SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TORTURE TO TRAVEL TO SPAIN ON FACT-FINDING MISSION

3 October 2003


The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture, Theo van Boven, will be undertaking a fact-finding mission to Spain from 6 to 10 October 2003 at the invitation of the Government.

The Special Rapporteur has requested to meet with, among other officials, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interior, the Secretary of State for Security, the Attorney-General (Fiscal General del Estado), judges of the Criminal Branch of the Supreme Court (Sala de lo penal del Tribunal Supremo), the President of the National Court (Audiencia Nacional) and examining judges (Jueces de Instrucción) at the National Court, the Head of the Forensic Institute (Instituto de Medicina Legal), the General Director of the Civil Guard (Director General de la Guardia Civil), the Head of the Internal Affairs Unit of the Civil Guard, the Head of the Jefatura de Información y Policía Judicial de la Sub-dirección General de Operaciones de la Guardia Civil, the General Director of the National Police (Policía Nacional), the Head of the Internal Affairs Unit of the Directorate General of the Police, members of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Internal affairs, and the Spanish Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo), as well as his advisors on justice and internal affairs.

The Special Rapporteur will be traveling to the Basque Autonomous Community where he has requested to meet with the Minister of the Interior of the Basque Government (Consejero de Interior), the Head of the Civil Guard in the Basque Country, the Director of the Basque autonomous police (Ertzaintza), the Director of Human Rights of the Basque Government, members of the Basque Parliamentary Committee on human rights and the Ombudsman of the Basque Country (Ararteko), among other officials.

The Special Rapporteur will also meet with various non-governmental organizations, representatives of civil society organizations, and with private individuals.

Mr. van Boven was first appointed Special Rapporteur in 2001; his mandate was extended by resolution 2001/62 of the Commission on Human Rights in 2001 for a further three years. This is the second fact-finding mission that he will carry out in his capacity as Special Rapporteur on torture.

Mr. van Boven is a Professor of Law at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.