A/HRC/43/49
I. Introduction
1.
The present report was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution
34/19.
II. Activities relating to the mandate
2.
In 2019, the Special Rapporteur transmitted 114 communications, jointly with other
mandate holders or individually, on behalf of individuals exposed to torture and other illtreatment.
3.
Since his previous report to the Human Rights Council in March 2019, the Special
Rapporteur has participated in various consultations, workshops and events on issues
relating to his mandate, the most notable of which are listed below.
4.
On 9 and 10 May 2019, the Special Rapporteur and his medical team conducted a
visit to meet with Julian Assange, detained at Belmarsh prison in London, and with relevant
British authorities, in order to assess Mr. Assange’s state of health and conditions of
detention, as well as alleged risks or torture or ill-treatment arising in relation to his
possible extradition to the United States of America.
5.
On 5 June, the Special Rapporteur participated in a conference on “Effective
multilateralism in the fight against torture: trends in the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) region and the way forward” organized by the OSCE Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Vienna.
6.
From 12 to 15 June, the Special Rapporteur conducted a country visit to Comoros
(A/HRC/43/49/Add.1).
7.
On 26 June, in support of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the
Special Rapporteur co-organized a side event at the forty-first session of the Human Rights
Council on the “Fault lines between non-coercive investigation and psychological torture”.
8.
On 15 October, the Special Rapporteur presented his thematic report (A/74/148) to
the General Assembly on the relevance of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment to the
context of domestic violence.
9.
On 18 October, the Special Rapporteur participated in a high-level conference on
tackling ill-treatment by police, held in Bečići, Montenegro, and organized by the Council
of Europe.
10.
From 17 to 24 November, the Special Rapporteur conducted a country visit to
Maldives. The Special Rapporteur issued extensive preliminary observations after the visit
and will present his report to the Human Rights Council in March 2021.
III. Psychological torture
A.
Background
11.
The universal prohibition of torture is recognized to be of an absolute, nonderogable and peremptory character and has been restated in numerous international
instruments of human rights, humanitarian and criminal law. Since its first proclamation in
article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international community has
established an impressive normative and institutional framework for its implementation
(A/73/207, paras. 5–18). At the same time, however, numerous States have invested
significant resources towards developing methods of torture which can achieve purposes of
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