CAT/C/CR/34/CHE
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(e)
No complete or disaggregated statistical information exists encompassing all
cantons as to the number of:
(i)
Complaints received of cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment and ill-treatment;
(ii)
Persons granted asylum on the basis of having been victims of, or in
danger of being subjected to, torture;
(iii)
Persons (victims or their families) having received compensation for cases
of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
(f)
In spite of the increase in number of complaints filed against the police, often by
persons of foreign origin, for ill-treatment, only a minority of these complaints result in
prosecutions or indictments, and even fewer cases result in compensation for the victims or their
families;
(g)
All but one canton have failed to establish machinery to receive complaints
against members of the police regarding allegations of torture or ill-treatment during arrest,
questioning and police custody, in spite of a previous recommendation of the Committee in this
regard;
(h)
Changes have been introduced by the revised law on asylum which restrict or
aggravate asylum-seekers’ access to legal counsel and the length and conditions of detention in
“preparatory” or pre-deportation detention. The Committee is also concerned that in cases of
non-entry decisions (décision de non-entrée en matière) the social benefits of asylum-seekers are
being curtailed significantly;
(i)
Asylum-seekers retained at airports are not consistently being informed of their
right to walk and exercise regularly in the fresh air as well as to request medical assistance;
(j)
The “guidelines relating to forcible deportations by air” do not contain an explicit
ban on the wearing of masks or hoods by officers involved in the deportations.
D. Recommendations
5.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Include an explicit definition of torture in the Criminal Code, incorporating all
elements contained in article 1 of the Convention;
(b)
Undertake efforts to encourage the successful outcome of the ongoing
consultations on the draft federal law regulating the use of force by police during deportations
and during the transport of detainees ordered by a federal authority regarding the ban on the use
of electro-shock instruments. The State party should also ensure that independent human rights
observers and/or doctors be present during all forced removals by air. It should also offer, as a
routine practice, medical examinations both before forced removals by air and, in the case of
abortive attempts, thereafter;