(e)
The State party’s apparent willingness, in the light of the low number of
prosecutions for terrorism and torture offences, to resort in the first instance to immigration
processes to remove or expel individuals from its territory, thus implicating issues of article 3 of
the Convention more readily, rather than subject him or her to the criminal process;
(f)
The State party’s reluctance to comply with all requests for interim measures of
protection, in the context of individual complaints presented under article 22 of the Convention;
(g)
The absence of effective measures to provide civil compensation to victims of
torture in all cases;
(h)
The still substantial number of “major violent incidents”, defined by the State
party as involving serious bodily harm and/or hostage-taking, in the State party’s federal
corrections facilities; and
(i)
Continued allegations of inappropriate use of chemical, irritant, incapacitating and
mechanical weapons by law enforcement authorities in the context of crowd control.
D. Recommendations
58.
The Committee recommends that:
(a)
The State party unconditionally undertake to respect the absolute nature of
article 3 in all circumstances and fully to incorporate the provision of article 3 into the
State party’s domestic law;
(b)
The State party remove the exclusions in the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act 2002 described in paragraph 57, subparagraphs (c) and (d) above, thereby
extending to currently excluded persons entitlement to the status of protected person, and
protection against refoulement on account of a risk of torture;
(c)
The State party should provide for judicial review of the merits, rather than
merely of the reasonableness, of decisions to expel an individual where there are
substantial grounds for believing that the person faces a risk of torture;
(d)
The State party should insist on unrestricted consular access to its nationals
who are in detention abroad, with facility for unmonitored meetings and, if required, of
appropriate medical expertise;
(e)
Given the absolute nature of the prohibition against refoulement contained
in article 3 of the Convention, the State party should provide the Committee with details
on how many cases of extradition or removal subject to receipt of “diplomatic
assurances” or guarantees have occurred since 11 September 2001, what the State party’s
minimum requirements are for such assurances or guarantees, what measures of
subsequent monitoring it has undertaken in such cases and the legal enforceability of the
assurances or guarantees given;
(f)
The State party should review its position under article 14 of the Convention
to ensure the provision of compensation through its civil jurisdiction to all victims of
torture;
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