CAT/C/PRT/CO/7
38.
The State party should:
(a)
Ensure that, in practice, no one may be expelled, returned or extradited
to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she
would run a personal and foreseeable risk of being subjected to torture and illtreatment;
(b)
Ensure that procedural safeguards against refoulement are in place and
that effective remedies with respect to refoulement claims in removal proceedings are
available, including reviews of rejections by an independent judicial body, in
particular on appeal;
(c)
Take measures to increase reception capacity and enable the relocation
of pending relocation requests;
(d)
Ensure the establishment of effective mechanisms to promptly identify
victims of torture among asylum seekers.
Immigration detention
39.
The Committee notes with concern reports of excessive retention of asylum seekers,
including immigration retention orders being issued without individualized assessment or
consideration of alternative measures. Pre-removal and transit facilities at airports are
reportedly not equipped for extended retention, especially for unaccompanied and separated
children, families with children and pregnant women. Also of concern is the entrance fee
for the airport terminal, charged by a private company, which impedes access by lawyers
and medics to individuals held in detention facilities at airports (arts. 2 and 11).
40.
The State party should:
(a)
Refrain from retaining asylum seekers and irregular migrants for
prolonged periods, use retention as a measure of last resort and only for as short a
period as possible, by ensuring individualized assessments, and promote the
application of non-custodial measures;
(b)
Ensure that unaccompanied and separated children and families with
children are not retained solely because of their immigration status;
(c)
Take the measures necessary to ensure appropriate reception conditions
for asylum seekers and irregular migrants, and strengthen its efforts to ensure
adequate living conditions in all immigration centres;
(d)
Guarantee that retained asylum seekers and irregular migrants have
unhindered, prompt and adequate access to counsel, including legal aid services.
Sexual and gender-based violence
41.
The Committee is concerned at reports of lenient sentences imposed on perpetrators
of acts of gender-based violence. In that connection, it takes note of the disciplinary
proceedings opened against judges in this respect during the period under review. The
Committee regrets that the State party has not provided complete information on the
number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sentences imposed in
cases of gender-based violence against women and children, including domestic violence,
since the adoption of the previous concluding observations. Regarding female genital
mutilation during the reporting period, the Committee notes with concern that, according to
the information provided by the delegation, there were no criminal complaints relating to
this crime during the period 2017–2018, while 117 possible cases (“situations”) were
flagged between January 2018 and September 2019 (arts. 2 and 16).
42.
The State party should:
(a)
Ensure that all cases of gender-based violence, especially those involving
actions or omissions by State authorities or other entities which engage the
international responsibility of the State party under the Convention, are thoroughly
investigated, that the alleged perpetrators are prosecuted and, if convicted, punished
8