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Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The numerous calls by various international and regional organizations to close compulsory drug detention centres, as well as the numerous injunctions and recommendations contained in the recently released guidelines by WHO on pharmacotherapy for opiate dependence, the UNODC policy guidance on the organization's human rights responsibilities in drug detention centres, and resolutions by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, are routinely ignored. These centres continue to operate often with direct or indirect support and assistance from international donors without any adequate human rights oversight.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- For many rape survivors, access to a safe abortion procedure is made virtually impossible by a maze of administrative hurdles, and by official negligence and obstruction. In the landmark decision of K.N.L.H. v. Peru, the Human Rights Committee deemed the denial of a therapeutic abortion a violation of the individual's right to be free from ill-treatment. In the case of P. and S. v. Poland, ECHR stated that "the general stigma attached to abortion and to sexual violence …, caus[ed] much distress and suffering, both physically and mentally".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 86b
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to conditions during detention, the Special Rapporteur calls upon all States:] To consider case-by-case assessment to decide whether it is appropriate for a particular inmate to be transferred to an adult institution after reaching the age of majority;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 86e
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to conditions during detention, the Special Rapporteur calls upon all States:] To prohibit corporal punishment;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- When used by States, a commission of inquiry can serve as a valuable tool in addressing the State's duty under international human rights law to investigate and hold an independent inquiry into torture, deaths (for example, in the case of extrajudicial executions) and other atrocities (A/HRC/8/3, para. 12).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The Human Rights Council also mandated a fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict, in 2009, and a fact-finding mission for the Syrian Arab Republic, in 2012.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Several contemporary national commissions of inquiry have been established to examine issues concerning State secrets and complicity in torture in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Two such commissions of inquiry are the Detainee Inquiry in the United Kingdom (commonly known as the Gibson Inquiry) and the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar, in Canada (also referred to as the Arar Commission).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- In response to international pressure, the President of Kyrgyzstan, after consultations with the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, established a commission of inquiry into the events in southern Kyrgyzstan. The Special Rapporteur will take note of these findings in his forthcoming report on Kyrgyzstan, following his visit in December 2011. He will also take note of the Government's response when formulating his own recommendations, which will include an examination of the events of June 2010 in Osh and surrounding provinces, in addition to other issues within the scope of his mandate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- If a commission of inquiry precedes formal criminal prosecutions, or the two mechanisms exist simultaneously, care must be taken to ensure that the work of the commission does not inhibit prosecutions in any way. In establishing an international commission of inquiry to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the Secretary-General agreed that the international commission should be fact-finding in nature and not be a criminal investigation; the duty of carrying out a criminal investigation, finding the perpetrators and bringing them to justice, remains with the competent Pakistani authorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- It should be noted that the above-mentioned principles govern the use of force, not only in extra-custodial settings, but also where riots, unrest or other violent incidents occur within places of detention. Depending on the circumstances, they may also be relevant in determining the permissibility of invasive health and security procedures, such as the taking of bodily samples or a strip search. In their relations with persons deprived of their liberty, law enforcement officials may not use force, except when strictly necessary for the maintenance of security and order within the institution or when personal safety is threatened, and they may not use firearms, except in self-defence or in the defence of others against the immediate threat of death or serious injury or when strictly necessary to prevent the escape of an inmate presenting a threat of death or serious injury.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, in the case of Rosendo Cantú et al. v. Mexico, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights considered “that rape may constitute torture even when it consists of a single act or takes place outside State facilities … because the objective and subjective elements that define an act as torture do not refer to the accumulation of acts or to the place where the act is committed, but rather to the intention, the severity of the suffering and the purpose of the act”. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also regarded as torture the intentional, violent beating of a person prior to arrest.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- The Court has also made numerous findings of inhuman or degrading treatment in cases involving the unnecessary or excessive use of force in the context of demonstrations. In Abdullah Yasa and Others v. Turkey, the Court found the launch of a tear gas grenade along a direct flat trajectory aimed towards protestors to be contrary to article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights because it was not “proportionate to the aim pursued, namely to disperse a non-peaceful gathering” and because the severity of the resulting injuries to the applicant’s head were not “commensurate with the strict use by the police officers of the force necessitated by his behaviour”.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- In Selçuk and Asker v. Turkey, the Court found the unjustified destruction of private homes to be inhuman treatment because it was “premeditated and carried out contemptuously and without respect for the feelings of the applicants”, who “had to stand by and watch the burning of their homes” while inadequate precautions were taken to ensure their safety and no subsequent assistance was provided.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72c
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Set forth clear guidance on implementing domestic abortion legislation and ensure that it is interpreted broadly; and monitor the practical implementation of legislation to ensure that persons are provided the right to legal services in practice;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Of all the countries visited by the Special Rapporteur, only Jamaica and Papua New Guinea have not ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The other 15 countries have ratified the Convention and accepted the obligations contained therein, including those of making torture an offence under criminal law and establishing appropriate penalties for perpetrators.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Ex officio investigations, as required by article 12 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, are one of the strongest tools for preventing torture and combating impunity. As victims are often unaware of existing complaints mechanisms, they lack confidence that their complaints will be effectively addressed or they are afraid to file them. This problem is worse in countries where the obligation to initiate ex officio investigations is not enshrined in the law, as was observed by the Special Rapporteur in some of his missions, including those to Jamaica and Sri Lanka. Whenever there are reasonable grounds, including credible evidence, that an act of torture has been committed, States should conduct an investigation, irrespective of whether a complaint has been filed. In Jordan, the Special Rapporteur found that even though the Court of Cassation had overturned a number of convictions on the grounds that security officials had obtained confessions under torture, this did not trigger official criminal investigations against the perpetrators. The same holds true for Sri Lanka.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- In terms of prosecutions, the Special Rapporteur was sadly surprised at the low number of people prosecuted for torture in the countries he visited. He came across cases of officials being subject to disciplinary or administrative procedures for offences such as abuse of power and, in some cases, convictions for offences such as causing physical injuries, as in Jordan and Paraguay. These types of convictions not only result from the lack of a specific criminal offence of torture, but are in some instances used to treat the act of torture as a minor offence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- It is important to note that the services provided by rehabilitation centres for the victims of torture go beyond the medical aspects of rehabilitation. They also contribute to raising awareness of the issue of torture and the establishment of justice. Alerting and informing society of the prevalence of torture and States' involvement in it can trigger public pressure and eventually bring about policy changes. During his visit to the Republic of Moldova, the Special Rapporteur was impressed with the work of the Medical Centre for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims in Chisinau, which had managed to inform, train and mobilize lawyers, journalists and other professionals in order to support victims and disseminate information about cases of torture, both within the country and abroad. In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture initiates programmes of survivor activism, encouraging victims to share with the public their stories, images and communications about survival, and works to make their voices heard. Similarly, centres in Argentina, Brazil and Chile are at the forefront when it comes to dealing with the legacy of the national security regimes and the continuing impunity for the crimes committed during those periods. In many countries, rehabilitation centres engage in campaigns advocating for legal reform and the passing of laws that comply with the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol. In Pakistan, Struggle for Change, aside from providing multidisciplinary services to survivors, played a leading role in national advocacy efforts that eventually contributed to the ratification of the Convention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- More subtle, but similarly obstructive, has been the introduction of new, sweepingly restrictive regulations for civil society organizations in many countries. While it has to be recognized that it is within the discretion of each State to adopt domestic legislation concerning non-governmental organizations, such provisions sometimes appear to be more the expression of a general suspicion or even hostility towards the work of civil society organizations working in the field of human rights, rather than serving any reasonable administrative purpose. In Egypt, the El Nadeem Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, which provides holistic support to victims of torture through medical rehabilitation, family support and legal aid, is threatened by a proposed law on non-governmental organizations. If approved, the law will lead to the centre's closure, along with that of many independent non governmental organizations. A similar situation already exists in Algeria, where the political situation presents extreme challenges for the establishment of non governmental organizations. As a result, despite efforts by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, there is as yet no rehabilitation centre in the country. Likewise, in the Sudan, the Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture was recently closed in a crackdown on independent non-governmental organizations. Yet, in other areas work continues. In Zimbabwe, the Counselling Services Unit, which the Special Rapporteur visited in 2008, is a heartening example of how courageous individuals manage to provide crucial rehabilitation services and documentation in sometimes extreme circumstances. There are other examples of rehabilitation centres providing unmatched services, yet many prefer to keep a low profile because of the dangers of public exposure resulting from the nature of their work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- As earlier emphasized, international human rights law places States under the obligation to ensure that victims of torture are provided with the means for as full physical and psychological rehabilitation as possible, implying the establishment or support of torture rehabilitation centres. At the same time, one has to realize that the majority of torture survivors do not have access to adequate treatment. Most centres, where they do exist, are overburdened by the number of victims, and their staff members constantly operate on the verge of exhaustion. This distressing situation is largely attributable to the limited financial support for rehabilitation centres. Reflecting this impasse, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, as one of the main sources of funding for rehabilitation centres worldwide, receives grant requests every year for more than double the resources it is provided with by a relatively small number of donor States. In its 2009 report, the Board of Trustees of the Fund held out the prospect of a financial gap of 3 million United States dollars, which would equate to a reduction of its grants by 20 per cent unless State contributions increase. Furthermore, the recent global financial crisis has had a tangible impact on many centres, forcing them to cut back existing services because funding from private foundations has decreased. The Kosovo Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims, in Pristina, which has carried out excellent work, is facing closure in December 2010 because of a lack of funding. In Greece, the Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims, in Athens, closed in 2009 for lack of funding, resulting in a complete lack of rehabilitation centres for torture victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- While the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and international donors such as the European Union (EU), as well as private foundations, are the most important sources of support for rehabilitation centres, it has to be noted that Governments fall overwhelmingly short of their obligation and leave domestic centres and torture survivors struggling. The Special Rapporteur interprets this shortcoming as a further example of the prevalent reluctance on the part of States to deal with the issue of torture in a rigorous manner and to acknowledge the scope of the problem. The unwillingness to ensure adequate funding of domestic rehabilitation centres is a manifestation of the same attitude of taking torture prevention lightly that results in failure to investigate crimes perpetrated by State agents and to eventually hold them accountable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Overview of main observations of five years fact-finding and research 2010, para. 77f
- Paragraph text
- [In building upon the general recommendations elaborated by his distinguished predecessor, Theo van Boven, in 2003, the Special Rapporteur wishes to particularly stress the following recommendations:] In the fight against terrorism and other forms of organized crime, States should keep in mind the absolute and non-derogable nature of the prohibition of torture. In particular, detention in secret places of detention, the expulsion or "rendition" of terrorist suspects to countries known for their practice of torture, the use of diplomatic assurances from these Governments not to torture as a means of circumventing the principle of non-refoulement, "enhanced interrogation techniques" aimed at inflicting severe physical or mental pain or suffering on detainees for the purpose of extracting intelligence information and similar practices in the global fight against terrorism are absolutely prohibited under international law and shall immediately be terminated. After all, torture, as the ultimate form of power exercised by one individual over another individual in a powerless situation, constitutes a direct attack on the personal integrity, dignity and humanity of human beings and is, therefore, for sound philosophical and historical reasons, absolutely prohibited under international law even in the most extreme and exceptional circumstances, such as war or terrorism.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The European Court of Human Rights also recognizes that States are responsible for the physical and mental integrity of persons under their authority, power or control, finding that States' responsibilities "may arise in respect of acts and events [taking place] outside [their] frontiers" and due to the acts of their agents, "whether performed within or outside national boundaries, which produce effects outside their own territory" (Loizidou v. Turkey; mutatis mutandis, M v. Denmark). Such scenarios recognized by the Court include the "exercise [of] authority and control over individuals killed in the course" of security operations by one State on the territory of another State (Al-Skeini v. The United Kingdom); the handover of individuals to the custody of a State's agents abroad (Öcalan v. Turkey); the interception and imposition of control over a ship (and persons therein) in international waters (Jamaa and others v. Italy); the detention of individuals in prisons operated or controlled by the State party abroad (Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v. The United Kingdom); exercise of control over an area outside national territory as a consequence of military action (Hassan v. The United Kingdom); or the exercise of physical control over an individual, including outside formal detention facilities (Issa and others v. Turkey). Whenever a State exercises control over an individual extraterritorially through its agents, it must secure the substantive rights and freedoms under the Convention that are relevant to the situation of that individual (Al-Skeini).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur contends that the excessive use of force by State agents extraterritorially, resulting in loss of life or injury that meets the threshold for torture or other ill-treatment but occurs in the absence of direct physical control over an individual in the form of custody or detention, must also qualify as constituting authority and control by States (European Court of Human Rights, Andreou v. Turkey). It is imperative that States not be permitted to evade their fundamental obligations on the basis of a spurious distinction based on whether a State exercised direct physical control over an individual before committing the injurious act. In this context, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the judgement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Alejandre v. Cuba finding the State responsible for the shooting down of two civilian aeroplanes flying in international airspace. He likewise welcomes the finding of the European Court in Jaloud v. The Netherlands that the State breached its procedural obligations to investigate the killing of Mr. Jaloud and the pronouncement that the shooting of a vehicle passing a checkpoint in Iraq constituted an exercise of jurisdiction "for the purpose of asserting authority and control over persons passing through the checkpoint".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recognizes several potential scenarios of complicity in torture and other ill-treatment with an extraterritorial component. First, a State may acquiesce to an extraterritorial human rights violation by a second State on its territory (European Court of Human Rights, El-Masri v. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). Second, complicity itself can be extraterritorial, as in cases where the individual suffering a violation is located in a territory outside the complicit State's control and under the control of the principal. Examples include the alleged collusion, connivance, presence or participation of Canadian and British intelligence services in the interrogation and mistreatment abroad of Omar Khadr, Maher Arar and Binyam Mohamed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The European Court has consistently held that the absolute nature of the prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment implies a positive obligation not to send individuals to States where they face a real risk of prohibited treatment (Saadi v. Italy). A State's responsibility is engaged whenever its agents fail to take reasonable steps to avoid a risk of ill-treatment about which they knew or ought to have known at the time of transfer (Abu Zubaydah v. Poland). The Committee against Torture similarly has found that State decisions to expel or render individuals to places where they face a real risk of ill-treatment breaches the Convention (P. E. v. France).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Article 5 (1) requires States to take legislative measures to establish jurisdiction based on the territoriality, flag and active and passive nationality principles with a view to prosecuting any act of torture committed in "any territory under [the State's] jurisdiction" and to take all measures necessary to investigate the crime, arrest the alleged offender and bring him or her to justice before its domestic courts. In the example provided by a former mandate holder, if an Egyptian intelligence agent on board a Central Intelligence Agency rendition aircraft registered in the United States were to torture a Jordanian citizen when flying through Irish airspace, Egypt, the United States and Ireland would all be required to investigate the case and issue an arrest warrant (as would be Jordan, upon accepting the passive personality principle). In recognition of the obligation to investigate and prosecute all acts of torture, Italian courts convicted in absentia 23 United States and two Italian officials involved in the abduction and extraordinary rendition of Abu Omar to Egypt, where he was tortured.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur regrets evidence that States have employed restrictive doctrines, such as State secrets and political questions doctrines, in both territorial and extraterritorial contexts, in an effort to obstruct prosecution and evade responsibility (El-Masri v. The United States), and reminds States that competent courts in States parties to the Convention are obligated to exercise jurisdiction over acts of torture and ill-treatment, irrespective of the locus where wrongfulness took place. This obligation should also encompass situations wherein a State may be held responsible for its failure to pre-empt or remedy illicit conduct not directly attributable to it, such as when it failed to meet its due diligence obligations to prevent and protect persons from grave violations of human rights. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands recognized in the Dutch battalion case that the State was responsible for the deaths of three men at Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by failing to shield the victims when they sought refuge in a Dutch compound over which the State exercised "effective control" - defined as "factual control over specific conduct" - under article 8 of the draft articles on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the indication that States are not simply required to abstain from causing prohibited acts but are obligated, to the extent possible, to fight wrongfulness, including through investigation and prosecution of torture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The Committee (P.E. v. France; Agiza v. Sweden; Pelit v. Azerbaijan; Dzemajl v. Yugoslavia), the European Court of Human Rights (Othman v. The United Kingdom) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights v. Egypt) have firmly ruled against the use of evidence obtained by torture, demonstrating that international law has declared its unequivocal opposition to the admission of such evidence. The Special Rapporteur recalls that all States have an obligation to ascertain whether statements admitted as evidence in any proceedings for which they have jurisdiction, including extradition proceedings, have been made as a result of torture (G.K. v. Switzerland).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- A State's failure to investigate, criminally prosecute or allow civil proceedings - or efforts to block or hinder such proceedings - relating to allegations of torture or other forms of ill-treatment constitutes de facto denial of an effective remedy. The Special Rapporteur regrets that this has been the case regarding victims of rendition and other extraterritorial acts of torture and ill-treatment seeking redress from Governments and reminds States that an essential component of the obligation to provide redress is the obligation not to obstruct redress or obstruct access of an individual to an effective remedy, for example by invoking "State secrets" to dismiss lawsuits in limine litis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph