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individuals or groups of individuals, such as shelters for victims of gender-related or other
torture or ill-treatment. The Committee notes that by taking measures such as those listed
herein, States parties may also be fulfilling their obligations to prevent acts of torture under
article 2 of the Convention. Additionally, guarantees of non-repetition offer important
potential for the transformation of social relations that may be the underlying causes of
violence and may include, but are not limited to, amending relevant laws, fighting
impunity, and taking effective preventative and deterrent measures.
Procedural obligations: implementation of the right to redress
Legislation
19.
Under article 2 of the Convention, States parties shall enact “effective legislative,
administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its
jurisdiction.” As clarified by the Committee in its general comment No. 2, “States parties
must make the offence of torture punishable as an offence under its criminal law, in
accordance, at a minimum, with the elements of torture as defined in article 1 of the
Convention, and the requirements of article 4.” The failure of States parties to enact
legislation that clearly incorporates their obligations under the Convention and criminalizes
torture and ill-treatment, and the resulting absences of torture and ill-treatment as criminal
offences, obstructs the victim’s capacity to access and enjoy his or her rights guaranteed
under article 14.
20.
To give effect to article 14, States parties shall enact legislation specifically
providing a victim of torture and ill-treatment with an effective remedy and the right to
obtain adequate and appropriate redress, including compensation and as full rehabilitation
as possible. Such legislation must allow for individuals to exercise this right and ensure
their access to a judicial remedy. While collective reparation and administrative reparation
programmes may be acceptable as a form of redress, such programmes may not render
ineffective the individual right to a remedy and to obtain redress.
21.
States parties should ensure that their domestic laws provide that a victim who has
suffered violence or trauma should benefit from adequate care and protection to avoid his
or her re-traumatization in the course of legal and administrative procedures designed to
provide justice and reparation.
22.
Under the Convention, States parties are required to prosecute or extradite alleged
perpetrators of torture when they are found in any territory under its jurisdiction, and to
adopt the necessary legislation to make this possible. The Committee considers that the
application of article 14 is not limited to victims who were harmed in the territory of the
State party or by or against nationals of the State party. The Committee has commended the
efforts of States parties for providing civil remedies for victims who were subjected to
torture or ill-treatment outside their territory. This is particularly important when a victim is
unable to exercise the rights guaranteed under article 14 in the territory where the violation
took place. Indeed, article 14 requires States parties to ensure that all victims of torture and
ill-treatment are able to access remedy and obtain redress.
Effective mechanisms for complaints and investigations
23.
The Committee has, in its concluding observations, identified other State obligations
that shall be met in order to ensure that the article 14 rights of a victim are fully respected.
In this regard, the Committee underscores the important relationship between States parties’
fulfilment of their obligations under article 12 and 13, and their obligation under article 14.
According to article 12, States parties shall undertake prompt, effective and impartial
investigations, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been
committed in any territory under its jurisdiction as the result of its actions or omissions and,
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