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Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The non-derogability of the prohibition of torture is underscored by the long-standing principle embodied in article 2, paragraph 3, that an order of a superior or public authority can never be invoked as a justification of torture Thus, subordinates may not seek refuge in superior authority and should be held to account individually. At the same time, those exercising superior authority - including public officials - cannot avoid accountability or escape criminal responsibility for torture or ill-treatment committed by subordinates where they knew or should have known that such impermissible conduct was occurring, or was likely to occur, and they failed to take reasonable and necessary preventive measures. The Committee considers it essential that the responsibility of any superior officials, whether for direct instigation or encouragement of torture or ill-treatment or for consent or acquiescence therein, be fully investigated through competent, independent and impartial prosecutorial and judicial authorities. Persons who resist what they view as unlawful orders or who cooperate in the investigation of torture or ill-treatment, including by superior officials, should be protected against retaliation of any kind.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Satisfaction should include, by way of and in addition to the obligations of investigation and criminal prosecution under articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, any or all of the following remedies: effective measures aimed at the cessation of continuing violations; verification of the facts and full and public disclosure of the truth to the extent that such disclosure does not cause further harm or threaten the safety and interests of the victim, the victim's relatives, witnesses, or persons who have intervened to assist the victim or prevent the occurrence of further violations; the search for the whereabouts of the disappeared, for the identities of the children abducted, and for the bodies of those killed, and assistance in the recovery, identification, and reburial of victims' bodies in accordance with the expressed or presumed wish of the victims or affected families; an official declaration or judicial decision restoring the dignity, the reputation and the rights of the victim and of persons closely connected with the victim; judicial and administrative sanctions against persons liable for the violations; public apologies, including acknowledgement of the facts and acceptance of responsibility; commemorations and tributes to the victims.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Article 2, paragraph 1, requires that each State party shall take effective measures to prevent acts of torture not only in its sovereign territory but also "in any territory under its jurisdiction." The Committee has recognized that "any territory" includes all areas where the State party exercises, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, de jure or de facto effective control, in accordance with international law. The reference to "any territory" in article 2, like that in articles 5, 11, 12, 13 and 16, refers to prohibited acts committed not only on board a ship or aircraft registered by a State party, but also during military occupation or peacekeeping operations and in such places as embassies, military bases, detention facilities, or other areas over which a State exercises factual or effective control. The Committee notes that this interpretation reinforces article 5, paragraph 1 (b), which requires that a State party must take measures to exercise jurisdiction "when the alleged offender is a national of the State." The Committee considers that the scope of "territory" under article 2 must also include situations where a State party exercises, directly or indirectly, de facto or de jure control over persons in detention.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 46j
- Paragraph text
- [On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties' reports. Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be provided on the following:] The legislation and policy measures designed to positively identify victims of torture in order to provide them with redress.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 46i
- Paragraph text
- [On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties' reports. Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be provided on the following:] The measures taken by States parties to ensure that all allegations of torture and ill-treatment are effectively investigated.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 46g
- Paragraph text
- [On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties' reports. Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be provided on the following:] The measures taken to ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment are able to exercise and enjoy their rights under article 14.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- 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, as set out in article 13 and affirmed by the Committee in its general comment No. 2, ensure that impartial and effective complaints mechanisms are established. Full redress cannot be obtained if the obligations under articles 12 and 13 are not guaranteed. Complaints mechanisms shall be made known and accessible to the public, including to persons deprived of their liberty, whether in detention, psychiatric facilities, or elsewhere, via, for example, telephone hotlines or confidential complaints boxes in detention facilities, and to persons belonging to vulnerable or marginalized groups, including those who may have limited communication abilities.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Where State authorities or others acting in their official capacity have committed, know or have reasonable grounds to believe that acts of torture or ill-treatment have been committed by non-State officials or private actors and failed to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish such non-State officials or private actors in accordance with the Convention, the State bears responsibility for providing redress for the victims (general comment No. 2).
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The State party should also take measures to prevent interference with victims' privacy and to protect victims, their families and witnesses and others who have intervened on their behalf against intimidation and retaliation at all times before, during and after judicial, administrative or other proceedings that affect the interests of victims. Failure to provide protection stands in the way of victims filing complaints and thereby violates the right to seek and obtain redress and remedy.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- A State's failure to investigate, criminally prosecute, or to allow civil proceedings related to allegations of acts of torture in a prompt manner, may constitute a de facto denial of redress and thus constitute a violation of the State's obligations under article 14.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- 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.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- This general comment explains and clarifies to States parties the content and scope of the obligations under article 14 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Each State party is required to "ensure in its legal system that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible." The Committee considers that article 14 is applicable to all victims of torture and acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (hereafter "ill-treatment") without discrimination of any kind, in line with the Committee's general comment No. 2.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Additionally, if a person is to be transferred or sent to the custody or control of an individual or institution known to have engaged in torture or ill-treatment, or has not implemented adequate safeguards, the State is responsible, and its officials subject to punishment for ordering, permitting or participating in this transfer contrary to the State's obligation to take effective measures to prevent torture in accordance with article 2, paragraph 1. The Committee has expressed its concern when States parties send persons to such places without due process of law as required by articles 2 and 3.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The Committee observes that States parties are obligated to adopt effective measures to prevent public authorities and other persons acting in an official capacity from directly committing, instigating, inciting, encouraging, acquiescing in or otherwise participating or being complicit in acts of torture as defined in the Convention. Thus, States parties should adopt effective measures to prevent such authorities or others acting in an official capacity or under colour of law, from consenting to or acquiescing in any acts of torture. The Committee has concluded that States parties are in violation of the Convention when they fail to fulfil these obligations. For example, where detention centres are privately owned or run, the Committee considers that personnel are acting in an official capacity on account of their responsibility for carrying out the State function without derogation of the obligation of State officials to monitor and take all effective measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Certain basic guarantees apply to all persons deprived of their liberty. Some of these are specified in the Convention, and the Committee consistently calls upon States parties to use them. The Committee's recommendations concerning effective measures aim to clarify the current baseline and are not exhaustive. Such guarantees include, inter alia, maintaining an official register of detainees, the right of detainees to be informed of their rights, the right promptly to receive independent legal assistance, independent medical assistance, and to contact relatives, the need to establish impartial mechanisms for inspecting and visiting places of detention and confinement, and the availability to detainees and persons at risk of torture and ill-treatment of judicial and other remedies that will allow them to have their complaints promptly and impartially examined, to defend their rights, and to challenge the legality of their detention or treatment.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Through review of successive reports from States parties, the examination of individual communications, and monitoring of developments, the Committee has, in its concluding observations, articulated its understanding of what constitute effective measures, highlights of which we set forth here. In terms of both the principles of general application of article 2 and developments that build upon specific articles of the Convention, the Committee has recommended specific actions designed to enhance each State party's ability swiftly and effectively to implement measures necessary and appropriate to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment and thereby assist States parties in bringing their law and practice into full compliance with the Convention.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- By defining the offence of torture as distinct from common assault or other crimes, the Committee considers that States parties will directly advance the Convention's overarching aim of preventing torture and ill-treatment. Naming and defining this crime will promote the Convention's aim, inter alia, by alerting everyone, including perpetrators, victims, and the public, to the special gravity of the crime of torture. Codifying this crime will also (a) emphasize the need for appropriate punishment that takes into account the gravity of the offence, (b) strengthen the deterrent effect of the prohibition itself, (c) enhance the ability of responsible officials to track the specific crime of torture and (d) enable and empower the public to monitor and, when required, to challenge State action as well as State inaction that violates the Convention.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The Committee also understands that the concept of "any territory under its jurisdiction," linked as it is with the principle of non-derogability, includes any territory or facilities and must be applied to protect any person, citizen or non-citizen without discrimination subject to the de jure or de facto control of a State party. The Committee emphasizes that the State's obligation to prevent torture also applies to all persons who act, de jure or de facto, in the name of, in conjunction with, or at the behest of the State party. It is a matter of urgency that each State party should closely monitor its officials and those acting on its behalf and should identify and report to the Committee any incidents of torture or ill-treatment as a consequence of anti-terrorism measures, among others, and the measures taken to investigate, punish, and prevent further torture or ill-treatment in the future, with particular attention to the legal responsibility of both the direct perpetrators and officials in the chain of command, whether by acts of instigation, consent or acquiescence.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The Committee reminds all States parties to the Convention of the non-derogable nature of the obligations undertaken by them in ratifying the Convention. In the aftermath of the attacks of 11 September 2001, the Committee specified that the obligations in articles 2 (whereby "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever…may be invoked as a justification of torture"), 15 (prohibiting confessions extorted by torture being admitted in evidence, except against the torturer), and 16 (prohibiting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) are three such provisions that "must be observed in all circumstances". The Committee considers that articles 3 to 15 are likewise obligatory as applied to both torture and ill-treatment. The Committee recognizes that States parties may choose the measures through which they fulfill these obligations, so long as they are effective and consistent with the object and purpose of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 2 by States parties 2008, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- States parties are obligated to eliminate any legal or other obstacles that impede the eradication of torture and ill-treatment; and to take positive effective measures to ensure that such conduct and any recurrences thereof are effectively prevented. States parties also have the obligation continually to keep under review and improve their national laws and performance under the Convention in accordance with the Committee's concluding observations and views adopted on individual communications. If the measures adopted by the State party fail to accomplish the purpose of eradicating acts of torture, the Convention requires that they be revised and/or that new, more effective measures be adopted. Likewise, the Committee's understanding of and recommendations in respect of effective measures are in a process of continual evolution, as, unfortunately, are the methods of torture and ill-treatment.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2008
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 46l
- Paragraph text
- [On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties' reports. Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be provided on the following:] The legal aid and witness protection available to victims of torture or ill-treatment as well as witnesses and others who have intervened on behalf of victims, including how such protection is made known and how it is made available in practice; the number of victims who have been granted legal aid; the number of persons who have been protected by State witness protection; and the State party's evaluation of the effectiveness of such protection.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 46k
- Paragraph text
- [On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties' reports. Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be provided on the following:] The available avenues for a victim of torture or ill-treatment to obtain redress, including all criminal, civil, administrative and non-judicial procedures, such as administrative reparation programmes, as well as information on the number of victims who have accessed such mechanisms, how many obtained redress and reparative measures, and in what forms and/or amounts.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 46h
- Paragraph text
- [On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties' reports. Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be provided on the following:] The complaints mechanisms available for victims of torture or ill-treatment, including how such mechanisms are made known and accessible to all victims. States parties should also include data disaggregated by age, gender, nationality, location and alleged violation, on the number of complaints received through such mechanisms.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has consistently held that amnesties for the crime of torture are incompatible with the obligations of States parties under the Convention, including under article 14. As was pointed out in general comment No. 2, "amnesties or other impediments which preclude or indicate unwillingness to provide prompt and fair prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment violate the principle of non-derogability." The Committee considers that amnesties for torture and ill-treatment pose impermissible obstacles to a victim in his or her efforts to obtain redress and contribute to a climate of impunity. The Committee therefore calls on States parties to remove any amnesties for torture or ill-treatment.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The Committee highlights the importance of the State party affirmatively ensuring that victims and their families are adequately informed of their right to pursue redress. In this regard, the procedures for seeking reparation should be transparent. The State party should moreover provide assistance and support to minimize the hardship to complainants and their representatives. Civil proceedings, or other proceedings, should not impose a financial burden upon victims that would prevent or discourage them from seeking redress. Where existing civil proceedings are unable to provide adequate redress to victims, the Committee recommends implementing mechanisms that are readily accessible to victims of torture and ill-treatment, including the establishment of a national fund to provide redress for victims of torture. Special measures should be adopted to ensure access by persons belonging to groups which have been marginalized or made vulnerable.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of article 14 by States parties 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Securing the victim's right to redress requires that a State party's competent authorities promptly, effectively and impartially investigate and examine the case of any individual who alleges that she or he has been subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Such an investigation should include as a standard measure an independent physical and psychological forensic examination as provided for in the Istanbul Protocol. Undue delays in initiating or concluding legal investigations into complaints of torture or ill-treatment compromise victims' rights under article 14 to obtain redress, including fair and adequate compensation and the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.
- Body
- Committee against Torture
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
26 shown of 26 entities