CAT/C/ROU/CO/2
that police holding cells contain non-standard items which are not in conformity with
regulations and which may allow for ill-treatment and torture (arts. 2, 15 and 16).
The State party should:
(a)
Provide the Committee with information on the number of cases of
violence by law enforcement officials that have been investigated, the number of
perpetrators who have been prosecuted for acts of torture and ill-treatment and the
penalties applied to those found guilty;
(b)
Carry out prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations into
all allegations of the use of violence, including torture and ill-treatment, by law
enforcement officials, prosecute and punish those responsible and provide information
to the Committee on the outcome of investigations into the treatment of the two
persons at the Ilfov Police Inspectorate;
(c)
Establish an independent monitoring and oversight mechanism, through
the internal disciplinary procedures of the Ministry of the Interior, in order to avoid
the investigation of complaints by peers;
(d)
Ensure that judges, and more particularly judges for rights and
freedoms, are automatically notified of all cases of ill-treatment and torture in police
detention facilities, regardless of the visibility of the injuries, and equip all places of
deprivation of liberty with video devices for recording interrogations, and ensure that
persons who have complained about allegations of torture and ill-treatment are
protected from reprisals;
(e)
Reiterate at the highest political level its commitment to zero tolerance of
the use of violence against persons deprived of their liberty, including to elicit
confessions;
(f)
Ensure the removal from police stations of all non-standard items that
may allow for ill-treatment and torture.
Violence against Roma
10.
While taking note of the strategy for Roma inclusion and the new legal provisions
making racist motivation an aggravating circumstance for all offences under the Criminal
Code, the Committee is seriously concerned at:
(a)
The persistence of reports of racist hate crimes against Roma;
(b)
The vulnerability of Roma suspects who are “administratively conveyed” to
police stations, by law enforcement officials, with increased risks of ill-treatment and
torture;
(c)
The reported excessive use of force by law enforcement officials against
Roma, including the death in police custody of 26-year-old Gabriel-Daniel Dumitrache on
4 March 2014. According to reports, the police officer currently being prosecuted has been
charged with assault, where racial motivation is only an aggravating circumstance, resulting
in involuntary manslaughter under article 195 of the Criminal Code, instead of being
charged with torture resulting in death under article 282 (3) of the Criminal Code. The
family members of Mr. Dumitrache who identified the body reportedly indicated that it
showed signs of severe beating, a broken leg, injuries to the abdomen and burn marks on
the chest, which were not consistent with the information provided by the police;
(d)
Instances of racist hate speech directed against Roma, and the high incidence
of anti-Roma rhetoric and negative stereotypes in public and political discourse, by State
and non-State actors (arts. 2, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16).
4