CAT/C/LIE/CO/3
(c)
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women in 2001;
5.
(d)
1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 2009;
(e)
1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 2009.
The Committee notes with satisfaction:
(a)
The complete revision of the Execution of Sentences Act of 20 September
2007, which, inter alia, strengthens the legal safeguards relating to the right of sentenced
prisoners to have access to a medical doctor;
(b)
The establishment, under the revised Execution of Sentences Act (2007), in
December 2007 of the Corrections Commission, which is also designated as the national
preventive mechanism of the State party pursuant to its ratification of the Optional
Protocol, and the active role of the State party in the drafting of the Protocol;
(c)
The entry into force of the amended Code of Criminal Procedure on 1
January 2008 which, inter alia, guarantees the rights of all apprehended persons to inform a
relative or another person of trust and a defence lawyer of their arrest and to remain silent.
6.
The Committee further notes with satisfaction:
(a)
The establishment of the Equal Opportunities Commission with its
operational Office of Equal Opportunities, the Ombuds Office for Children and Young
People and the Victims Assistance Office;
(b)
The support by the State party to United Nations mechanisms established to
prevent and eradicate torture and other forms of ill-treatment, including its increased
contribution to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and its support to
the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Definition and offence of torture
7.
The Committee notes with satisfaction the constitutional amendments of 2003,
according to which the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment is an absolute
prohibition and may not be undermined either by law or by emergency decree (art. 10, para.
2, of the Constitution) and of 2005, which prohibits “inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment” (27bis of the Constitution). The Committee also recognizes that, according to
the monist legal system of the State party, the provisions of the Convention have become
part of the domestic law as from the date of ratification. Notwithstanding these provisions,
the Committee firmly believes that the incorporation into the domestic law of the State
party of a distinct crime of torture based on the definition of article 1 of the Convention
would directly advance the Convention’s overarching aim of preventing torture or illtreatment (arts. 1 and 4).
The Committee recommends that the State party incorporate into its domestic
criminal law a distinct crime of torture in strict conformity with article 1 of the
Convention. By naming and defining the offence of torture in accordance with articles
1 and 4 of the Convention and distinct from other crimes, the Committee considers
that States parties will directly advance the Convention’s overarching aim of
preventing torture, inter alia, by alerting everyone, including perpetrators, victims,
and the public, to the special gravity of the crime of torture and by improving the
deterrent effect of the prohibition of torture.
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