Committee against Torture opens forty-eighth session

7 May 2012

Hears Address by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Elects Bureau, Swears in New Members, Adopts Agenda and Programme of Work

The Committee against Torture this morning opened its forty-eighth session, hearing an address by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, electing its bureau, swearing in new members, and adopting its agenda and programme of work.
 
Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that the treaty body strengthening process was now at a critical stage.  The growth of the treaty body system continued and this underscored the urgency of the treaty body strengthening process.  The High Commissioner would publish her report in June this year.  At the same time, States were increasingly demonstrating their engagement in the treaty body strengthening process.  On 23 February 2012, the General Assembly adopted a resolution to launch an open-ended intergovernmental process on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system.  This initiative could serve as an extension of the process launched by the High Commissioner.  It was appropriate and indeed necessary that, through this process, States parties reflected on how concretely to resolve the financial challenges faced by the treaty bodies. 
 
The Committee heard the two new members of the Committee, Satyabhoosum Gupt Domah (Mauritius) and George Tugushi (Georgia), make a solemn declaration to perform their duties and exercise their powers as members of the Committee honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously.
 
The Committee also elected a bureau, with Claudio Grossman (Chile) as Chairperson;        as Vice-Chairpersons, Essadia Belmir (Morocco), Felice Gaer (United States), and Xuexian Wang (China); and Nora Sveaass (Norway) as Rapporteur.  The Committee also adopted its agenda and programme of work.
 
Mr. Grossman, speaking after his re-election as Chairperson, said the work of the Committee was a collective work, everyone made contributions, the members of the Committee had tremendous knowledge, and it was a privilege and honour to be a member of this Committee.  He welcomed the two new Committee members, who both had tremendous knowledge and expertise, and their presence would further strengthen the Committee. 
 
 
When the Committee next meets in public at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 May, it will take up the second periodic report of Albania (CAT/C/ALB/2).
 
 
Statement by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
 
KYUNG-WHA KANG, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that the treaty body strengthening process was now at a critical stage.  The growth of the treaty body system continued and this underscored the urgency of the treaty body strengthening process.  The High Commissioner would publish her report in June this year.  Follow-up to that report would depend on actions by treaty bodies themselves, as well as States.  Several Committees had already endorsed the Dublin II outcome document and the Committee against Torture was asked to consider endorsing the outcome document as well.  Ms. Kang welcomed steps the Committee had already taken to address some of the challenges the system faced and noted that the Committee would request the General Assembly to provide the Committee with additional meeting time, namely one additional week per session, for the biennium 2013 - 2014.  The High Commissioner had stressed that resources for treaty bodies must be adequate to the task they had been mandated to fulfil.  States were increasingly demonstrating their engagement in the treaty body strengthening process.  On 23 February 2012, the General Assembly adopted a resolution to launch an open-ended intergovernmental process on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system.  This initiative could serve as an extension of the process launched by the High Commissioner.  It was appropriate and indeed necessary that, through this process, States parties reflected on how concretely to resolve the financial challenges faced by the treaty bodies.  
 
Ms. Kang used concrete cases from Cambodia and Paraguay to illustrate how OHCHR used the work of the Committee in its field activities.  The value of the Committee’s work went beyond the Committee’s direct recommendations to specific States parties. For example, the General Comment the Committee intended to adopt during this session on the obligation of States parties to implement article 14 of the Convention against Torture would provide crucial assistance to States parties by clarifying their obligations.  She encouraged the Committee to continue elaborating General Comments and expressed to the Committee members her deep acknowledgement for their work in preventing and combating torture and ill-treatment.  
 
Discussion with the Deputy High Commissioner
 
Committee Experts asked whether the Committee would have a chance to further comment on the treaty body strengthening process after the High Commissioner’s report came out in June.  They asked what was the Office of the High Commissioner’s assessment of the future situation of treaty bodies, what the different scenarios and future possibilities were, and how they expected the process to evolve.  One Expert noted that the treaty body system had been functioning because of the lack of compliance of States, but if all States presented their reports on time, it would take the Committee five years to catch up, not counting new reports that would be due.  Even with the extra week that the Committee was asking for, they were only scratching the surface.   Concerning what Ms. Kang said about the General Comment, the Committee hoped that in addition to it providing information and guidelines to Member States, it would also provide guidelines to professionals working in the field of rehabilitation.  While the Committee was specialized, the issue of torture and ill-treatment was also a cross-cutting issue which affected the entire treaty body system.  The extra time they were requesting was not a privilege, it was a need. 
 
Responding to these comments and questions, the Deputy High Commissioner said that there was much interest and expectation into where the treaty body strengthening process would evolve.  The High Commissioner would put the full extent of the two and a half years of consultations into the report.  She had also been invited by the General Assembly to present the report to the intergovernmental process in July.  She highlighted the preservation of the independence of the treaty bodies and the treaty body system and the importance of preserving this fundamental principle.  The treaty body system was the foundation of the entire United Nations human rights machinery.  The treaty bodies guarded, preserved and enriched the norms, and without them, the norms would be sand castled.  The goal was to strengthen the foundation of the treaty bodies. 

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