Committee against Torture concludes forty-fifth session

Committee against Torture
ROUND-UP

19 November 2010

Issues Concluding Observations on Reports of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Mongolia and Turkey

The Committee against Torture concluded its forty-fifth session today, issuing its concluding observations and recommendations on reports from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Mongolia and Turkey, which it reviewed during the session.

All the countries reviewed are among the 147 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and are bound by the terms of the treaty to submit periodic reports on efforts to ensure that such human rights violations do not occur on their territories. The consideration of reports takes the form of a dialogue between the delegation from the reporting State and the Committee’s members.

In its conclusions and recommendations on the initial report of Ethiopia, the Committee noted with satisfaction the efforts undertaken by the State party to reform its legislation to ensure better protection of human rights. The Committee remained deeply concerned, however, about numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations concerning the routine use of torture by the police, prison officers and other members of the security forces, as well as the military. The Committee urged the State party to take immediate and effective measures to investigate, prosecute, and punish all acts of torture and to ensure that law enforcement personnel did not use torture.

Regarding the third periodic report of Turkey, the Committee noted with appreciation efforts being made by the State party to amend its policies in order to ensure greater protection of human rights and give effect to the Convention. The Committee remained concerned at reports indicating an increase in the excessive use of force and ill treatment of demonstrators by police outside official detention places. Among its recommendations, the Committee urged the State party to take immediate measures to end impunity for acts of torture.

Following its consideration of the combined second to fifth periodic report of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Committee welcomed the adoption of the third National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration. However, the Committee remained gravely concerned at the lack of adequate measures of witness protection and witness support before, during and after the trials, which had a negative impact on the willingness and ability of witnesses to participate in investigations or to testify in proceedings. The Committee urged the State party to ensure that victims were effectively protected, not further distressed or pressured to withdraw their testimony and that they were not threatened by alleged perpetrators.

Having reviewed the initial report of Mongolia, the Committee welcomed that since the accession to the Convention by the State party on 24 January 2002, it had ratified or acceded to numerous international instruments. The Committee expressed concern about conditions of detention in some facilities such as overcrowding, poor ventilation and heating, inadequate toilet facilities and water supply and the spread of infectious diseases. The Committee recommended that the State party should continue improving conditions of detention in all detention facilities to bring them in line with international standards. Mongolia should also ensure that prison guards and other officials abide by the law and adhere strictly to rules and regulations.

With regards to the combined fourth to sixth periodic report of Ecuador, the Committee noted Ecuador’s efforts to reform its legislation in order to respond to the recommendations of the Committee and to improve the implementation of international instruments. The Committee was concerned about persistent reports of violence against civilians – particularly Colombian asylum seekers and refugees – perpetrated by illegal armed groups and members of Colombian and Ecuadorian security forces. It recommended that Ecuador take the necessary measures to ensure that all allegations of torture and ill-treatment be investigated in a rapid and impartial manner.

Concerning the second periodic report of Cambodia, the Committee welcomed as positive aspects the ratification, in March 2007, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, and the recent visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to Cambodia from 3 to 11 December 2009. The Committee remained deeply concerned by the numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations of torture against and ill-treatment of detainees in detention facilities, in particular in police stations. As a matter of urgency, the Committee recommended that the State party should take immediate and effective measures to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence in detention, throughout the country.

In addition to reviewing country reports in public, during its forty-fifth session the Committee considered in private meetings information appearing to contain well-founded indications that torture was being systematically practiced in the territories of some States parties. It also examined communications from individuals claiming to be victims of violations by States parties of the provisions of the Convention. Such communications are accepted only if they concern the 64 States that have declared the Committee competent to receive complaints under article 22 of the Convention. Progress reviews of the status of follow-up to individual communications, as well as follow-up to the Committee's concluding observations, were also held in public meetings.

Also during this session, the Committee held an interactive dialogue with a panel of experts on the Istanbul Protocol. The Committee discussed ways in which to better implement the protocol through consistent application, training of medical and other personnel and early assessment measures. Committee members also raised questions about differentiating between torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the reliability of the Istanbul Protocol in terms of assessing post-traumatic syndromes of torture, and referencing the Minnesota Protocol in its work as a matter of routine.

The Committee’s next session will be held from 9 to 27 May 2011, during which it is scheduled to examine reports from Ghana, Ireland, Kuwait, Monaco, Slovenia and Turkmenistan.

Observations and Recommendations on Country Reports

Ethiopia

Among positive aspects relative to the initial report of Ethiopia, the Committee noted with satisfaction the efforts and progress made by the State party since the downfall of the military regime in 1991, including a process of legislative reform designed to combat torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Committee welcomed the fact that, in the period since the entry into force of the Convention for the State party in 1994, the State party had ratified or acceded to the following international and regional instruments: the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in 2010 and the African Convention on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in 1998. The Committee noted the efforts undertaken by the State party to reform its legislation to ensure better protection of human rights, including the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including the adoption in 2004 of the revised Criminal Code which criminalizes all acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, sexual violence and harmful traditional practices. The Committee also noted the adoption by the State party of specific directives and regulations guiding the conduct of law enforcement officers, the breach of which entails disciplinary sanctions, dismissal or criminal prosecution. The Committee also welcomed the State party’s submission of its overdue reports to United Nations human rights treaty bodies under a joint treaty-reporting project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Committee remained deeply concerned, however, about numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations concerning the routine use of torture by the police, prison officers and other members of the security forces, as well as the military, in particular against political dissidents and opposition party members, students, alleged terrorist suspects and alleged supporters of insurgent groups such as the Ogaden National Liberation Front and the Oromo Liberation Front. It was also concerned about credible reports that such acts frequently occurred with the participation, at the instigation or with the consent of commanding officers in police stations, detention centers, federal prisons, military bases and in unofficial or secret places of detention. The Committee also took note of consistent reports that torture was commonly used during interrogation to extract confessions when the suspect was deprived of fundamental legal safeguards, in particular access to legal counsel.

The Committee was seriously concerned about information on the State party’s failure in practice to afford all detainees with all fundamental legal safeguards from the very outset of their detention. The Committee was also concerned about provisions of the Anti-terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009, which unduly restricted legal safeguards against torture and ill treatment for persons suspected or charged with a terrorist or related crime. The Committee was gravely concerned about numerous allegations of extrajudicial killings by security forces of civilians alleged to be members of armed insurgent groups. It was also gravely concerned at reports about high numbers of disappearances, as well as about the widespread practice of arrests without a warrant and arbitrary and prolonged detention without charges and judicial process of suspected members or supporters of insurgent groups and political opposition members. The Committee expressed its concern about the considerably high number of deaths in custody, while taking note of the State party’s explanation that such deaths were caused by the health condition of detainees rather than by the conditions of detention.

The Committee urged the State party to take immediate and effective measures to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture and to ensure that torture was not used by law enforcement personnel, including by unambiguously reaffirming the absolute prohibition of torture and publicly condemning practices of torture, especially by the police, prison officers, and members of the Ethiopian National Defence Force, accompanied by a clear warning that anyone committing such acts or otherwise complicit or participating in torture would be held personally responsible before the law for such acts and would be subject to criminal prosecution and appropriate penalties. The State party should also take prompt and effective measures to ensure that all detainees were, in practice, afforded all fundamental legal safeguards from the very outset of their detention.

The Committee recommended that the State party ensure respect for fundamental legal safeguards and take all necessary measures to ensure that the provisions of the Anti-terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009 were compatible with the provisions of the Convention, in particular that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever could be invoked as a justification for torture. The Committee urged the State party to take all necessary measures to counter enforced disappearances and the practice of mass arrest without a warrant and arbitrary detention without charges and judicial process. The State party should take all appropriate steps to ensure the application of relevant legislation, and to reduce further the duration of detention before charges were brought. The Committee recommended that Ethiopia promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate all incidents of death in custody, in cases of death resulting from torture, ill treatment or willful negligence, and prosecute those responsible. Ethiopia should also provide adequate health care to all persons deprived of their liberty.

Turkey

In its conclusions and recommendations on the third periodic report of Turkey, the Committee welcomed that, in the period since the consideration of the second periodic report, the State party had ratified or acceded to a number of international instruments. The Committee noted with appreciation the State party’s comprehensive reforms in the field of human rights and ongoing efforts to revise its legislation in order to ensure stronger protection of human rights, including the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Committee also welcomed efforts being made by the State party to amend its policies in order to ensure greater protection of human rights and give effect to the Convention, including: the announcement of a “zero tolerance for torture” on 10 December 2003; the preparation of a Second National Action Plan in the Fight against Trafficking; the standing invitation extended to United Nations Special Procedure mechanisms and the State party’s acceptance of visits by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism (2006), the Working Group on arbitrary detention (2006), and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women (2008) ; and the commitment by the State party to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention, which it signed in 2005, and to establish a national preventive mechanism in consultation with representatives of civil society.

The Committee was gravely concerned about numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations concerning the use of torture, particularly in unofficial places of detention, including in police vehicles, on the street and outside police stations, notwithstanding information provided from the State party that combating torture and ill-treatment has been a “priority item”. The Committee was furthermore concerned by the absence of prompt, thorough, independent and effective investigations into allegations of torture committed by security and law enforcement officers which are required by article 12 of the Convention and at the pattern of failure to conduct these. It was also concerned that many law enforcement officers found guilty of ill treatment receive only suspended sentences, which had contributed to a climate of impunity.

The Committee was concerned at the lack of information from the State party on progress made in the investigation into cases of disappearances. In particular, while noting that the State party had signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, the Committee was concerned by: (a) the number of outstanding cases of disappearance identified by the United Nations Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances (63 cases as of 2009), and (b) the lack of information on progress in investigating disappearances cases for which the State party had been found in violation of articles 2, 3 and 5 under the European Convention of Human Rights. The Committee also remained concerned at reports indicating an increase in the excessive use of force and ill treatment of demonstrators by police outside official detention places. The Committee expressed concerns about the reported extent of physical and sexual violence against women, reports that women were rarely inclined to report ill treatment and violence against them to the police, and the inadequate number of available shelters for women victims of violence.

Among recommendations, the Committee said that Turkey should take immediate measures to end impunity for acts of torture. In particular, the State party should ensure that all allegations of torture were investigated promptly, effectively and impartially. In connection with prima facie cases of torture and ill treatment, the State party should ensure that the alleged suspect was subject to suspension or reassignment during the process of investigation, to avoid any risk that he or she might impede the investigation or continue any impermissible actions in breach of the Convention. The State party should take prompt measures to ensure effective, transparent and independent investigations into all outstanding cases of alleged disappearances, including those cited by the European Court of Human Rights as well as those identified by the United Nations Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances. As appropriate, the State party should conduct prosecutions and notify relatives of the victims of the outcomes of such investigations and prosecutions. The State party should promptly implement effective measures to put an end to excessive use of force and ill treatment by law enforcement authorities. The Committee also urged Turkey to undertake all necessary measures to facilitate and encourage women to exercise their right to lodge complaints on domestic violence to the police, including in the building and staffing of shelters, hotlines and other protective measures.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Following its consideration of the combined second to fifth periodic report of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Committee noted with appreciation that since the consideration of the initial report, the State party had ratified the following international and regional instruments: the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture on 24 October 2008; the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol on 12 March 2010; and the Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings of the Council of Europe on 11 January 2008. The Committee welcomed the State party’s ongoing efforts to revise its legislation in areas of relevance to the Conventions, including: the adoption of the Law on Prevention of Discrimination in 2009 and the adoption of the International Assistance Law in 2009 aimed at strengthening international cooperation. The Committee also welcomed the efforts being made by the State party to amend its policies and procedures in order to ensure greater protection of human rights and give effect to the Convention, including: the adoption of a Strategy for Dealing with War Crimes Cases in 2008; the adoption of the third National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration; the adoption of the National Strategy to Combat Violence against Children; the adoption of the National Strategy for the Prevention and Combating Domestic Violence; and the establishment of a Working Group to prepare a State Strategy for Transitional Justice.

The Committee noted the adoption of the Strategy for Dealing with War Crimes Cases and some progress made in the prosecution of those responsible for acts of torture committed during the 1992-1995 conflict including war-time rape and other acts of sexual violence. However, the Committee was gravely concerned that, taking into account the number of such war-time crimes, the number of cases prosecuted so far by the Bosnia and Herzegovina judiciary was extremely low and local courts still faced serious obstacles in prosecuting war crimes cases. In addition, the Committee expressed its serious concerns that a significant number of judgments made by the Constitutional Court were not implemented even several years following their adoption and most of the non-implemented decisions by the Constitutional Court were related to cases of human rights violations, mainly the cases of missing persons.

While appreciating the State party’s intention to amend the elements of crimes of rape by abolishing the requirements of both penetration and active resistance by the victim, the Committee was concerned by the insufficient information on the entity laws prohibiting and criminalizing such violence as well as at the low numbers of investigations and prosecutions of cases of domestic violence. The Committee was also concerned by reports about the inadequate provision of protection measures and rehabilitation programmes for victims. The Committee, while noting some improvement in witness protection in criminal proceedings, remained gravely concerned at the lack of adequate measures of witness protection and witness support before, during and after the trials, which had a negative impact on the willingness and ability of witnesses to participate in investigations or to testify in proceedings. The Committee also expressed concerns over the reported cases of intimidation against witnesses and of attempts at bribery by perpetrators, and the insufficient support for witnesses by the competent authorities, such as the State Investigation and Protection Agency and the Witness Support Section. The Committee remained particularly concerned about the current material and hygienic conditions, the use of solitary confinement, the problems of overcrowding and ongoing inter-prisoner violence in some places of detention.

Among other recommendations, the Committee urged the State party to fight impunity by ensuring prompt and effective investigation into all allegations of war time crimes, prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators by appropriate penalties commensurate with their grave nature. In that regard, the State party was encouraged to provide mutual judicial assistance in all matters of criminal proceedings and continue to enhance cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The Committee recommended that the State party enhance its efforts to prevent, prosecute and punish all forms of violence against women and children, including domestic violence, and ensure effective and full implementation of the existing laws and the national strategies adopted to that end, including the Strategy for the Prevention and Combating Domestic Violence and the National Strategy to Combat Violence against Children. Shelter and counselling service for victims of violence should also be provided in sufficient number and with adequate standards. The Committee urged that the State party ensure that victims were effectively protected, not further distressed or pressured to withdraw their testimony and that they were not threatened by alleged perpetrators. Bosnia and Herzegovina should intensify its efforts to bring the conditions in places of detention into line with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, as well as with other relevant international and national law standards.

Mongolia

Having reviewed the initial report of Mongolia, the Committee welcomed that since the accession to the Convention by the State party on 24 January 2002, it had ratified or acceded to the following international instruments: the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in March 2002; the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in April 2002; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, in June 2003; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in armed conflict, in October 2004; the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, in May 2008; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in May 2009; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in May 2009; and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in July 2010. The Committee also noted the ongoing efforts of the State party to reform its legislation in order to ensure better protection of human rights, in particular: the adoption of the Criminal Code in 2002; the adoption of the Law on Combating Domestic Violence in 2005; the amendment of the Court Decision Enforcement Law on 3 August 2007; and the amendment to the Criminal Code enacted on 1 February 2008. The Committee also noted with appreciation the new measures and policies adopted by the State party in order to ensure better protection of human rights.

The Committee expressed concern that there was no definition of torture in Mongolia’s legislation in accordance with the definition in article 1 of the Convention. The Committee was also concerned by information that arbitrary arrests and detentions occurred frequently, with some two thirds of pre-trial detentions taking place without court orders. The Committee expressed concern that arrested suspects often do not have prompt access to a judge, to a lawyer, a medical doctor and their family as prescribed by law, and that pre-trial detention was not used as a last resort. The Committee said it was concerned by reports that law enforcement officials and interrogators were not always prosecuted and adequately punished for acts of torture and ill treatment and it was seriously concerned that statements and confessions obtained under torture and ill treatment continued to be used in courts in Mongolia.

The Committee was also concerned about conditions of detention in some facilities such as overcrowding, poor ventilation and heating, inadequate toilet facilities and water supply and the spread of infectious diseases. In addition, the Committee was concerned with the ill treatment such as mixing of convicted prisoners and pre-trial detainees, arbitrary room changes, and prison guards encouraging convicted prisoners to be abusive towards certain detainees. The Committee was also concerned by the special isolation regime consisting of solitary confinement for prisoners serving 30-year sentences, some of whom told the Special Rapporteur on torture of the Human Rights Council that they would have preferred the death penalty to isolation. The Committee was particularly concerned by reports that death row prisoners were detained in isolation, kept handcuffed and shackled throughout their detention and denied adequate food. Such conditions of detention were described by the Special Rapporteur as constituting additional punishments, which could only be qualified as torture as defined in article 1 of the Convention.

The Committee said that Mongolia should adopt a definition of torture with all the elements of article 1 of the Convention in its national criminal legislation and Mongolia should include torture as a separate crime in its legislation, in line with article 4 of the Convention, and should ensure that penalties for torture were appropriate for the gravity of this crime. The State party should also take prompt and effective measures to ensure that all detainees were afforded all fundamental legal safeguards from the very outset of their detention. These included the rights of detainees to be informed of the reasons of their arrest, to have prompt access to a lawyer and, when necessary, to legal aid. The State party was urged to bring impunity to an end and ensure that torture and ill treatment by public officials would not be tolerated and that all alleged perpetrators of acts of torture would be investigated and, if appropriate, prosecuted, convicted and punished with penalties appropriate to the gravity of the crime. The Committee recommended that Mongolia ensure that no statement, which was established to have been made as a result of torture, should be invoked as evidence in any proceedings.
The Committee recommended that the State party abolish the special isolation regime and ensure that all prisoners were treated humanely and in accordance with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention and Imprisonment. The State party should continue improving conditions of detention in all detention facilities to bring them in line with international standards. Mongolia should also ensure that prison guards and other officials abide by the law and adhere strictly to rules and regulations. The State General Prosecutor’s Office and other authorized independent bodies should be allowed to carry out regular and unannounced visits to places of detention.
Ecuador

Having reviewed the combined fourth to sixth periodic report of Ecuador, the Committee welcomed that, since the examination of its last report, Ecuador had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as its Optional Protocol. The Committee also noted Ecuador’s efforts to reform its legislation in order to respond to the recommendations of the Committee and to improve the implementation of international instruments. The Committee especially appreciated the provisions regarding the inadmissibility of evidence received in violation of fundamental rights; the introduction of legal measures for the protection of human rights; the prosecution of members of the armed forces or the national police; the free legal assistance provided to persons lacking the necessary resources; the abolition of the judgment of civilians by military courts; and the new policy on refugees, by which Ecuador committed itself to act in accordance with its obligations under the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The Committee also welcomed that Ecuador maintained a standing invitation to all of the Human Rights Council’s Special Procedure mandate holders. It noted with satisfaction that Ecuador had received tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers, primarily Colombians who fled the internal armed conflict in their country.

The Committee however condemned the murder, on 6 July 2010, of Dr. Germán Antonio Ramírez Herrera, a legal medicine specialist who had investigated cases of torture, notably at the Quevedo Centre for Social Reintegration. The Committee also expressed grave concern at the amplitude of violence and sexual abuse perpetrated against children in schools. It was also concerned about the alleged active participation of “peasant defense groups” in violence in rural areas. In this regard, the Committee condemned the recent lynchings in the Pichincha, Los Ríos, Guayas, Azuay, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo provinces. Another concern related to the 2008 clause requiring that Colombian nationals provide a certificate of a clean criminal record as a preliminary condition to enter Ecuador, although that document was issued by the Administrative Department of Security, which was the Colombian intelligence agency and dependent on the executive. In the Committee’s view, this threatened the security of numerous persons in need of international protection. Also worrisome was the deterioration of the situation in Ecuador’s northern border region with Colombia. The Committee was concerned about persistent reports of violence against civilians – particularly Colombian asylum seekers and refugees – perpetrated by illegal armed groups and members of Colombian and Ecuadorian security forces. The Committee also noted with concern the many reports received on sexual aggression and violence against refugees and asylum seekers, allegedly perpetrated by members of the State security forces and Ecuador’s armed forces. The Committee had received information about abuses of women and girls, primarily from Colombia, who were victims of sexual violence and threatened by expulsion.

The Committee recommended that Ecuador inform the Committee of the results of the investigations into the Dr. Germán Antonio Ramírez Herrera murder case, also asking Ecuador to adopt a programme to protect professionals working to shed light on cases of alleged torture and abuse. In terms of fighting impunity, the Committee recommended that Ecuador take the necessary measures to ensure that all allegations of torture and ill-treatment be investigated in a rapid and impartial manner. These investigations should be entrusted to an independent organ rather than being placed under the responsibility of the police. The Committee also urged Ecuador to intensify its efforts to eradicate violence and sexual abuse perpetrated against children in school, and it recommended that the State party take the necessary measures to investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of such acts. Ecuador should further take measures to improve public security in rural areas by ensuring that the State security forces were present throughout the national territory. The Committee encouraged the State party to intensify its efforts to tackle prison overcrowding, notably through using alternatives to imprisonment, continuing ongoing measures to improve and expand prison infrastructure, increasing the number of prison guards, and improving health care services in places of detention. The Committee also urged Ecuador to take the necessary measures to ensure the physical integrity of civilians in the border region with Colombia – including refugees and asylum seekers under their jurisdiction – and to ensure that acts of violence were investigated and perpetrators brought to justice.

Cambodia

Concerning the second periodic report of Cambodia, the Committee welcomed as positive aspects the ratification, in March 2007, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, and the recent visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to Cambodia from 3 to 11 December 2009. It also welcomed that, in the period since the consideration of the initial report, the State party had ratified or acceded to the following international instruments: the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in October 2010; the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, in December 2005; the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the Convention, in July 2007; the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in September 2007; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, in July 2004; and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in April 2002. The Committee further noted the ongoing efforts at the State level to reform its legislation, policies and procedures in order to ensure better protection of human rights, including the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Committee noted with satisfaction the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in cooperation with the United Nations and the international community.

Among principal subjects of concern and recommendations, the Committee was concerned that the Penal Code did not contain a definition of torture, and recommended that Cambodia incorporate a definition of torture into the Constitution, the Penal Code or other relevant legislation, including all elements of torture as defined by the Convention. The Committee was deeply concerned at reports of widespread and systemic corruption throughout the country and recommended that Cambodia take immediate and urgent measures to eradicate corruption throughout the country which was one of the most serious impediments to the rule of law and the implementation of the Convention. The Committee reiterated its grave concern at the lack of independence and effectiveness of the judiciary, including the criminal justice system, and urged the State party to intensify its efforts to establish and ensure a fully independent and professional judiciary in conformity with international standards and ensure that it was free from political interference.

The Committee remained deeply concerned by the numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations of torture against and ill-treatment of detainees in detention facilities, in particular in police stations. As a matter of urgency, the Committee recommended that the State party take immediate and effective measures to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence in detention, throughout the country, including through the announcement of a policy that would produce measurable results in the eradication of torture and ill-treatment by State officials, and through monitoring and/or recording of police interrogation sessions. The State party should also ensure that all allegations of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence in detention, were investigated promptly, effectively and impartially, and that the perpetrators were prosecuted and convicted in accordance with the gravity of the acts, as required by article 4 of the Convention.

The Committee expressed its concern at reports that torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement and prison officials were widespread, that few investigations were carried out in such cases and that there were very few convictions. It urged the State party to strengthen its measures to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of convicted prisoners and detainees, including in police stations, and to bring to justice law enforcement and prison officials who carried out, ordered or acquiesced in such practices. The Committee called upon the State party to establish a national system to effectively monitor and inspect all places of detention. The State party should take effective measures to prevent and combat sexual violence and abuse against women and children, including rape. The State party should, as a matter of urgency, establish a separate juvenile justice system, adapted to the particular needs of juveniles, their status and special requirements. The Committee underlined that it was the responsibility of the State to provide for redress to victims of torture and their families. Cambodia should take the necessary steps to ensure inadmissibility in court of confessions obtained as a result of torture in all cases in line with the provisions of article 15 of the Convention.

Membership and Officers

The Committee's members are elected by the States parties to the Convention and serve in their personal capacity. The current members of the Committee are: Essadia Belmir (Morocco); Alessio Bruni (Italy); Felice Gaer (United States); Luis Gallegos Chiriboga (Ecuador); Abdoulaye Gaye (Senegal); Claudio Grossman (Chile); Myrna Y. Kleopas (Cyprus); Fernando Mariño Menendez (Spain); Nora Sveaass (Norway); and Xuexian Wang (China).

Claudio Grossman is the Committee Chairman; Essadia Belmir, Felice Gaer and Xuexian Wang are the Vice Chairpersons; and Nora Sveaass is the Committee Rapporteur.

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