A/HRC/31/57/Add.1 Italy (a) JAL 02/06/2015 Case No. ITA 2/2015 State Reply: 05/08/2015 Allegations concerning the beating, arbitrary arrest, and incommunicado detention of Mr. Abou Elkassim Britel. 280. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Italy for its reply, dated 5 August 2015, to the present communication. 281. The Rapporteur takes note of the information provided by the Government of Italy concerning its efforts to pay regular consular visits to Mr. Elkassim Britel in detention from December 2003 to December 2010, as well as its efforts to provide him with essential goods, facilitate his access to his lawyers while detained and otherwise “ease his living conditions.” The Rapporteur likewise takes note of the Government’s attempt to obtain information regarding “inhuman and degrading treatment” reported by Mr. Elkassim Britel. In spite of the information supplied by the government, it fails to inform the Rapporteur of steps taken by the Government to adequately investigate Mr. Elkassim Britel’s allegations, particularly those concerning torture in Pakistan by Pakistani and American officials and those occurring later in Morocco, as well failing to address its efforts to prosecute and punish the offenders. 282. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2015 report to the General Assembly (A/70/303), the core purpose of the Convention against Torture was the universalization of a regime of criminal punishment for perpetrators of torture, and the Convention provides for far-reaching extraterritorial obligations to bring perpetrators of torture to justice. Article 5 (1) obliges States to establish jurisdiction over all acts of torture on the territoriality, flag, active nationality and passive nationality principles. All States have a customary international law obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture and other ill-treatment as codified, inter alia, in the Convention. para 44, 45. 283. The Special Rapporteur is further of the view that a State may be held responsible for its failure to preempt or remedy illicit conduct not directly attributable to it, such as when it fails to meet its due diligence obligations to prevent and protect persons from grave violations of human rights (,).He believes that victims have a fundamental right to a remedy that must be accessible regardless of where the violation occurred or whether the State exercising jurisdiction is the perpetrator State. An essential component of this obligation to provide redress is that States do not block or obstruct access to effective remedies by invoking “State secrets” or other doctrines to dismiss lawsuits in limine litis. The Special Rapporteur encourages States to provide civil remedies and rehabilitation for victims of foreign acts of torture or other ill-treatment and to ensure in their legal system that victims obtain redress regardless of who bears responsibility for mistreatment or where it took place (para. 70, 72). 284. The Rapporteur hence finds that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication, available via the link above and encourages the Government of Italy to provide a remedy to Mr. Elkassim Britel, under the passive nationality principle, in its own courts, or in the alternative to request prosecution from Pakistan, Morocco or the United States of the alleged perpetrators in case of their non-extradition. (b) JUA 28/08/2015 Case No. ITA 4/2015 State Reply: None to date Allegations concerning the arrest of Mr. Rachid Mesli and the imminent risk that he may be extradited to Algeria. 285. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Italy has not replied to the present communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. 49