CAT/C/URY/CO/3
concerned by reports that reprisals have been taken against victims, their families and
officials in these centres who have reported ill-treatment of this kind (arts. 2, 12, 13 and
16).
The Committee urges the State party to:
(a)
Set up an effective, independent and accessible complaints mechanism
that will ensure that reports of torture or ill-treatment of minors held in SIRPA
centres are investigated promptly, thoroughly and impartially. Such investigations
should be carried out by an independent agency;
(b)
Investigate the alleged irregularities in the administration of medicines
to juvenile detainees;
(c)
Ensure that, in cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment, suspects are
immediately suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation, particularly if
there is a risk that those actions might be repeated or the investigation obstructed;
(d)
Protect victims and witnesses of torture or ill-treatment from reprisals;
(e)
Provide victims of torture and ill-treatment with redress, including just
and adequate compensation and the fullest possible rehabilitation, taking due account
of the Committee’s general comment No. 3 (2012) on the implementation of article 14
by States parties (CAT/C/GC/3).
Monitoring and inspection of places of detention
14.
The Committee is concerned by the fact that the national mechanism for the
prevention of torture does not have a budget of its own and lacks all the resources it would
need to perform its work in a fully satisfactory manner. The Committee attaches importance
to the mechanism’s active presence in juvenile custodial facilities, but is of the view that
the need for it to coordinate its activities with other inspection agencies, such as the
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Prison System or the Office of the Inspector General
for Psychopathic Patients, cannot be allowed to act as an obstacle to the full performance of
its duty to monitor all places where people are deprived of their liberty (art. 2).
The State party should ensure the national preventive mechanism’s functional
independence by assigning it a budget of its own and specialized medical and legal
staff so that it can cover all places where people are deprived of their liberty in
accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention and the guidelines on
national preventive mechanisms (CAT/OP/12/5, paras. 20, 32 and 39).
The State party should also take the necessary steps to support the work of the
national mechanism for the prevention of torture by ensuring that its
recommendations are fully applied.
The National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office
15.
The Committee notes with concern that, although the State party considers that the
budget of the National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office “is sufficient to
ensure the Institution’s independent operation and covers the necessary infrastructure and
staffing” (CAT/C/URY/3, para. 85), the National Human Rights Institution states in its
report to the Committee that there are budget-related difficulties and that there is a need for
“an adequate legal-administrative framework and more budgetary and operational
autonomy [to ensure] … greater independence and effectiveness” (paras. 36–38) (art. 2).
6
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