of torture. The Committee has concluded that States parties are in violation of
the Convention when they fail to fulfil these obligations. For example, where
detention centres are privately owned or run, the Committee considers that
personnel are acting in an official capacity on account of their responsibility
for carrying out the State function without derogation of the obligation of
State officials to monitor and take all effective measures to prevent torture
and ill-treatment.
18. The Committee has made clear that where State authorities or others
acting in official capacity or under colour of law, know or have reasonable
grounds to believe that acts of torture or ill-treatment are being committed
by non-State officials or private actors and they fail to exercise due diligence
to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish such non-State officials or
private actors consistently with the Convention, the State bears responsibility and its officials should be considered as authors, complicit or otherwise
responsible under the Convention for consenting to or acquiescing in such
impermissible acts. Since the failure of the State to exercise due diligence
to intervene to stop, sanction and provide remedies to victims of torture
facilitates and enables non-State actors to commit acts impermissible under
the Convention with impunity, the State’s indifference or inaction provides
a form of encouragement and/or de facto permission. The Committee has
applied this principle to States parties’ failure to prevent and protect victims
from gender-based violence, such as rape, domestic violence, female genital
mutilation, and trafficking.
19. Additionally, if a person is to be transferred or sent to the custody or
control of an individual or institution known to have engaged in torture
or ill-treatment, or has not implemented adequate safeguards, the State is
responsible, and its officials subject to punishment for ordering, permitting
or participating in this transfer contrary to the State’s obligation to take effective measures to prevent torture in accordance with article 2, paragraph 1.
The Committee has expressed its concern when States parties send persons
to such places without due process of law as required by articles 2 and 3.
V. Protection for individuals and groups made vulnerable
by discrimination or marginalization
20. The principle of non-discrimination is a basic and general principle in the
protection of human rights and fundamental to the interpretation and application of the Convention. Non-discrimination is included within the definition
of torture itself in article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention, which explicitly
Effective investigation of ill-treatment – Guidelines ► Page 114
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