GUIDE ON ANTI-TORTURE LEGISLATION The Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act of Uganda clearly states that a person accused of torture shall not be granted amnesty.143 143 22. The Committee considers that immunity for the crime of torture is to be excluded In its jurisprudence, the Committee has argued against immunity for former heads of State: “In the Committee’s view, that paragraph (article 5§2) conferred on States parties universal jurisdiction over torturers present in their territory, whether former heads of State or not, in cases where it was unable or unwilling to extradite them”.144 The Committee has expressed that granting immunity for torture cases would violate the principle of non-derogability.145 The Committee also considers that the obligations to prosecute cases of alleged torture under the Convention are incompatible with immunity.146 The Committee has reiterated that immunity for acts of torture is incompatible with the Convention, in relation to the obligation to provide redress for victims: “granting immunity, in violation of international law, to any State or its agents or to non-State actors for torture or ill-treatment, is in direct conflict with the obligation of providing redress to victims. When impunity is allowed by law or exists de facto, it bars victims from seeking full redress as it allows the violators to go unpunished and denies victims full assurance of their rights under article 14.” 147 23. The Committee considers that States parties are not to provide for statute of limitations with regards to the crime of torture Because of the extreme gravity of the crime of torture, and the risk that victims do not come forward until it is safe to do so, the Committee against Torture has repeatedly taken the position, in its General Comment N°3 and in numerous concluding observations, that there should be no statutes of limitations for the crime of torture.148 In order for any legislation to be in line with international standards, the Committee recommends that they should clearly preclude the application of a statute of limitations for the crime of torture. Uganda, the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act, op. cit. 28, section 23. 143 CAT, Third periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland and dependent territories, CAT/C/SR. 354 (18 November 1998), § 39. 144 145 CAT, General Comment N°2, op. cit. 1, § 5. 146 CAT, General Comment N°2, op. cit. 1, § 5. 147 CAT, General Comment N°3, op. cit. 11, § 42. CAT, General Comment N°3, op. cit. 11, § 38; See also CAT, Report of the Committee against Torture, 51st and 52nd sessions (2013-2014), UN Doc. A/69/44, pp. 27, 39, 46, 102, 114, 121 and 130. 148 44