147. In its decision on complaint No. 212/2002 (Kepa Urra Guridi v. Spain), the Committee
found that by pardoning three officers of the Guardia Civil, who had tortured the complainant,
and by commuting their one-year prison sentence to a suspension from duty for one month and
one day, the State party had violated article 2, paragraph 1 and article 4, paragraph 2, of the
Convention. It also found a violation of article 14, paragraph 1, arguing that the obligation to
redress acts of torture includes measures such as restitution, compensation, rehabilitation,
guarantees of non-repetition, as well as judicial or administrative sanctions against persons liable
for acts of torture.
148. In its decision on complaint No. 226/2003 (Tharina Ali v. Sweden), the Committee
considered that the complainant had established that her expulsion to Bangladesh would expose
her to a risk of being subjected to torture, in violation of article 3 of the Convention, in the light
of medical evidence corroborating her uncontested allegation that she had been tortured in the
recent past in retaliation for her and her husband’s political activities, as well as the fact that she
was still wanted in Bangladesh.
149. In case No. 233/2003 (Ahmed Hussein Mustafa Kamil Agiza v. Sweden), the complainant
was expelled to Egypt following a decision by the executive, rather than the judiciary, based on
national security grounds. The expulsion was carried out with the assistance of a foreign
intelligence service and in the light of diplomatic assurances provided to Sweden by Egypt. A
number of allegations of mistreatment emerged after the complainant’s return to Egypt. The
Committee found that the immediate expulsion, without giving the complainant an opportunity
to have his case reviewed by an independent body, was in breach of article 3 of the Convention.
It also found a violation of the complainant’s right to an effective complaint under article 22 of
the Convention, as he had been deprived of an opportunity to seize the Committee prior to his
expulsion and because the State party had withheld relevant information concerning his
allegations of ill-treatment. One Committee member appended a separate opinion to the
Committee’s decision.
D. Follow-up activities
150. At its twenty-eighth session, in May 2002, the Committee against Torture revised its
rules of procedure and established the function of a Rapporteur for follow-up of decisions on
complaints submitted under article 22.
151. The Rapporteur on follow-up submitted an oral report to the Committee at its
thirty-third session. The report contained information received since the thirty-second session
from either the complainants or the States parties on the issue of follow-up to a number of
decisions in which the Committee had found violations of the Convention. During the
consideration of this report, the Committee requested the Special Rapporteur to provide
information on follow-up to all decisions in which the Committee had found violations of the
Convention, including decisions in which the Committee found violations, prior to the
commencement of the Rapporteur’s mandate.
152. During the thirty-fourth session, the Special Rapporteur presented a report on follow-up
to all the Committee’s decisions, including new information received from both the complainants
and States parties since the thirty-third session. This report is provided below.
56
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents