CAT/C/POL/CO/7
receive treatment in psychiatric hospitals without their consent unless this is done on a
legal basis, as a matter of last resort, with a careful forensic psychiatric evaluation,
access to assisted decision-making and the possibility of judicial review;
(b)
Promptly, impartially and effectively investigate all allegations of
involuntary sterilization, prosecute the alleged perpetrators and, if they are found to
be responsible, punish them. Medical personnel who have conducted sterilizations
without free, full and informed consent should be held criminally liable, prosecuted
and punished. They should also be trained on appropriate means of obtaining free and
informed consent from women before they undergo sterilization. The State party
should establish an effective compensation mechanism through which victims of
involuntary sterilization have access to fair and adequate redress, and should consider
extending the time limit for filing compensation claims;
(c)
Ensure that every case in which a person is placed in the National Centre
for the Prevention of Antisocial Behaviour is subject to strict judicial review and
scrutiny by a medical board; and that persons placed in the Centre have access to
legal assistance and have a right of appeal;
(d)
Ensure that all residential centres are regularly monitored and that the
recommendations made by the monitoring bodies, including the national preventive
mechanism, are fully implemented;
(e)
Ensure that all cases of hate crime are reported and that reasons for the
gross underreporting of such crimes are addressed as a matter of urgency through
appropriate measures, including training of the police and trust-building activities
among police officers. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation to take
all necessary measures to combat discrimination and violence against persons of Arab,
Asian and African origin, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and persons
belonging to the Roma community, and to take effective measures to prevent all
manifestations of hate crime and ensure prompt and effective investigation of all such
incidents, with appropriate prosecutions;
(f)
Amend the rules concerning mechanical restraints and seclusion and the
supervision of the use of chemical restraints, and ensure the continuous and direct
monitoring of immobilized patients; and provide appropriate training for health-care
staff in the use of means of restraint in psychiatric institutions.
Trafficking in persons
37.
While welcoming the adoption of the police regulation on activities to counter
trafficking in persons in 2016, the Committee is concerned that the State party lacks a
central mechanism to identify victims of trafficking, especially victims of forced labour in
the shipbuilding, agriculture and construction sectors. While investigations are sometimes
opened, as in the recent case involving 107 nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea, these investigations have appeared to be ineffective and to lack impartiality,
particularly with regard to interpreting services and formal proceedings for those
investigated. In addition, the Committee regrets that there is no clear definition of forced
labour in the Penal Code and that there is inadequate training for law enforcement
personnel on identifying victims of forced labour (arts. 2, 10, 12–14 and 16).
38.
The State party should:
(a)
Enforce domestic anti-trafficking laws and policies, take effective
measures to prevent human trafficking and increase protection for victims of
trafficking, including victims of forced labour in agriculture, shipbuilding and
construction;
(b)
Promptly, effectively and impartially investigate, prosecute and punish
the crime of trafficking in persons and related practices and ensure the necessary
procedural guarantees, such as the provision of independent interpreters, during the
investigations;
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