A/HRC/37/50
I.
Introduction
1.
The present report has been prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution
34/19.
II.
Activities relating to the Mandate
2.
Throughout 2017, the Special Rapporteur participated in a number of thematic
consultations, workshops and events on torture in the context of migration, disability-specific
forms of deprivation of liberty, extra-custodial use of force and on procedural safeguards to
prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
3.
From 28 to 30 August 2017 and from 4 to 6 September 2017, the Special Rapporteur
held expert consultations on the topic of the present report in Geneva and Mexico City, with
the support of the Association for the Prevention of Torture and the Ibero-American
University. A general call for submissions in response to a thematic questionnaire on the
topic of the present report was also opened from 1 to 30 September 2017.
4.
The Special Rapporteur transmitted 137 communications, jointly with other mandates
or individually, on behalf of individuals exposed to torture and other ill-treatment.
5.
The Special Rapporteur conducted a country visit to Serbia and Kosovo1 from 13 to
24 November 2017. The preliminary observations on the visit can be consulted on the official
website of the Special Rapporteur2. The full report will be presented at the 40th session of
the Human Rights Council.
III.
Migration-Related Torture and Ill-Treatment3
A.
Background
6.
Throughout history, people have left their homelands in search of protection, better
lives and new horizons, thus making an invaluable contribution to the human quest for
economic development, social evolution and cultural exchange. While some aspects of
international migration may give rise to serious logistic, humanitarian, demographic,
financial or even security challenges, the phenomenon as a whole is neither a "threat"
requiring military defence, nor a global "state of emergency" justifying derogation from the
applicable normative frameworks, but is a long-standing global governance issue which must
be addressed in full compliance with human rights and the rule of law.
7.
Today, approximately 258 million people, or roughly 3% of the world’s population,
live outside their State of origin or habitual residence and, therefore, can be described as
(international) "migrants", regardless of their personal status or motivation.4 Of these,
approximately 10%, or about 25 million people, have fled their country as refugees, whereas
an additional 40 million people have been forcibly displaced within their countries and may
well become migrants in the future.5 As political, social, economic and environmental factors
continue to drive people away from their homes, these figures are likely to rise.
8.
While the vast majority of migrants move through safe and regular pathways,
increasingly restrictive and obstructive migration laws, policies and practices of States have
1
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3
4
5
Reference to Kosovo shall be understood in full compliance with UNSC Resolution 1244 (1999) and
without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22453&LangID=E
For the purposes of this report, the term "ill-treatment" refers to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment other than torture.
UN_DESA_Population_Division, International_Migration_Report_2017_[Highlights]; WGAD,
Revised_Deliberation_No.5(AdvEditedVersion_07.02.2018),§6; A/69/CRP.1, 23.07.2014, p.4.
See: http://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2016/. See also: A/RES/71/1(19.09.2016), §20.
3