CAT/C/BGR/CO/4-5
(c)
appeals;
Ensure interpretation services for asylum-seekers in asylum cases and
(d)
Submit situations covered by article 3 of the Convention to a thorough
risk assessment, notably by ensuring appropriate training for judges regarding the
risks of torture in receiving countries and by automatically holding individual
interviews in order to assess the personal risk to applicants; and
(e)
Follow up cases, in the light of the judgment of the European Court of
Human Rights and, in particular, follow up the cases of the two rejected Palestinian
asylum-seekers, Youssef Kayed who was tortured upon his return to Lebanon on 27
November 2010, and Moussa Kamel Ismael, who was tortured upon his return to
Lebanon, also on 27 November 2010, and update the Committee on their situation in
its next periodic report.
Jurisdiction over offences referred to in article 4 of the Convention
17.
The Committee is concerned that current Bulgarian legislation does not provide for
jurisdiction over offences referred to in article 4 of the Convention for all acts of torture
owing to the absence of a specific and autonomous offence of torture which corresponds to
the definition outlined in the Convention (arts. 5, 6 and 7).
The Committee recommends that the State party adopt a definition of torture in
accordance with the Convention so as to ensure that all acts of torture, and not only
those amounting to war crimes, can be prosecuted under jurisdiction over offences
referred to in article 4 of the Convention and that all suspected perpetrators of acts of
torture found in Bulgarian territory are either extradited or prosecuted in accordance
with article 6 of the Penal Code.
Non-admissibility of evidence as a result of torture
18.
The Committee is concerned about the lack of legislation in the State party ensuring
the non-admissibility of evidence obtained as a result of torture (art. 15).
The Committee recommends that the State party enact legislation specifically
prohibiting the use of statements obtained under torture as evidence in conformity
with the Convention (art. 15) and that the competent authorities of the State party
compile statistics and submit to the Committee cases where evidence obtained as a
result of torture has been held inadmissible.
Treatment of persons in social institutions, including those with mental disabilities
19.
The Committee is concerned:
(a)
That persons with mental disabilities in State and municipal social
institutions, particularly in medical institutional settings, do not enjoy adequate legal
safeguards and procedural guarantees regarding the respect of their right to mental and
physical integrity; that persons deprived of their legal capacity and whose decisions and
preference are not taken into account have no means to challenge the violation of their
rights; admission procedures and systems of guardianship often include officials from the
institutions in which persons with disabilities are confined, which may result in conflict of
interest and de facto detention, while the guardians’ consent to medical treatment may
amount to forced treatment; by the use of restraint and forced administration of intrusive
and irreversible treatments such as neuroleptic drugs; and that there is no independent
inspection mechanism for mental health institutions; at the competence of staff, frequency
of visits by specialists and the material conditions of such institutions, including their
remote locations, far from families and large medical centres;
6