CAT/C/KHM/CO/2
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ) to Cambodia from 3 to 11
December 2009.
6.
The Committee also welcomes that, in the period since the consideration of the
initial report, the State party has ratified or acceded to the following international
instruments:
(a)
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, in October 2010;
(b)
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, in
December 2005, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, supplementing the Convention, in July 2007;
(c)
The United Nations Convention against Corruption, in September 2007;
(d)
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict, in July 2004;
(e)
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in April 2002.
7.
The Committee further notes the ongoing efforts at the State level to reform its
legislation, policies and procedures in order to ensure better protection of human rights,
including the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, in particular the adoption of:
(a)
The Anti-Corruption Law, in 2010;
(b)
The new Penal Code, in 2009;
c)
The Law on Suspension of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual
Exploitation, in 2008;
(d)
The new Code of Penal Procedure, in 2007;
(e)
The Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence Protection of Victims, in 2005,
including criminalization of marital rape.
8.
The Committee notes with satisfaction the establishment of the Extraordinary
Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in cooperation with the United Nations and
the international community. It welcomes the fact that the Trial Chamber has delivered
judgment in its first case (No. 001) on 26 July 2010 and that it has delivered indictments in
its second case (No. 002), and that victims of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment can participate in the proceedings as civil parties. It also urges the
State party to continue its efforts to bring further perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge-related
atrocities to justice (Cases Nos. 003 and 004).
9.
The Committee also welcomes the establishment, in 2008, of the Refugee Office
within the Immigration Department of the Ministry of the Interior, with the objective of
protecting refugees, who may include victims of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment as well as the adoption, on 17 December 2009, of the Sub-Decree on the
Procedure of Determination of Refugee Status and the Right to Asylum for Aliens in the
Kingdom of Cambodia, as the beginning of the development of a legal framework.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Incorporation of the Convention into domestic law
10.
The Committee welcomes the guarantees contained in article 31 of the Constitution
as well as the July 2007 decision of the Constitutional Council (Decision No.
2