CAT/C/BGD/CO/1 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Distr.: General 26 August 2019 Original: English Committee against Torture Concluding observations on the initial report of Bangladesh* 1. The Committee against Torture considered the initial report of Bangladesh (CAT/C/BGD/1) at its 1769th and 1771st meetings, held on 30 and 31 July 2019 (CAT/C/SR.1769 and CAT/C/SR.1771), and adopted the following concluding observations at its 1781st and 1782nd meetings (CAT/C/SR.1781 and CAT/C/SR.1782) held on 8 August 2019. A. Introduction 2. Bangladesh acceded to the Convention on 5 October 1998. According to article 19, paragraph 1, of the Convention it was obliged to submit its initial report by 4 November 1999. From 2000 to 2018, Bangladesh was included in the list of States parties with overdue reports in the Committee’s annual report, submitted to the States parties and the General Assembly. By a letter dated 10 December 2018, the Committee reminded the State party about its overdue initial report and about the possibility for the Committee to proceed with a review in the absence of such a report. On 16 January 2019, the State party informed the Committee that it would prepare and send it its initial report. On 18 January 2019, the Chair of the Committee indicated on which dates its initial report would be considered. The constructive dialogue with the delegation of the State party took place on 30 and 31 July 2019. The State party’s initial report was received on 23 July 2019. 3. The Committee regrets that the submission of the State party’s initial report was 20 years late and was received only one week prior to the date of its consideration. It welcomes, however, the constructive dialogue with the State party’s delegation and the oral and written replies provided to the Committee. B. Positive aspects 4. The Committee welcomes the State party’s accession to and ratification of the following international human rights instruments: (a) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in 1998; (b) Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in 1998; (c) Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages of 1962, in 1998; (d) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in 2000; * Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-seventh session (22 July–9 August 2019). GE.19-14474(E) 

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