CAT/C/BEN/CO/3 (c) Act No. 2012-15 of 18 March 2013 (Code of Criminal Procedure); (d) Act No. 2012-36 of 15 February 2013 on the establishment of the Benin Human Rights Commission; (e) mutilation; Act No. 2003-07 of 3 March 2003 on the suppression of female genital (f) Act No. 2015-08 of 8 December 2015 (Children’s Code); (g) Act No. 2016-12 of 16 June 2016 on community service; (h) Act No. 2018-16 of 4 June 2018 (Criminal Code); (i) Decree No. 2018-043 of 15 February 2018 on the commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment. C. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations Pending follow-up issues from the previous reporting cycle 5. Notwithstanding the late information received in response to the list of issues, the Committee regrets that the State party did not provide, as part of the follow-up procedure, the information requested in its previous concluding observations (CAT/C/BEN/CO/2, para. 33) on: (a) the necessary review of the draft Criminal Code and the draft Code of Criminal Procedure, both now adopted; (b) the adoption of a legislative framework regulating expulsion, refoulement and extradition; (c) fundamental safeguards; (d) the administration of justice; (e) the age of criminal responsibility of minors; (f) universal jurisdiction; (g) the monitoring of places of detention; and (h) conditions of detention. These subjects are covered in the present concluding observations, in paragraphs 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 23 and 25 below. Definition of torture 6. In the light of the recommendations made in its previous concluding observations (para. 7), the Committee welcomes the adoption of Act No. 2018-16 (Criminal Code), which includes a definition of torture and characterizes it as an independent offence in article 523 and addresses the offence from an international humanitarian law perspective in article 465. However, the Committee notes a number of lacunae in these provisions, which: (a) do not cover situations where an act of torture is committed on the instigation or with the express or tacit consent of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity; (b) do not cover complicity in torture or attempts to commit torture; (c) do not provide for the criminal responsibility of superior officers who are aware of acts of torture or illtreatment committed by their subordinates; (d) do not exclude acts of torture from the scope of amnesties and statutes of limitation; (e) fail to specify that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever may be invoked as a justification for torture; and (f) incorporate, in articles 541 to 543, the exceptions for homicide, injuries and beatings ordered in accordance with the law and by command of a legitimate authority or committed in legitimate self-defence without excluding acts of torture from the scope of the exceptions. Lastly, the Committee is concerned about the lenient penalties established for offences of torture (arts. 1, 2 and 4). 7. While welcoming the State party’s undertaking to address the lacunae cited above, the Committee urges it to amend its Criminal Code to bring the definition of the offence of torture fully into line with articles 1, 2 and 4 of the Convention. The State party should also ensure that offences of torture cannot be time barred, are excluded from amnesties and are punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature, in accordance with article 4 (2) of the Convention. Inadmissibility of confessions obtained under torture 8. Although the State party has provided a general assurance that evidence obtained illegally is not admitted by the courts, the Committee regrets that there are no legal provisions expressly prohibiting the use of torture and ill-treatment to obtain confessions. 2 GE.19-08899

Select target paragraph3