COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE CONCLUDES FIFTIETH SESSION

The Committee against Torture today concluded its fiftieth session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Bolivia, Estonia, Guatemala, Japan, Kenya, Mauritania, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the country reports will be available on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights this afternoon.

In its concluding meeting, the Committee also adopted on its annual report to the United Nations General Assembly orally presented by Nora Sveaass, Committee Rapporteur, and its programme of work for future sessions.

In addition to the consideration of country reports during this session, the Committee marked its twenty-fifth anniversary by holding two panel discussions on 7 May, focused on the identification of its main achievements and challenges, and on the obligations of States parties with regards to redress for victims of torture, in light of the Committee’s General Comment 3 on Article 14 of the Convention against Torture.

The Committee also met with the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture to discuss areas of collaboration between the two bodies and its President, Malcolm Evans, presented the Subcommittee’s annual report. The Committee also held a meeting with States parties to exchange views on the activities of the Committee and developments in its methods of work. In a meeting with non-governmental organizations, the Committee discussed ways to enhance cooperation in the implementation of the Convention.

In closed meetings, the Committee also considered information appearing to contain well-founded indications that torture was systematically practised in some States parties; and met separately with the delegation of Romania to discuss a delay in the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention and the establishment of its national preventive mechanism.

The next session of the Committee against Torture will be held from 28 October to 22 November 2013, during which it will review the reports of Andorra, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mozambique, Poland, Portugal, and Uzbekistan. More information on the session can be found at the following link.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CAT13/016E