CAT/C/LTU/CO/3
Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights;
(b)
Allocate adequate financial and staffing resources to enable the Seimas
Ombudsman to function effectively as both the national human rights institution and
as the national preventive mechanism in compliance with the Optional Protocol to the
Convention.
Investigations in the context of countering terrorism
16.
While noting that the Prosecutor General’s Office opened on 13 February 2014 a
pretrial investigation in relation to article 292, paragraph 3, of the Criminal Code, the
Committee is concerned that the Parliamentary investigation failed to determine whether
Central Intelligence Agency detainees were held in or transited through Lithuanian territory
and that the pretrial investigation launched by the Prosecutor General’s Office was
terminated owing to the applicability of the statute of limitations, which precludes
disciplinary action, and the fact that the file constitutes an official secret. (arts. 2, 3, 12, 13
and 16)
The Committee:
(a)
Urges the State party to complete the investigation into allegations of its
involvement in the Central Intelligence Agency rendition and secret detention
programmes within a reasonable time. It also recommends that the State party inform
the public and ensure that its investigation process is transparent;
(b)
Requests the State party to provide it with an update on the outcome of
the pretrial investigation initiated by the Prosecutor General’s Office in relation to
article 292, paragraph 3, of the Criminal Code regarding the unlawful transportation
of persons across the State border.
Asylum seekers
17.
The Committee is concerned about the detention of all asylum seekers, throughout
the asylum procedure, at the Foreigners’ Registration Centre in Pabrade, which lacks
adequate reception conditions, including social, psychological and rehabilitation services.
Traumatized persons and those with specific needs, including women, are not housed
separately. The Centre is also used as an administrative detention facility for migrants in an
irregular situation. It is also in need of renovation. (arts. 3, 14 and 11)
The State party should:
(a)
Refrain from detaining asylum seekers and illegal immigrants for
prolonged periods and use the detention of asylum seekers only as a measure of last
resort for as short a period as possible;
(b)
Promote alternatives to detention and revise policy in order to bring it
into line with the Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the
Detention of Asylum Seekers and Alternatives to Detention published by the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
(c)
Put in place a mechanism to identify persons with special needs and
possible victims of torture, and provide legal and practical mechanisms to ensure full
redress for torture victims;
(d)
Proceed with the announced reconstruction of the Foreigners’
Registration Centre, in which vulnerable persons will be offered separate
accommodation.
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