Committee against Torture meets with States parties to discuss working methods

21 April 2015

The Committee against Torture this afternoon met with States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to discuss working methods and related issues.

Felice Gaer, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, welcomed the dialogue with States parties to the Convention, which was an opportunity to discuss challenges faced by the Committee, the treaty-body strengthening process and related issues. To date the Convention had been ratified by 157 States and the most recent ratification was Viet Nam, said Ms. Gaer. She noted that the Group of Friends of the Convention against Torture Initiative now consisted of 21 States. Ms. Gaer spoke about reporting obligations, noting that of the 157 States parties to the Convention, 27 had not yet submitted an initial report to the Committee. The Committee had received a total of 673 individual complaints concerning 34 States parties to date of which 97 were concluded to have been in violation of the Convention.

In the discussion, States parties and Committee Members discussed reprisals against people who cooperated with the Committee and issues related to the simplified reporting procedure. Several States spoke about activities carried out within the framework of the Group of Friends of the Convention against Torture Initiative, and procedures for monitoring and follow-up to the consideration of reports were also discussed.

The following States parties spoke in the meeting: Denmark, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Brazil.

The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 22 April 2015, to begin its consideration of the initial report of Congo (CAT/C/COG/1), which will be webcast live here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org. A detailed programme of work, as well as links to related documentation, is available in the background press release.

Summary of the Discussion

FELICE GAER, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, in opening remarks, noted that there had so far been six meetings held between Committee Members and States parties to the Convention, and that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss challenges faced by all parties, the treaty-body strengthening process and related issues. To date the Convention had been ratified by 157 States, most recently by Viet Nam, she said. Ms. Gaer spoke about the United Nations Convention against Torture Initiative, noting that since the last session of the Committee an additional eight States – Australia, Egypt, Finland, Italy, Honduras, Poland, Slovenia and Uganda – had joined the Group of Friends of the Convention against Torture Initiative, which now consisted of 21 States.

With regard to reporting obligations under the Convention, Ms. Gaer said since its creation the Committee had examined 351 reports and did not suffer from any particular delay in reviewing reports submitted by States parties. The Committee expected to receive 10 reports by the end of the year; of the 157 States parties to the Convention, 27 had not yet submitted an initial report to the Committee, and some States had not submitted a report for 20 years. So far 88 States parties had accepted the simplified reporting procedure, she noted.

The Committee had received a total of 673 individual complaints concerning 34 States parties to date, 190 of which were closed after examination for various reasons (including withdrawal of the complaint by the complainant or loss of contact between the complainant and the Committee), 68 were declared inadmissible and 251 were the subject of a decision. Of those only 97 were concluded to have been in violation of the Convention, said Ms. Gaer. The Vice-Chairperson further noted that all but 12 of the 157 States parties had accepted the Committee’s competence to conduct confidential inquiries into allegations of the systematic use of torture under Article 20 of the Convention. Nine investigations had been initiated so far.

Denmark said a number of activities were being organized within the framework of the United Nations Convention against Torture Initiative, and it would keep the Committee informed about them. The activities included States that were not yet parties to the Convention, such as a seminar due to take place soon in New York at which States would be informed about their obligations under the Convention and about what capacity building support would be offered to them. Denmark also noted that Chile was convening a seminar in Costa Rica in October, and that Indonesia and Morocco were planning events to focus on the challenges that may arise at the regional level.

United Kingdom indicated that it was also a member of the Group of Friends of the Convention against Torture Initiative and expressed the hope that the initiative would lead to increased ratification of the Convention and its Optional Protocol. The United Kingdom asked what challenges the Committee faced in the context of the treaty body strengthening process and the simplified reporting procedure.

Switzerland also noted that it was a member of the Group of Friends of the Convention against Torture Initiative and expressed the hope that the initiative would give new impetus to the promotion of the Convention. Switzerland noted that its report would be reviewed by the Committee this summer, and it looked forward to seeing if the simplified reporting procedure provided for a more focused discussion. Switzerland stressed its support for a platform that allowed an informal exchange of views between the treaty bodies on the one hand, and between the treaty bodies and the diplomatic community, among other stakeholders, on the other. Switzerland asked the Committee what it was doing to tackle the issue of reprisals against persons who cooperated with the treaty bodies.

FELICE GAER, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, in response to questions raised observed that the simplified reporting procedure, in the form of a list of issues, had the potential of providing extra energy to the process, especially for States that did not present reports. The Committee had been promoting the procedure since 2007 and so far 88 States had accepted it, she noted. The inevitable conclusion in that regard was that States submitted their reports in a much shorter format than before, which was a much lighter burden on the United Nations translation service. There was a question of capacity building which needed to be addressed, she added.

Concerning reprisals against persons who cooperated with the Committee, a Committee Expert recalled that Article 13 of the Convention provided that no penalty may be imposed on a person cooperating with the Committee. The Expert who also acted as the Committee’s rapporteur for the issue of reprisals, elaborated that such retaliation could take the form of intimidation, threats against the concerned person or their families, or a travel ban. He spoke about cases of reprisals in Russia, in the context of the Aliens Act, which had been communicated to the Committee by non-governmental organizations. The Expert also said there had been cases of non-governmental organizations who met with the Committee in this very room at Palais Wilson being threatened. The Expert noted that most of the letters sent to States parties regarding the issue of reprisals were published on the Committee's webpage and were followed up. The issue of reprisals was important for many United Nations bodies, stressed the Expert.

A Committee Expert who acted as co-rapporteur for the issue of reprisals said the Committee sought to coordinate efforts with other bodies in order to take effective measures against the phenomenon without jeopardizing the safety of those involved. The Committee's procedures for combatting and preventing reprisals were very similar to those of the Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture, which undertook visits to places of detention, he added.

A Committee Expert enquired about the intention of the Group of Friends of the Convention against Torture Initiative to promote Article 22 of the Convention, which was associated with the individual complaints procedure.

A Committee Expert who acted as rapporteur on monitoring recalled that the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention was celebrated last year but said the results could have been more encouraging because torture remained a huge problem in a significant number of countries. The Expert spoke about the Committee’s procedure which allowed States parties to submit within one year of their review a monitoring report on emergency measures taken in relation to key issues identified. The procedure had been a success, he said, especially as three-quarters of States parties had agreed to submit a follow-up report which allowed the dialogue that took place every four years to be sustained by the submission of two reports during that period.

FELICE GAER, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, noted that at 12 p.m. on Thursday, 23 April the Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture would present its annual report to the Committee and States parties were invited to attend the meeting. She highlighted the cooperation maintained between the Committee and the Sub-Committee.

Brazil emphasized the importance of collaboration between the various mechanisms that addressed the question of torture, recalling that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture had visited Brazil in July 2014, and that it had also received the Sub-Committee who would soon visit again in a follow-up mission. Brazil also asked about the submission of individual complaints under Article 22 of the Convention.

FELICE GAER, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, responding to the question from Brazil confirmed that Article 22 of the Convention clearly stated that if a case had already been submitted to an international court, it was inadmissible in the Committee.

__________________

For use of the information media; not an official record