CAT/C/FRA/CO/4-6
(b)
The State party’s accession, on 2 October 2007, to the Second Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition
of the death penalty;
(c)
The State party’s ratification, on 23 September 2008, of the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance;
(d)
The State party’s ratification, on 18 February 2010, of the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.
5.
The Committee also notes with satisfaction:
(a)
The introduction, under the Act of 20 November 2007, of a legal remedy
with automatic suspensive effect against any decision to refuse entry following an
application for asylum lodged at the frontier;
(b)
The adoption of the Act of 4 April 2006, which strengthens the prevention
and punishment of conjugal violence and violence against children and increases the
penalties for violence against women.
6.
The Committee also welcomes the construction project now under way aimed at a
substantial increase in prison capacity.
7.
The Committee also notes the proactive measures taken by the State party to
increase the number of convicted persons eligible for alternative sentencing, in part as a
result of the introduction, under the Prisons Act of 24 November 2009, of house arrest with
electronic surveillance as an alternative to pretrial detention.
8.
The Committee notes with satisfaction the Ministry of Justice action plan of 2009 to
prevent suicide in prison, and would welcome regular updates on its implementation,
including in the overseas territories.
9.
The Committee notes with interest the establishment of a procedure to allow the
newly created Office of the Inspector-General of the National Gendarmerie to make
unannounced visits to police custody facilities and to monitor the reception facilities for
complainants in neighbourhood police units.
10.
The Committee welcomes the abolition, on 16 August 2007, of the “security
rotation” system in prisons, whereby prisoners were subjected to repeated transfers. The
Committee also notes that the matter of Khider v. France (European Court of Human
Rights judgement of 9 July 2009) was placed on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers
in March.
11.
The Committee notes with satisfaction the creation of two telephone hotlines for
reporting conjugal ill-treatment and violence and abuse against children (3977 and 3919,
respectively). The Committee also commends the bill to introduce a reference to
psychological violence in the Criminal Code.
12.
The Committee further notes with satisfaction the State party’s announcement that it
was considering legislative reform aimed eventually at divesting a person of an honour
awarded if the person is suspected of having committed a violation of the Convention or
any other serious violation of international law.
C.
Subjects of concern and recommendations
Definition of torture
13.
While the Committee recognizes that the State party’s criminal law punishes acts of
torture and acts of barbarity and violence, and while it takes note of the judgements brought
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