CAT/C/VEN/CO/3-4
(a)
Promulgation of the Special Act to Prevent and Punish Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (Anti-Torture Act), on 4 June 2013;
(b)
Adoption of the Act on Disarmament and Arms and Munitions Control, on
11 June 2013;
(c)
Promulgation of the Act on Women’s Right to a Life Free from Violence, on
19 March 2007;
(d)
Adoption of the Act to Punish Politically Motivated Crimes, Disappearances,
Torture and Other Human Rights Violations in the Period 1958–1998, on 25 November
2011.
6.
The Committee also commends the State party’s efforts to amend its policies and
procedures in order to afford greater protection for human rights and to apply the
Convention, in particular:
(a)
The adoption in February 2014 of the National Plan for the Prevention of
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment;
(b)
The establishment in September 2013 of the National Office to Combat
Organized Crime and the Financing of Terrorism, which is responsible for preventing and
combating trafficking in persons;
(c)
The introduction in March and October 2010 of special courts and
prosecution services to deal with violence against women.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Definition of the offence of torture
7.
The Committee notes that the definition of torture as set out in article 17 of the AntiTorture Act is incomplete inasmuch as it applies solely when the victims are in the custody
of a public official. Article 17 also does not categorize as torture any pain or suffering
inflicted at the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of, a public official or by
another person acting in an official capacity. The conduct of public officials at whose
instigation or with whose consent acts of torture are committed by another individual is
likewise not categorized as complicity or participation in torture (arts. 1 and 4).
The Committee urges the State party to consider bringing the content of article 17 of
the Anti-Torture Act into line with the provisions of article 1 of the Convention in
order to include pain or suffering inflicted by a person acting in an official capacity or
inflicted at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official
upon individuals, irrespective of whether or not they have been deprived of their
liberty. In that regard, the Committee recalls its general comment No. 2 (2007), on the
implementation of article 2 of the Convention by States parties, which states that
serious discrepancies between the Convention’s definition and that incorporated into
domestic law create actual or potential loopholes for impunity (CAT/C/GC/2, para. 9).
In addition, the State should ensure that any act by any person which constitutes
complicity or participation in torture is categorized as such and punished by means of
appropriate penalties which reflect the gravity of the act.
Impunity
8.
The Committee is concerned about the information provided by the State party
according to which, of a total of 31,096 complaints of human rights violations received
from 2011 to 2014, only 3.1 per cent resulted in prosecution by the Public Prosecution
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