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Overview of working methods and vision 2011, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur reiterates that efforts to combat torture require a more victim-centred perspective that seeks an integrated long-term approach to adequate redress and reparation, including compensation and rehabilitation for victims of torture and their families. He recommends that the perspectives of victims of torture be included in the development of programmes and policies aimed at addressing torture. In that respect, the Special Rapporteur reiterates the importance of a victim-centred approach to dealing with victims and survivors of torture. Similarly, he believes that victims have an important role to play as interested parties in holding torturers accountable for their actions. Indeed, the criminal procedures of some States are more hospitable than others to this engagement by victims; nevertheless, without undermining defendants' rights to all guarantees of a fair trial, victims should be allowed to participate actively in attempts to hold torturers accountable. Efforts to provide assistance to victims must seek to recognize and validate the traumatising experience of torture they have suffered, prevent further isolation by reintegrating them into society, and address the fundamental aim of torture which is, often, to isolate and engender fear in victims in order to break their will.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Families
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 51a
- Paragraph text
- [According to the Principles on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the main purposes of effective investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are:] Clarification of the facts and establishment and acknowledgement of individual and State responsibility for victims and their families;
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Commissions of inquiry may satisfy some of the needs of victims for adequate healing and remedy by providing them with a public venue to tell their stories. In this context, commissions of inquiry may also aid in providing closure for family members of victims. Generally speaking, commissions of inquiry also deliver their findings in a timely manner, enhancing the victim-centred approach of this mechanism, especially when compared with judicial proceedings that ordinarily take much longer.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The ultimate aim must be to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment before they occur. There are numerous methods of prevention that have been developed in the past, which, if adequately implemented by States, could easily eradicate torture: abolition of secret and incommunicado detention; proper registration of every detainee from the moment of arrest or apprehension; prompt access to legal counsel within 24 hours; access to relatives; prompt access to an independent judge; presumption of innocence; prompt and independent medical examination of all detainees; video/audio recording of all interrogations; no detention under the control of the interrogators or investigators for more than 48 hours; prompt, impartial and effective investigation of all allegations or suspicions of torture; inadmissibility of evidence obtained under torture; and effective training of all officials involved in the custody, interrogation and medical care of detainees. As previously emphasized by the Special Rapporteur and his predecessors, the most effective preventive measure against torture and ill-treatment is the regular inspection of places of detention. Regular inspections can ensure the adequate implementation of the above-mentioned safeguards against torture, create a strong deterrent effect and provide a means to generate timely and adequate responses to allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the Court repeatedly found States to have violated their duty to protect persons from torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment by, for example, failing to provide an adequate legal framework against rape or to protect applicants from a real and immediate risk of ill-treatment at the hands of an abusive family member.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Torture, ill-treatment and coercion during interviews/ Universal protocol for non-coercive, ethically sound, evidence-based and empirically founded interviewing practices 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In some jurisdictions, structural and resource deficiencies in the criminal justice system create conditions conducive to the proliferation of mistreatment. When Governments do not invest sufficient resources in the administration of justice, judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials lack the necessary training and are overworked, underpaid and more prone to corruption (see A/HRC/13/39/Add.5). Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon for law enforcement officials to resort to torture or threats of torture to extract money from detainees or their relatives during investigations.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The maintenance of an official registry has been and remains one of the fundamental safeguards against torture or other ill-treatment. Although Rule 7 provides for an obligation to ensure proper registration, it lacks a provision obliging strict adherence to registration from the very moment of apprehension and transfer to police custody; the duty to have a comprehensive and accessible record of everyone deprived of liberty (International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, art. 17 (3)); information regarding the time and place of arrest as well as the identity of the arresting officials; the state of health upon arrival at the detention centre; and records of when the next of kin and a lawyer were contacted and visited the detainee. It also lacks a provision requiring accurate information about the custody and whereabouts of persons, including transfers, available promptly to the detainee, his or her relatives and his or her counsel (Body of Principles, principle 12), as well as registration of information on the circumstances of death of prisoners and the location of their remains (International Convention on Enforced Disappearance, art. 17 (3) (g)). Furthermore, Rule 7 (2), which obliges prison authorities to not receive a person in an institution without a valid commitment order, should be revised. The detainee should be admitted into a lawful place of detention and the person in charge of that institution is responsible for admitting the person concerned and immediately notifying a judge.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 2012, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Accordingly, in Bader and Kanbor v. Sweden (2005), the European Court of Human Rights held that the applicant had a justified and well-founded fear that the death sentence imposed on him after an unfair trial would be enforced if he were compelled to return to his home country, and that since executions were carried out without any public scrutiny or accountability, the surrounding circumstances would inevitably cause him considerable fear and anguish. The Court concluded that the death sentence imposed following an unfair trial would cause the applicant and his family additional fear and anguish as to their future if they were forced to return to the Syrian Arab Republic and, accordingly, would give rise to a violation of articles 2 and 3 (referring to the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention. In Ocalan v. Turkey (2005), the European Court held that the fear and uncertainty about the future generated by a death sentence, when a real possibility existed that the sentence would be enforced, inevitably caused strong human anguish. Such anguish could not be disassociated from the unfairness of the proceedings underlying the sentence, which, given that human life was at stake, became unlawful under the Convention. Consequently, the imposition of the death sentence following an unfair trial by a court whose independence and impartiality were open to doubt was held to amount to inhuman treatment, in violation of article 3 of the European Convention.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Overview of main observations of five years fact-finding and research 2010, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In practice, the right to a remedy and adequate reparation for victims of torture is either non-existent or severely limited, and adequate reparation is almost never provided. In addition, a common problem is that victims and relatives of victims often do not enjoy legal standing in relation to allegations of torture and are therefore prevented from claiming reparation. If at all, medical, psychological and social rehabilitation is usually not provided by Governments responsible for the torture inflicted but by private organizations, usually in the countries that granted asylum to the 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
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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. 26
- Paragraph text
- Where the deprivation of liberty of a child can be justified as necessary, limited and consistent with the best interests of the child, the child must be treated with humanity and respect for his or her inherent dignity and in a manner that takes into account the needs of persons of their age and maturity. The Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies that the right to be confined in an age-appropriate manner includes, in particular, the right to be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so, and the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances. Article 40 (1) of the Convention emphasizes this principle with regard to children in conflict with the law by adding the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and assumption of a constructive role in society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Most existing torture rehabilitation centres are private, founded by physicians, psychologists, family members of victims and other concerned individuals or groups in response to the failure of Governments to ensure that victims of torture receive the necessary treatment. Torture rehabilitation centres fill a gap and provide highly specialized medical and psychosocial care to those in need. Member organizations of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, the umbrella organization of 146 rehabilitation centres worldwide, provided treatment to more than 100,000 survivors of torture and trauma in 2009 alone. In the same year, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture provided grants to 195 projects in 65 countries, for a total amount of 10 million United States dollars to support victims 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
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Studies suggest that up to 80 per cent of women in prison are mothers. Many female prisoners are single mothers or primary caregivers, and imprisonment can result in considerable hardship for their children. Contact between detained mothers and their children is often difficult due to the remote location of female prisons. Concern about their children is a primary factor leading to the high incidence of mental health problems and self-harm among female detainees. The Bangkok Rules require that parental and child-caring responsibilities be taken into account in the allocation and sentence-planning processes. The best interests of the child, including the need to maintain direct contact with the mother, must be carefully and independently considered by competent professionals and taken into account in all decisions pertaining to detention, including pretrial detention, sentencing and the placement of the child (CRC/C/THA/CO/2).
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
12 shown of 12 entities