CAT/C/DEU/CO/6
12 of the guidelines on national preventive mechanisms issued by the Subcommittee
on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.
15.
The Committee is also concerned that the National Agency is only given authority to
publish the names of the State-funded institutions that are visited, which impairs its work
and reduces its effectiveness, as many institutions, such as homes for older persons and
psychiatric hospitals, are privately run (arts. 2 and 11).
16.
The Committee also recommends that the National Agency be given authority
to publish the names of the privately run institutions that are visited, as well as the
visit reports and respective statements made by the competent ministries.
German Institute for Human Rights
17.
While welcoming the establishment of the German Institute for Human Rights as the
State party’s national human rights institution in accordance with the principles relating to
the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the
Paris Principles), the Committee regrets that the Institute is not designated to monitor
compliance with the Convention by the State party (art. 2).
18.
The State party should invite the German Institute for Human Rights to ensure
that compliance with the Convention is monitored and evaluated, including by
following up on the concluding observations of the Committee.
International judicial cooperation
19.
The Committee is seriously concerned that with regard to persons suspected of
crimes of torture in the Colonia Dignidad case in Chile, the State party refuses to extradite
them, but is also reluctant to investigate these allegations and prosecute those responsible,
on the grounds that the crimes committed in the Colonia Dignidad are barred by the statute
of limitations provided for in the criminal law. The Committee is concerned that this
situation will give rise to impunity (arts. 5 and 7).
20.
The State party should either extradite alleged perpetrators of torture and illtreatment to a State with jurisdiction over the offence or to an international criminal
tribunal, according to its international obligations, or prosecute them, in compliance
with the provisions of the Convention.
21.
The Committee welcomes the increasingly important role played by the war crimes
unit of the Federal Criminal Police Office, and its expansion in 2018. The Committee takes
positive note that the unit is currently conducting criminal investigations in 80 cases and
has issued 15 arrest warrants, and that 4 of its investigations have led to the conviction of
perpetrators by courts, including of two Rwandan citizens for war crimes and crimes
against humanity. The Committee regrets the lack of information provided by the State
party on the proceedings against alleged perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against
humanity in the context of the armed conflicts in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic.
22.
The State party should ensure the exercise of universal jurisdiction over
persons responsible for acts of torture, including by seeking extradition. It should also
provide information to the Committee on instances in which the Convention has been
invoked in judicial decisions regarding extradition and universal jurisdiction, in
accordance with article 5 of the Convention.
Non-refoulement
23.
The Committee reiterates its concern, as expressed in its previous concluding
observations (CAT/C/DEU/CO/5, para. 25), that the State party continues to carry out
extradition and deportation on the basis of diplomatic assurances provided by the country of
origin, as those assurances may not guarantee that the individual would not be subjected to
torture and ill-treatment if returned (art. 3).
24.
The State party should refrain from seeking and accepting diplomatic
assurances, both in the context of extradition and deportation, from States where
4