United Nations – Press Release – 19 May 2005 – link
The Committee against Torture this afternoon exchanged views with representatives of States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Representatives of more than 50 States parties were present to express their views on the working methods of the Committee and new procedures like following up on the implementation of the recommendations on individual communications and preparing lists of issues which were sent to States parties preparing reports.
United Nations – Press Release – 19 May 2005 – link
The Committee against Torture this afternoon exchanged views with representatives of States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Representatives of more than 50 States parties were present to express their views on the working methods of the Committee and new procedures like following up on the implementation of the recommendations on individual communications and preparing lists of issues which were sent to States parties preparing reports.
Committee Chairperson Fernando Mariña Menendez underlined that the views of the States parties would help the Committee to improve its working methods. He noted that the Committee had a backlog of 29 reports.
Other Committee members said that since the Committee had held a similar meeting with States parties in May 2003, the Committee had introduced a procedure to follow-up on the implementation of recommendations on individual communications. So far, 16 States parties had been concerned by this procedure and six of them had responded.
One Expert said that the follow-up included visits to States parties. The annual report also included the detailed responses by States parties on cases under article 22 of the Convention, according to which States parties recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and examine communications from individuals claiming to be victims of torture. The Committee had so far received 264 cases against 22 countries and it had found that States had violated the Convention in 27 cases.
Several Experts said that since the introduction of the procedure to send lists of issues to States parties, the Committee’s workload had increased. However, a number of representatives of States parties supported the initiative, saying that it would help them in their efforts to introduce their reports to the Committee. They requested the Committee to send the list of issues well in advance so that they would have ample time to prepare the responses.
Asked why the Committee had adopted only one General Comment during its 21-year existence, Experts said that the Committee had issued a General Comment on article 3 of the Convention and it was preparing another on article 2 (1). On the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Experts said the Committee had also introduced a new procedure in which it heard from NGOs on the day before considering the report of a State party. The information provided by the NGOs was shared with the concerned States parties.
The representatives of the following countries took the floor: Switzerland, China, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Argentina, Bahrain, France, the United Kingdom, Chile, Mexico, the Netherlands and Austria.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday 20 May, it will release its final conclusions and recommendations on the reports which it has considered during this session. It will also adopt its annual report and programme of work for future sessions before adjourning the session.