CAT/OP/MLI/1 I. Introduction 1. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment undertook its first regular visit to Mali between 5 and 14 December 2011, in accordance with the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. During its visit, the Subcommittee met with the authorities of Mali, the National Human Rights Commission and representatives of civil society, and made visits to places of deprivation of liberty in the district of Bamako and in the regions of Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso and Ségou. 2. During the visit, which was limited in scope and duration, it was not possible to cover all places of deprivation of liberty in Mali, partly because of the deteriorating security situation in certain regions. Nevertheless, the Subcommittee was able to obtain an overall picture of conditions in the country, leading it to conclude that the situation of persons deprived of their liberty is of grave concern. 3. The confidential preliminary observations were submitted orally at the conclusion of the visit, on 14 December, and submitted again in writing to the State party on 27 January 2012. The present report is the confidential final report of the visit of the Subcommittee to Mali. II. Reports, facilitation of the visit and cooperation A. Obligation to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention 4. The Subcommittee notes that Mali has not yet submitted either its initial report under article 19 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was due for submission in 2000, or the subsequent periodic reports. This not only represents a serious failure on the part of Mali to comply with its treaty obligations, but also makes it difficult for the Convention’s monitoring bodies, including the Subcommittee, to cooperate with the national authorities. Furthermore, it did not facilitate the visit, since the Subcommittee was unable to benefit from information on the implementation of the Convention that Mali should have been submitting regularly to the Committee against Torture. 5. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party submit its reports to the Committee against Torture as soon as possible, in conformity with its obligations under the Convention, in particular article 19, paragraph 1. B. Facilitation of the visit and cooperation 6. Various documents and information were supplied to the Subcommittee before its visit, enabling it to make certain minimum preparations. Nonetheless, the majority of the documents and information requested prior to the visit and at various meetings during the visit, in particular during consultations with the Government and representatives of the judicial system on 5 December 2011, were not supplied until well after the visit, on 15 January 2012. The information supplied was incomplete and fragmentary. This deprived the Subcommittee of key information that would have enabled it to undertake a wholly satisfactory visit. GE.14-41827 3