CAT/C/SYR/CO/1
procedures contrary to published laws and in violation of the Convention. The Committee
is also gravely concerned at the absence of systematic registration of all detainees in places
of detention under the State party’s jurisdiction (arts. 2, 12 and 13).
The State party should:
(a)
Unambiguously reaffirm the absolute prohibition of torture and publicly
condemn practices of torture, especially by the police and prison personnel,
accompanied by a clear warning that anyone committing such acts, or otherwise
complicit or participating in torture will be held personally responsible before the law
for such acts and will be subject to criminal prosecution and appropriate penalties;
(b)
In order to combat impunity, immediately adopt all necessary measures
to ensure, in practice, prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all
allegations of torture, and should prosecute and punish those responsible, including
law enforcement and investigation officials, with penalties taking into account the
grave nature of torture offences. Investigations should be undertaken by a fully
independent body;
(c)
Ensure that all persons detained are fully and promptly registered at the
place of detention, as one measure to prevent acts of torture. Registration should
contain the identity of the detainee, the date, time and place of the detention, the
identity of the authority that detained the person, the ground for the detention, the
date and time of admission to the detention facility and the state of health of the
detainee upon admission and any changes thereto, the time and place of
interrogations, with the names of all interrogators present, as well as the date and
time of release or transfer to another detention facility.
8.
The Committee is deeply concerned at numerous reports of torture, ill-treatment,
death in custody and incommunicado detention of people belonging to the Kurdish
minority, in large part stateless, in particular political activists of Kurdish origins. The
Committee is further concerned that convictions of some Kurdish detainees pronounced by
military courts have been passed on vague charges of “weakening national sentiment” or
“spreading false or exaggerated information”. Moreover, the Committee notes with concern
reports of a growing trend of deaths of Kurdish conscripts who have died while carrying out
their mandatory military service and whose bodies were returned to the families with
evidence of severe injuries (arts. 1, 2, 12 and 16).
The State party should take urgent measures to ensure prompt, thorough, impartial
and effective investigation into all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, death in
custody, death during military service and incommunicado detention of people
belonging to the Kurdish minority, in particular of political activists of Kurdish
origins, and to prosecute and punish law enforcement, security, intelligence and
prison officials who carried out, ordered or acquiesced in such practices.
Furthermore, the State party should amend or abolish the vague security provisions
under the Syrian Criminal Code that unlawfully restrict the right to freedom of
expression, association or assembly.
Fundamental legal safeguards from the outset of detention
9.
While noting that Prison Regulation No. 1222 guarantees the right of prisoners to
communicate with their lawyers and family members as well as visiting rights, the
Committee is seriously concerned that in practice these provisions do not provide all
detainees with all fundamental legal safeguards and that they are not applied from the very
outset of the detention. Such legal safeguards comprise the right of detainees to have
prompt access to a lawyer and an independent medical examination, to notify a relative, to
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