A/HRC/43/49/Add.1
members, and in the Constitutional referendum of July 2018, the Commission was
abolished altogether.4
16.
In 2018 a presidential decree abrogated the Constitutional Court. Its dissolution
eliminated a jurisdiction that had operated as a check and balance to the executive power
that had existed in the Constitution of 2001–2009, prior to the amended Constitution of
2018.
C.
Definition of torture
17.
The Comoros has an overlapping system of both Union (national) law and Island
(provincial) law. There is no national legislation or draft law aimed at criminalizing torture.
However, pursuant to the Constitution, all international treaties ratified by the Government
are an integral part of national legislation and can theoretically be invoked in court. This
includes the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment and its definition of torture as given in article 1.
18.
The Constitution of the Comoros has been in force since 23 December 2001, with
subsequent amendments. The Constitution and laws prohibit such practices as torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
III. Assessment of the situation
19.
In 1975, the Comoros emerged from its colonial past. Until the constitutional
referendum of 2018, the Presidency had rotated every five years between the State’s three
islands, namely Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli. The Constitution was amended in
2018, effectively removing the provisions guaranteeing a Presidency rotating among the
three islands (la tournante) and now allowing the elected President to hold office for two
consecutive terms.
20.
In 2019, President Assoumani was re-elected, which sparked mass protests among
opposition groups, in particular on the island of Anjouan, which, under the Constitution
from before 2018, had been scheduled to hold the next Presidency. These protests were
quelled by the Government, mainly through arrests and intimidation and further restrictions
on freedoms of expression and association. Several persons were deprived of their liberty
for political reasons (former President Sambi, the former Governor of Anjouan and several
detainees in Moroni Prison are detained on charges of involvement in an attempted coup
d’état).
21.
This appears to have had a chilling effect on civil society, as the Special Rapporteur
observed an atmosphere of fear and tension when meeting with civil society representatives.
It was also evident during meetings with government officials, including high-level
ministers, that all decisions came from the Office of the President. There seems to be little
room in Comorian society to discuss civil or political rights, and doing so may well result
in the deprivation of liberty and the risk of torture or ill-treatment.
A.
Allegations of torture and ill-treatment
1.
Gendarmerie and police force
22.
The gendarmerie reports to the Minister of Defence (and when the gendarmerie
serves as the judicial police, it reports to the Ministry of Justice). The National Directorate
of Territorial Safety oversees the national police force, while the National Police
Intervention Unit is an elite police force under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior.
4
4
United States of America, Department of State, “2018 country reports on human rights practices:
Comoros”. Available at www.state.gov/reports/2018-country-reports-on-human-rightspractices/comoros/.