CAT/C/LIE/CO/3
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and that all asylum-seekers held in
administrative detention have access to a lawyer and free legal aid.
17.
The Committee notes with concern that the period of administrative detention to
prepare or ensure deportation may be extended up to nine months and, in the case of minors
between 15 and 18, up to six months (arts. 3, 11 and 16).
The State party should consider reducing the permissible length of administrative
detention in preparation for deportation, in particular for children under the age of
18 years. The State party is strongly recommended to do so in the framework of its
revision of the Asylum Act and the Foreigners Act.
Asylum-seekers’ accommodation
18.
The Committee is concerned at information that, due to limited reception capacity
(60 persons) of the Liechtenstein Centre for Refugees coupled with the sudden increase of
asylum-seekers in 2009, asylum-seekers have been accommodated in underground
shelters/bunkers deprived of daylight (arts. 3, 11 and 16).
The State party should increase the reception capacity of the Refugee Centre, where
asylum-seekers can benefit from health care, language classes, food coupons and
pocket money, and draw up contingency plans to ensure that alternative
accommodation that respects the dignity and rights of all asylum-seekers is made
available in future emergency situations.
Jurisdiction over acts of torture
19.
The Committee takes note of the bilateral treaty of 1982 between Liechtenstein and
Austria on the accommodation of prisoners, according to which sentences longer than two
years of imprisonment are executed in Austria. The Committee further notes that the treaty
also applies to “persons who have committed a criminal offence under the influence of a
mental disorder” against whom orders of preventive measures are issued and, where
necessary, persons under the age of 18 years. While noting the application of Austrian law
to such detainees, the Committee is concerned that the 1982 bilateral treaty does not contain
any express safeguards for the prevention of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
Furthermore, the Committee expresses serious concern at information by the State party
that there are “no procedures or mechanisms in place to ensure that the rights of persons
imprisoned in Austria are upheld” with respect to the implementation of the treaty. The
Committee takes note of the information that, in principle, the Austrian Corrections
Commission is competent also in relation to Liechtenstein prisoners serving their sentence
in Austria (arts. 2, 5, 12, 13 and 14).
The Committee recommends that the State party re-negotiates the 1982 Treaty On
Accommodation of Prisoners so as to ensure that the rights of persons deprived of
their liberty under the Convention are guaranteed, through the monitoring of their
implementation by the Corrections Commission of the State party or by another
independent monitoring mechanism. The State party should also ensure that persons
detained in Austria have the right to complain to an independent body regarding
torture and ill-treatment by prison officers and have their complaints promptly and
impartially investigated and prosecuted, and receive redress according to article 14 of
the Convention.
Training and education
20.
While noting with appreciation the information provided by the State party on initial
and continuing training for prison staff, the Committee notes that, according to the report
by the Corrections Commission, the training and supervisory courses for prison officers
6