Committee against Torture discusses follow-up to concluding observations, individual communications, and reprisals

GENEVA (8 August 2018) - The Committee against Torture on 7 August discussed follow-up to concluding observations, individual communications, and reprisals under the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Presenting the report on follow-up to article 19 of the Convention, Abdelwahab Hani, Rapporteur on follow-up to concluding observations, noted that States parties have generally done well in respecting the follow-up recommendations, and all but two had sent their reports on time.  There was an increase in the civil society participation, including the joint submission with the States parties reports, said the Rapporteur, and invited civil society organizations, particularly national human rights institutions and national preventive mechanisms, to step up their participation in the follow-up procedure.  The States parties had begun submitting information on the progress of their national plans for the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations, however, very few had adopted their national implementation plans in the first place.  In 70 per cent of cases, the information received was partially satisfactory and in 11 per cent it was basic.  

There had been no cases in which the Committee’s recommendations had been fully implemented, but in 26 per cent of the cases, States parties had undertaken serious work to implement the recommendations and in 18 per cent of the cases the recommendations had been partially implemented.  Generally, no information had been received on the implementation of recommendations concerning secret detentions and enforced disappearances, while very little information had been provided on arbitrary detentions and legal guarantees in detention.  Sufficient information, which enabled the Committee to assess the situation, was generally received with regards to the situation in prisons or national preventive mechanisms.

Claude Heller Roussant, Rapporteur on follow-up to individual communications, said that during the session, the Committee had reviewed seven cases and followed-up on seven communications.  In a case concerning Canada, the Committee had decided to maintain the dialogue with the State party and evaluate measures to implement the Committee’s decision.  In a case involving Mexico, the Committee had decided to send a reminder letter to the authorities, while in a case concerning Algeria, the Committee was awaiting the State party’s response to the communication sent by the complainant.  Morocco was mentioned in three cases, and the Committee had decided to continue dialogue with the State party on two cases, while given the satisfactory outcome, the dialogue on the third case was closed.  The Committee would soon meet with the Permanent Mission of Australia to continue the dialogue on a case from this country.

The Rapporteur on follow-up to reprisals, Ana Racu, informed that there been no new allegations of reprisals since the last session.  The Committee was continuing its follow up dialogue with Morocco and hoped that a meeting with the Permanent Mission of Morocco would take place during the next session.  The Committee had considered the incident involving five human rights defenders from Mauritania who had been prevented from travelling to Geneva to participate in the State party’s review, and had addressed the issue through the concluding observations issued to Mauritania.

The Committee will next meet in public on Friday, 10 August, at 10 a.m., to adopt its programme of work for future sessions, and to close its sixty-fourth session.

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