CAT/C/COD/CO/2
(c)
Ensure that all cases of death in custody are promptly and impartially
investigated by an independent investigation unit with no institutional or hierarchical
link with the custodial authority, and that investigations have a forensic component,
including an autopsy where necessary;
(d)
Allow the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations
Joint Human Rights Office and non-governmental organizations with a mandate to
visit places of deprivation of liberty, among other bodies, to gain access to and inspect
such places without hindrance, and to speak confidentially to all inmates;
(e)
Provide prisons with sufficient qualified and trained staff.
Allegations of torture and impunity
22.
The Committee is seriously concerned about reports of the very widespread use of
torture in many places of detention in the country, particularly against individuals suspected
of belonging to the political opposition, by members of the Armed Forces of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the National Police and the National Intelligence
Agency. The Committee deplores the limited number of reported convictions and is
concerned that members of the National Intelligence Agency are benefiting from sweeping
immunity from prosecution pursuant to Decree-Law No. 1/61. The Committee is of the
view that the cumulative effect of the lack of judicial oversight of the Agency’s actions, the
immunity granted to its officers and the effective lack of investigations and prosecutions in
connection with acts of torture is helping to create and maintain a situation of generalized
impunity (arts. 2, 12 and 13).
23.
Reiterating the recommendations made in its previous concluding observations
(paras. 6 (a) and (b)), the Committee urges the State party to clearly reaffirm the
absolute prohibition on torture by publicly condemning the practice of torture and
raising awareness and disseminating the content of Act No. 11/008. The State party
should in addition:
(a)
Revise its legislation, ensure that the competent authorities routinely
launch an investigation whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an act
of torture has been committed and see to it that suspects are duly brought to justice
and, if they are found guilty, receive sentences commensurate with the seriousness of
their acts;
(b)
Put in place an independent, effective, confidential and accessible
complaints mechanism in all police custody facilities and prisons, and ensure that
complainants, victims and members of their families are not at risk of reprisals;
(c)
Compile and disseminate up-to-date statistics on the complaints filed,
investigations conducted, prosecutions initiated and convictions handed down in cases
of torture.
National mechanism for the prevention of torture
24.
The Committee is concerned about the delay in establishing a national preventive
mechanism, an obligation incumbent on the State party following its ratification, in 2010,
of the Optional Protocol to the Convention (art. 11).
25.
The State party should initiate, without delay, a participatory and inclusive
process to establish an independent and effective national preventive mechanism, in
accordance with the guidance of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The State party
should allocate the human and financial resources needed to enable the mechanism to
function effectively and independently.
Jurisdiction of the military courts
26.
While taking note of article 156 of the 2006 Constitution, and notwithstanding the
adoption of Organic Act No. 13/011-B, which assigns to the civilian courts jurisdiction over
offences falling within the remit of the International Criminal Court, the Committee is
GE.19-08966
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