CAT/C/CR/31/6
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(b)
Abandon the notion, in its draft code of criminal procedure, of extending the
period of police custody depending on the distance between the place of arrest and the place of
custody, and ensure observance of the time limits on custody in practice;
(c)
Ensure that detention in custody under the Act on states of emergency conforms
to international human rights standards and is not prolonged beyond what the situation requires.
The State party should abolish administrative and military custody as options;
(d)
Systematically organize, as a matter of great urgency, the use of registers in all
places of detention;
(e)
Separate the police from the prison authorities, e.g. by transferring responsibility
for prison administration to the Ministry of Justice;
(f)
Clarify the concept of a “manifestly illegal order”, so that State employees, in
particular police officers, members of the armed forces, prison guards, magistrates and lawyers,
are clearly aware of the implications. Specific training on this point should be offered;
(g)
Allow appeals by foreigners against decisions by the administrative court to
confirm deportation orders to stay execution.
10.
The Committee recommends that the State should greatly increase its efforts to end the
impunity of perpetrators of acts of torture, in particular by:
(a)
Removing all restrictions, notably by the Ministry of Defence, on the prosecution
of gendarmes and by giving the ordinary courts jurisdiction to try offences committed by
gendarmes in the line of policy duty;
(b)
Pursuing its inquiry into the case of the “Bépanda nine”. The Committee also
recommends a thorough investigation of the activities of the Douala operational command while
it was in operation and, by extension, the activities of all anti-gang units that are still functioning;
(c)
Ensuring that its authorities immediately undertake an impartial investigation
whenever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed. The
Committee recommends an independent body with the authority to receive and investigate all
allegations of torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of State employees;
(d)
Ensuring the protection of victims and witnesses against any intimidation or
ill-treatment, and by informing the public of their rights, notably with regard to complaints
against State employees;
(e)
Adopting, as soon as possible, and ensuring the practical enforcement of a law
making evidence obtained under torture inadmissible in all proceedings.
11.
The Committee further recommends that the Cameroonian authorities should:
(a)
Reform the National Committee on Human Rights and Freedoms with a view to
closer conformity to the Principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion
and protection of human rights (the “Paris Principles”);