubeyou said. Centres of "civic reeducation" had been changed into prisons of common law, and four new prisons had been created to relieve prison overcrowding. Various decrees dealt with prisoners' rights, health, recreation, and complaints.
The National Committee on Human Rights and Liberties carried out seminars attended by personnel responsible for public order, Mr. Ngoubeyou said; the Committee also had responsibilities for monitoring, counsel, and publicization of respect for human rights.
Things were not perfect, Mr. Ngoubeyou said; a number of misinformed and badly motivated critics, however, did nothing but point out gaps in legislation and difficulties encountered by the country.
Discussion
Serving as rapporteur on the situation in Cameroon was Committee Expert GUIBRIL CAMARA, who noted that questions had been raised in the past about the relevance of the Penal Code to the standards of the Convention, the independence of the judiciary, the state of prison conditions, and the need for investigations of allegations of ill-treatment, among other things.
Mr. Camara asked, among other things, if the delegation could submit to the Committee an analysis, however brief, of new legislation related to torture and if it effectively prohibited torture; if there was a gap between intentions and reality in preventing ill-treatment, based on the findings of the Human Rights Committee in November 1999, when it stated "grave concern" that a person under administrative internment could have his detention extended indefinitely if approved by various high officials, with no appeal possible; if that procedure had been discontinued; if abuses had been committed under an operational command to combat robbery, resulting in offenses against the population, as charged by a non-governmental organization (NGO) and other sources; and if a certain individual had been shot down in cold blood and seriously abused by the leader of the operational command group.
Mr. Camara congratulated Cameroon on its legal and practically implemented refusal to return persons to foreign countries where they stood a risk of undergoing torture; there had been cases, for example, where extradition of persons to Rwanda had been refused on those grounds.
He asked if the State's new 1997 law not only prohibited but defined torture, as it was difficult to punish the crime if a definition could not be used. He further noted that the Special Rapporteur on Torture of the Commission on Human Rights, following a visit to Cameroon, had said he had seen people throughout the country who bore signs of recently inflicted torture and that he had been told by many persons that they had been tortured during arrest and detention by the police; his conclusion was that torture was practised on a wide scale by the police. Amnesty International also contended that police violated the 1997 law against torture; and added that while some officials had been sentenced to prison for such acts, their sentences had been reduced on appeal. Mr. Camara asked for information on legislative provisions concerning article 5 of the Convention; the report, in his view, gave a general answer, and more specifics were necessary.
Mr. Camara asked if steps had been taken to ensure the independence of the judiciary, as there was scant detail in the report on the subject; the report did say that a judicial transformation "was far from complete". He asked if legislation existed that enshrined the independence of the judiciary; if information could be given on how judges were appointed; and if the operations of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary could be explained.
Serving as second rapporteur on the situation of Cameroon was Committee Expert SAYED KASSEM EL MASRY, who noted that Cameroon was in a period of transition from an authoritarian Government to a democracy, and congratulated the country for allowing visits to prisons by the International Red Cross. He was concerned, he said, that an overriding emphasis on security appeared to be resulting in some Government violations of human rights. It was impressive that a framework for training on human rights for law enforcement and prison officers now existed; he asked, however, how such officers were recruited, as there reportedly was a freeze on hiring new officers and there were charges that undisciplined and offending officers had not been removed -- that there appeared to be an atmosphere of impunity for those committing ill-treatment of prisoners and detainees.
Mr. El Masry asked if it was true that former convicts, prisoners and "bandits" had been used in a campaign to combat robberies and organized crime, and that the result had been scores of cases of extrajudicial killings, unauthorized detentions, illegal searches, beatings, and other offenses, as charged, among other things, by a Catholic Archbishop in the country. He asked if the public was educated on human rights, as there were indications that persons detained did not know their legal rights, including their right to a lawyer; if detainees often were not brought before a procurator or prosecutor within a reasonable period of time; if, as alleged, they did not know of the right to file a complaint of ill-treatment, or how to file a complaint, or were afraid to complain; if most prisoners had not been tried and convicted; if prison conditions suffered from overcrowding and poor sanitation, and if prisoners did not receive adequate health care, as sources claimed, resulting in a high mortality rate among prisoners.
Mr. El Masry asked if so-called "anti-gang" units, formed of mixed army and gendarmerie elements, were not subject to legal rules, as charged, as it had been said that these units operated in the three northern provinces of the country with impunity and carried out, among other things, extra-judicial executions. As the governors of those provinces had said they had no authority over the activities of the units, Mr. El-Masry asked who controlled their operations and what instructions were given to them. Recent provisions allowing bail of detainees were encouraging, he said, as they not only respected the rights of detainees, many of whom had not been charged, but would help reduce overcrowding in prisons; he asked if these provisions were being effectively implemented.
Mr. El Masry also asked if investigations had been carried out into allegations of torture against detainees by police, as specified by the Archbishop, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, and NGOs, and alleging machetes were used against detainees, who also were beaten with belts and other objects and tied up in painful ways, resulting in injuries and several deaths. He asked how many successful cases for compensation had been brought before the courts following abuses by public officials; he noted that compensation was not allowed for offenses committed during detention and that the Government had an obligation to change this provision to bring it into line with the Convention, and that specific legislation did not exist barring the use in court of evidence obtained by torture or ill-treatment.
Other Committee members also put questions. They asked, among other things, if more information could be provided on extradition and prosecution of persons accused of torture, noting that Cameroon had behaved responsibly in extraditing torture suspects related to the Rwandan genocide; if "inter-prisoner violence" was a problem and if certain prisoners were appointed "cell heads" who maintained discipline as they wished; if there was sexual abuse of juvenile detainees by adult inmates, as a report from the United States Department of State indicated; if adults and juveniles were held in the same institutions, and if male and female inmates were held on occasion in the same cells, as had been reported.
Committee members also asked if persons in Anglophone regions of the country were subjected to disproportionate numbers of abuses; if there were still cases of slavery committed by some ethnic groups against others; if some ethnic groups were over represented in prison populations; if prison officers who had beaten an inmate to death had been sentenced to one year in prison each, as reported, and if that was a typical sentence for beating someone to death; if, as reported, an official sent to inspect detention conditions in the country's major city had been refused access, stripped, beaten, and kept naked in a cell; and if, as reported, the prison official who ordered this beating had his subsequent prison sentence reduced, while those who followed his orders did not have their prison sentences reduced.
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25th session
20 November 2000
Morning
Government Delegation Questioned on Reported Police Abuses
"Administrative Internment", Specifics of Recent Legislation
The Committee against Torture began consideration this morning of a second periodic report of Cameroon, with the panel's 10 independent Experts querying a Government delegation, among other things, on reports of widespread abuses by police officers during arrests and detention; on allegations that a system of "administrative internment" could allow indefinite detention of persons with no opportunity for appeal; and on complaints that crimes, including extra-judicial executions, had been committed under an "operational command" set up to combat robbery and organized crime.
The Committee also asked for specifics on 1997 Cameroonian legislation said to prohibit acts of torture, and for information on Government efforts to ensure the independence of the judiciary -- a concern raised by the Committee in the past.
The Committee congratulated Cameroon on its compliance with provisions of the Convention against Torture barring the return of persons to countries where they stood a risk of suffering torture; and for its extradition of persons charged in other countries with committing torture.
The Cameroonian delegation will respond to the questions at a Committee meeting on Tuesday, 21 November, at 3 p.m.
The report was introduced by Francois-Xavier Ngoubeyou, Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who said, among other things, that a 1997 law had modified and expanded certain provisions of the Penal Code, adding a prohibition of torture; that the extradition system had been modified; that new legislation, called "laws of freedom", had been adopted in 1990, ending a state of emergency; and that strict measures had been established to control the procedures and activities of the police.
Also present were Jean Pierre Soh, Mission Officer of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon; Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, Director for United Nations Matters of the Ministry of International Affairs; Tchankou Adamou, Director of Military Justice; Godwe Mandandi, Inspector General; Sontia Sadate, Technical Counsellor to the General Delegation on National Security; Michel Mahouve, Deputy Director of Criminal Legislation, Ministry of Justice; Catherine Mfoula, Chief of the Ministry of Territorial Administration; and Marie Therese Chantal Mfoula, Director of Legal Services of the Ministry of International Affairs.
Cameroon, as one of the 123 States parties to the Convention against Torture, is required to submit periodic reports to the Committee. States parties customarily also send Government delegations to answer questions about the reports.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to offer conclusions and recommendations on a third periodic report of Belarus, and to continue its examination of a third periodic report of Canada.
Second periodic report of Cameroon
The report (CAT/C/17/Add.22) reviews implementation of the Convention on an article-by-article basis. A second section provides additional information requested by the Committee following its consideration of a supplementary report of Cameroon in April 1991. An introduction notes that "the country's socio-political and juridical environment has developed considerably" and describes multiparty elections held in 1992 and 1996, election of a National Assembly, and revision in 1996 of the Constitution. The report remarks that "no specific definition of torture, as understood in Article 1 of the Convention, had yet been incorporated in Cameroonian legislation during the periods in question. However, that shortcoming was rectified in 1997 and the definition will be analyzed in the next periodic report. Offences that could be equated with acts of torture. . . continued to be punished in cases in which the offence. . . could have been reasonably substantiated".
The report states, among other things, that "the attention of police personnel is constantly being drawn to violations of human rights and freedoms" and that a Decree of 1992 established a post of police superintendent, "one of whose principle functions is to ensure the safety of persons held in police custody". In addition, a 1993 circular on "cruelty and inhuman treatment at police stations" condemned "cruelty, acts of brutality and occasional lethal assault and battery as a working or investigative method of crimination investigation officers" and prescribed "strict working procedures designed to put an end, once and for all, to those aberrations".
Introduction of report
FRANCOIS-XAVIER NGOUBEYOU, Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said, among other things, that the Government had made major efforts to ensure full respect for human rights. There had been very worrying violations and the country was working with growing international consensus to combat such difficulties. Following consideration of a 1991 supplementary report, the Committee had presented a number of recommendations and had raised a number of questions which the current report attempted to answer; it also covered new developments and positive steps taken by the Government; in addition it attempted to answer further questions raised by the Committee following Cameroon's submission of the supplementary report.
Significant legislative and judicial advances had been made, Mr. Ngoubeyou said. Since 1982 there had been consolidation of the State founded on the rule of law; promotion and safeguarding of fundamental human rights; and improvement of the functioning of national institutions. Between 1988 and 1996, although Cameroonian legislation had not had a definition of torture along the lines of the Convention, there were nevertheless some criminal offenses that were substitutes for the offense of torture, and could be used when torture occurred. The gap in legislation had been closed in 1997, when a law had modified and expanded certain provisions of the Penal Code. The extradition system also had been modified in reflection of the political will to combat torture whether it was committed within or outside national borders. In addition, new legislation, called "laws of freedom", better suited to the democratic requirements of the country, had been adopted in 1990 and had ended a state of emergency under which there had been police abuse and police brutality during investigations and arrests. Strict measures had been established to control the procedures and activities of the police, including the judicial police, and to prohibit all cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
When acts nonetheless occurred in contravention of the Convention, prosecution resulted under the Criminal Code, Mr. Ngoubeyou said. Centres of "civic reeducation" had been changed into prisons of common law, and four new prisons had been created to relieve prison overcrowding. Various decrees dealt with prisoners' rights, health, recreation, and complaints.
The National Committee on Human Rights and Liberties carried out seminars attended by personnel responsible for public order, Mr. Ngoubeyou said; the Committee also had responsibilities for monitoring, counsel, and publicization of respect for human rights.
Things were not perfect, Mr. Ngoubeyou said; a number of misinformed and badly motivated critics, however, did nothing but point out gaps in legislation and difficulties encountered by the country.
Discussion
Serving as rapporteur on the situation in Cameroon was Committee Expert GUIBRIL CAMARA, who noted that questions had been raised in the past about the relevance of the Penal Code to the standards of the Convention, the independence of the judiciary, the state of prison conditions, and the need for investigations of allegations of ill-treatment, among other things.
Mr. Camara asked, among other things, if the delegation could submit to the Committee an analysis, however brief, of new legislation related to torture and if it effectively prohibited torture; if there was a gap between intentions and reality in preventing ill-treatment, based on the findings of the Human Rights Committee in November 1999, when it stated "grave concern" that a person under administrative internment could have his detention extended indefinitely if approved by various high officials, with no appeal possible; if that procedure had been discontinued; if abuses had been committed under an operational command to combat robbery, resulting in offenses against the population, as charged by a non-governmental organization (NGO) and other sources; and if a certain individual had been shot down in cold blood and seriously abused by the leader of the operational command group.
Mr. Camara congratulated Cameroon on its legal and practically implemented refusal to return persons to foreign countries where they stood a risk of undergoing torture; there had been cases, for example, where extradition of persons to Rwanda had been refused on those grounds.
He asked if the State's new 1997 law not only prohibited but defined torture, as it was difficult to punish the crime if a definition could not be used. He further noted that the Special Rapporteur on Torture of the Commission on Human Rights, following a visit to Cameroon, had said he had seen people throughout the country who bore signs of recently inflicted torture and that he had been told by many persons that they had been tortured during arrest and detention by the police; his conclusion was that torture was practised on a wide scale by the police. Amnesty International also contended that police violated the 1997 law against torture; and added that while some officials had been sentenced to prison for such acts, their sentences had been reduced on appeal. Mr. Camara asked for information on legislative provisions concerning article 5 of the Convention; the report, in his view, gave a general answer, and more specifics were necessary.
Mr. Camara asked if steps had been taken to ensure the independence of the judiciary, as there was scant detail in the report on the subject; the report did say that a judicial transformation "was far from complete". He asked if legislation existed that enshrined the independence of the judiciary; if information could be given on how judges were appointed; and if the operations of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary could be explained.
Serving as second rapporteur on the situation of Cameroon was Committee Expert SAYED KASSEM EL MASRY, who noted that Cameroon was in a period of transition from an authoritarian Government to a democracy, and congratulated the country for allowing visits to prisons by the International Red Cross. He was concerned, he said, that an overriding emphasis on security appeared to be resulting in some Government violations of human rights. It was impressive that a framework for training on human rights for law enforcement and prison officers now existed; he asked, however, how such officers were recruited, as there reportedly was a freeze on hiring new officers and there were charges that undisciplined and offending officers had not been removed -- that there appeared to be an atmosphere of impunity for those committing ill-treatment of prisoners and detainees.
Mr. El Masry asked if it was true that former convicts, prisoners and "bandits" had been used in a campaign to combat robberies and organized crime, and that the result had been scores of cases of extrajudicial killings, unauthorized detentions, illegal searches, beatings, and other offenses, as charged, among other things, by a Catholic Archbishop in the country. He asked if the public was educated on human rights, as there were indications that persons detained did not know their legal rights, including their right to a lawyer; if detainees often were not brought before a procurator or prosecutor within a reasonable period of time; if, as alleged, they did not know of the right to file a complaint of ill-treatment, or how to file a complaint, or were afraid to complain; if most prisoners had not been tried and convicted; if prison conditions suffered from overcrowding and poor sanitation, and if prisoners did not receive adequate health care, as sources claimed, resulting in a high mortality rate among prisoners.
Mr. El Masry asked if so-called "anti-gang" units, formed of mixed army and gendarmerie elements, were not subject to legal rules, as charged, as it had been said that these units operated in the three northern provinces of the country with impunity and carried out, among other things, extra-judicial executions. As the governors of those provinces had said they had no authority over the activities of the units, Mr. El-Masry asked who controlled their operations and what instructions were given to them. Recent provisions allowing bail of detainees were encouraging, he said, as they not only respected the rights of detainees, many of whom had not been charged, but would help reduce overcrowding in prisons; he asked if these provisions were being effectively implemented.
Mr. El Masry also asked if investigations had been carried out into allegations of torture against detainees by police, as specified by the Archbishop, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, and NGOs, and alleging machetes were used against detainees, who also were beaten with belts and other objects and tied up in painful ways, resulting in injuries and several deaths. He asked how many successful cases for compensation had been brought before the courts following abuses by public officials; he noted that compensation was not allowed for offenses committed during detention and that the Government had an obligation to change this provision to bring it into line with the Convention, and that specific legislation did not exist barring the use in court of evidence obtained by torture or ill-treatment.
Other Committee members also put questions. They asked, among other things, if more information could be provided on extradition and prosecution of persons accused of torture, noting that Cameroon had behaved responsibly in extraditing torture suspects related to the Rwandan genocide; if "inter-prisoner violence" was a problem and if certain prisoners were appointed "cell heads" who maintained discipline as they wished; if there was sexual abuse of juvenile detainees by adult inmates, as a report from the United States Department of State indicated; if adults and juveniles were held in the same institutions, and if male and female inmates were held on occasion in the same cells, as had been reported.
Committee members also asked if persons in Anglophone regions of the country were subjected to disproportionate numbers of abuses; if there were still cases of slavery committed by some ethnic groups against others; if some ethnic groups were over represented in prison populations; if prison officers who had beaten an inmate to death had been sentenced to one year in prison each, as reported, and if that was a typical sentence for beating someone to death; if, as reported, an official sent to inspect detention conditions in the country's major city had been refused access, stripped, beaten, and kept naked in a cell; and if, as reported, the prison official who ordered this beating had his subsequent prison sentence reduced, while those who followed his orders did not have their prison sentences reduced.
* *** *