CAT/C/COL/CO/4
Committee is concerned that these practices result in a serious under-recording of cases of
torture and entail impunity for the said crimes (articles 1, 2 and 4 of the Convention).
The State party should adopt the necessary measures to ensure that crimes of torture
are prosecuted as a separate offence and that the charge corresponds to the serious
nature of the crime, and should not allow cases of torture to be subsumed under other
related offences. Similarly, there is a need to ensure that acts of torture are not
defined in terms of a less serious offence, such as the infliction of personal injury. The
Committee recommends strengthening the training of prosecutors to ensure that
torture is prosecuted in a manner consistent with the State party’s international
obligations.
Complaints of torture and impunity
11.
While there has been an overall reduction in the number of complaints of torture
since the last periodic review in 2004, the Committee is concerned that the incidence of
torture in the State party remains high and shows specific patterns that point to widespread
practice. The Committee notes that, while illegal armed groups are to a large extent
responsible for such violence, there are persistent complaints about the participation or
acquiescence of agents of the State in these acts. The Committee is particularly concerned
at reports indicating an increased number of cases in which direct involvement by agents of
the State is alleged. It also expresses grave concern at the persistence of serious violations
linked to torture, such as extrajudicial execution, forced disappearance, forced
displacement, sexual violation and the recruitment of children in the context of armed
conflict, and at the vulnerable situation of certain groups such as women, children, ethnic
minorities, displaced persons, the prison population and LGBT persons (art. 2 of the
Convention).
12.
Despite the initiatives of the State party to counter impunity, the Committee finds it
to be prevalent in the State party. The Committee expresses serious concern at the lack of
reliable information on cases of torture and the stage of proceedings they have reached. It is
also concerned at the absence of criminal investigations by the Office of the Public
Prosecutor of the Nation, the fact that few cases have come to trial and that not all the cases
concerned have been referred to the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
Unit. It is a matter of concern to the Committee that cases of torture continue to be
investigated only by administrative, disciplinary or military, rather than criminal
jurisdictions. The Committee is concerned at the discrepancies between the figures
provided by the different entities of the State party concerning the number of cases of
torture and that the lack of a centralized system for compiling data on cases of torture
makes it difficult to be certain how many cases are reported, investigated and punished
(articles 2, 4 and 12 of the Convention).
The Committee calls on the State party to comply with its obligations under the
Convention and to investigate and punish acts of torture with appropriate penalties
which take into account their grave nature. The Committee underlines the
responsibility of the State party for ensuring that investigations are undertaken by the
competent authorities, that the investigation is carried out promptly and impartially
and that these crimes are punished with appropriate penalties which take into account
their grave nature. The Committee urges the State party to allocate additional
resources to the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit in order to
speed up its work and underlines the importance of the cases concerned being
assigned to that Unit. The Committee recommends that the State party establish a
centralized system making it possible to identify all cases of torture and the stage
reached in investigating them.
GE.10-42033
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