CAT/OP/SEN/2/Add.1
I. Replies to recommendations regarding the legal framework
of the national preventive mechanism
1.
Since August 2012, the Director of the National Observatory of Places of
Deprivation of Liberty (the Observatory) has written several times to Government
authorities (the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice) inviting them to amend the
decree attaching the national preventive mechanism to the Ministry of Justice.
2.
The most recent correspondence dates from 18 October 2013.
3.
The current Minister of Justice, Mr. Sidiki Kaba, assured us at our meeting that he
would ensure that any linking of the national preventive mechanism to the executive branch
would be abolished.
4.
The Observatory will inform the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture of
developments in that regard.
5.
The Observatory is free to choose its staff members, who may come from inside or
outside the public administration.
6.
Staff members from inside the public administration are paid from the general State
budget, while other staff members must be paid from the budget of the national preventive
mechanism.
7.
Currently, given the very small budget allocated to the national preventive
mechanism — 21,500,000 CFA francs, or the equivalent of 33,000 euros — staff members
not belonging to the administration (see annexes) and support staff recruited by the
Observatory do not receive any remuneration.
8.
This is a very regrettable situation that can impede the institution’s effective
functioning.
9.
A detailed draft budget (see annexes) was sent to the Government authorities (the
Ministry of Justice and the parliamentary legislative committee) in March 2013, but the
proposal was not taken into account in the overall draft budget for 2014, which is currently
before the Parliament.
10.
The budget has been left at 21,500,000 CFA francs, which means that the
Government of Senegal has not taken any account of our proposals or of the
recommendations of the Committee against Torture and the Subcommittee on Prevention of
Torture, or those of the Human Rights Council, made on the occasion of the most recent
universal periodic review of Senegal.
11.
The current Director of the Observatory, a trained judge with more than 34 years of
professional experience, was chosen from a list of several candidates proposed to the
Ministry of Justice.
12.
The powers and mandate of the national preventive mechanism are in conformity
with the provisions of articles 4 and 20 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Places of
deprivation of liberty falling under the jurisdiction of the armed forces, namely gendarmerie
stations and the detention centres of military camps, are within the Observatory’s sphere of
competence.
2
13.
Observers have already visited several gendarmerie stations.
14.
There are plans to visit detention centres of military camps in 2014.
GE.14-40538