UN Committee against Torture to review Kuwait

GENEVA (20 July 2016) - The UN Committee against Torture is due to review Kuwait on 25 and 26 July in Geneva. Kuwait has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and so is required to be reviewed regularly by the Committee.

Among the possible issues for discussion between CAT members and a delegation from the Kuwaiti Government are:

• Steps to ensure detainees brought promptly before judge;
• Measures to guarantee full independence and impartiality of judges;
• Steps to prevent, combat and criminalize trafficking in persons;
• Monitoring and inspection of places of detention;
• Update on cases of detained and disappeared people following the 1991 war;
• Steps taken to establish fully independent complaints mechanism for cases of torture and ill-treatment;
• Prisoners facing execution, conditions of detention on death-row;
• Steps to prevent exploitation mistreatment, forced labour and slavery-like conditions of migrant domestic workers;
• Situation of Kuwaiti Bidun.

The review will take place at Palais Wilson in Geneva from 15:00 to 18:00 on 25 July and 15:00 to 18:00 on 26 July (16:00 – 19:00 in Kuwait) and be webcast live at http://webtv.un.org/ The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives.

More information, including Kuwait’s submitted written report, at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1084&Lang=en

The Committee has scheduled a press conference for Friday 12 August at 12.30 at the Palais des Nations to discuss its findings on Kuwait and the other States being reviewed – Honduras, Burundi and Mongolia. These findings, officially known as concluding observations, will be published here on 12 August: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1084&Lang=en
 
ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org)

Media accreditation:    http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background

Members of the CAT are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:  http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cat/pages/catindex.aspx

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