CAT/C/CR/34/FIN
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C. Subjects of concern
4.
The Committee expresses concern that:
(a)
The Committee’s previous recommendations notwithstanding no specific
definition of torture exists in criminal law covering all the constituent elements of article 1 of the
Convention, although torture is prohibited by the new Constitution.
(b)
The “accelerated procedure” under the Aliens Act allows an extremely limited
time for applicants for asylum to have their cases considered thoroughly and to exhaust all lines
of appeal if their application is rejected;
(c)
Despite the safeguards in place, the Parliamentary Ombudsman reported on one
recent case of an asylum-seeker whose application had been rejected and who was subsequently
allegedly subjected to torture in his country of origin;
(d)
Despite the programme of prison renovation currently under way, the practice of
“slopping out”, which continues in some prisons, will not be definitively halted until 2010.
D. Recommendations
5.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Enact specific legislation criminalizing torture in all its forms, as defined in
article 1 of the Convention;
(b)
Review the application of the “accelerated procedure” for consideration of asylum
requests to ensure that applicants have sufficient time to use all available appeal procedures
before irreversible action is taken by the authorities;
(c)
Strengthen the legal safeguards for asylum-seekers to ensure that all asylum
procedures conform to article 3 of the Convention and other international obligations in this
field;
(d)
Complete the process of implementing the suggestions made by the working
group established to look at the situation of Roma in Finnish prisons and all other necessary
measures to improve the situation and welfare of Roma prisoners;
(e)
Consider means of accelerating the prison renovation programme and, in the
interests of improved hygienic conditions, explore additional alternative interim solutions to the
practice of “slopping out”;
(f)
Continue to contribute to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for the Victims of
Torture, as it has done regularly since 1984.