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The State party should adopt all appropriate measures to prevent, combat and
punish violence against women, for instance by incorporating into the draft Criminal
Code the offences of family violence, marital rape and trafficking in women and by
promptly adopting the bill on the prevention, control and repression of violence
against women in Benin. The State party should also set up a rehabilitation and
support system for victims.
Mob justice
25. The Committee is concerned at reports that the phenomenon of mob justice persists
(art. 16).
The State party should strengthen its efforts to eliminate the problem of mob justice.
The Committee invites the State party to undertake a thorough review of the
obstacles to the eradication of the phenomenon and to consider more effective
approaches.
Training on the prohibition of torture
26. While acknowledging the State party’s significant efforts in providing human rights
training to State officials, the Committee regrets, however, the lack of information regarding
specific training on the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and
punishment (art. 10).
The State party should strengthen human rights training programmes for law
enforcement officials so as to incorporate the prohibition of torture and cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. Such training should also be
provided to medical staff.
27. The Committee reiterates the recommendation it made during the consideration of the
report of Benin in 2001 that the State party should make the declarations provided for in
articles 21 and 22 of the Convention.
28. The Committee encourages the State party to involve NGOs and academic experts in the
review of national legislation, including the draft Criminal Code and the draft Code of Criminal
Procedure, with a view to bringing them into line with the provisions of the Convention. The
State party should take the necessary steps to adopt these draft Codes forthwith.
29. The State party, with the support of academic institutions, should establish effective
mechanisms to collect data and develop criminal and criminology statistics and all statistics
relevant to monitoring the national implementation of the Convention. The State party should
thus provide in its next periodic report the following data, which will facilitate the Committee’s
assessment of the implementation of obligations under the Convention:
(a) Statistics on the reception capacity and population of each prison in Benin, including
data disaggregated by gender and age group (adults/children), and the number of pretrial
detainees;
(b)
Statistics on violence in detention centres and police and gendarmerie stations;