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legislation in full conformity with article 1 of the Convention. Two approaches merit
consideration: (a) the prompt adoption of the draft comprehensive Penal Code; and
(b) the adoption of a stand-alone specific bill on torture, following the State party’s
example of adopting other individual laws in the field of human rights, such as those
welcomed in paragraph 5 above.
The State party should also ensure that all acts of torture are punishable by
appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature, as set out in
paragraph 2, article 4, of the Convention.
Coerced confessions
14. The Committee is concerned that the current investigation system in the State party relies
on confessions as a common form of evidence for prosecution, thus creating conditions that may
facilitate the use of torture and ill-treatment of suspects. The Committee regrets that the State
party did not sufficiently clarify the legal provisions ensuring that any statements that have been
made under torture shall not be invoked as evidence under any proceedings, as required by the
Convention, and did not provide statistical information on such cases (art. 15).
The State party should take the measures necessary to ensure that criminal
convictions require evidence other than the confession of the detainee, and ensure
that statements that have been made under torture are not invoked as evidence in any
proceedings, except against a person accused of torture, in accordance with the
provisions of the Convention.
The State party is requested to review criminal convictions based solely on
confessions in order to identify instances of wrongful conviction based on evidence
obtained through torture or ill-treatment, to take appropriate remedial measures and
to inform the Committee of its findings.
Local regulations and breaches of the Convention
15. The Committee is deeply concerned that local regulations, such as the Aceh Criminal
Code, adopted in 2005, introduced corporal punishment for certain new offences. The
Committee is concerned that the enforcement of such provisions is under the authority of a
“morality police”, the Wilayatul Hisbah, which exercises an undefined jurisdiction and whose
supervision by public State institutions is unclear. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that
the necessary legal fundamental safeguards do not exist for persons detained by such officials,
including the absence of a right to legal counsel, the apparent presumption of guilt, the execution
of punishment in public and the use of physically abusive methods (such as flogging or caning)
that contravene the Convention and national law. In addition, it is reported that the punishments
meted out by this policing body have a disproportionate impact on women (arts. 2 and 16).
The State party should review all its national and local criminal legislations,
especially the 2005 Aceh Criminal Code, that authorize the use of corporal
punishment as criminal sanctions, with a view to abolishing them immediately, as
such punishments constitute a breach of the obligations imposed by the Convention.