CAT/C/CR/30/4
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(e)
There is no adequate legal guarantee of the right of persons deprived of liberty to
have access to a doctor of their choice from the outset of their custody. The Committee notes
article 74 of the Rules on Police Powers making provision for medical assistance, but considers
that this is not sufficient as a safeguard against ill-treatment and torture;
(f)
There is no code of conduct for police interrogations to supplement the provisions
of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Police Act, with a view to preventing cases of torture
and ill-treatment, as required by article 11 of the Convention;
(g)
Overcrowding in prisons and other places of detention continues, despite the
slight decrease noted in 2002.
D. Recommendations
6.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Proceed promptly with plans to adopt a definition of torture which covers all
the elements of that contained in article 1 of the Convention and amend its domestic penal
law accordingly;
(b)
Repeal the statute of limitation for torture and increase the limitation period
for other types of ill-treatment;
(c)
Take measures to establish an effective, reliable and independent complaints
mechanism to undertake prompt and impartial investigations into allegations of
ill-treatment or torture by police and other public officials and to punish the offenders;
(d)
Strengthen existing efforts to reduce occurrences of ill-treatment by police
and other public officials, in particular that which is ethnically motivated, and, while
ensuring protection of individual privacy, devise modalities for collecting data and
monitoring the occurrence of such acts in order to address the issue more effectively. The
State party is encouraged to include such information in its third periodic report;
(e)
Strengthen the safeguards provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure
against ill-treatment and torture and ensure that, in law as well as in practice, all persons
deprived of their liberty are guaranteed the right to have access to an independent doctor.
Privacy of medical examinations should be ensured;
(f)
Continue efforts to address overcrowding in prisons and other places of
detention in accordance with, inter alia, the recommendation in this respect made by the
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment in its report on Slovenia (CPT/Inf(2002)36);
(g)
Widely disseminate the reports submitted by Slovenia to the Committee and
the conclusions and recommendations, in appropriate languages, through official web sites,
the media and non-governmental organizations.
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