In 2000 the complainants lodged a complaint against Hissène Habré in Senegal, where he was
residing since December 1990. On 3 February 2000, an examining magistrate charged him with
being an accomplice to acts of torture and opened an inquiry for crimes against humanity. On
4 July 2000, the Indictment Division of the Dakar Court of Appeal dismissed the charges against
Hissène Habré on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction, a decision which was later confirmed by
the Court of Cassation. Before the Committee, the complainants alleged a violation by Senegal
of article 5, paragraph 2 and article 7 of the Convention, and requested compensation.
Subsequently, on 19 September 2005, a Belgian judge issued an international arrest warrant
against Hissène Habré, charging him with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes,
torture and other violations of international humanitarian law. On the same date, Belgium made
an extradition request to Senegal. The case was brought by Senegal to the attention of the
Assembly of the African Union in January 2006, who decided to set up a committee of eminent
jurists to consider all aspects of the case and possible options for trial. In its Decision, the
Committee noted that the State party had not contested the fact that it had not taken the measures
referred to in article 5, paragraph 2 of the Convention, according to which each State party shall
take the necessary measures to establish its jurisdiction over torture offences in cases where the
alleged offender is present in any territory under its jurisdiction and it does not extradite him.
Consequently, the Committee found that the State party had not fulfilled its obligations under
such provision. The Committee also held that the State party cannot invoke the complexity of its
legal processes as a justification for its failure to comply with its obligations under article 7 of
the Convention. At the time when the complaint was submitted to the Committee, the State
party had an obligation to prosecute Hissène Habré for alleged acts of torture, unless it could be
proved that there was not sufficient evidence to do so. Subsequently, since 19 September 2005,
the State party was in another situation covered under article 7, and had the choice of proceeding
with the extradition if it decided not to submit the case to its own judicial authorities for
prosecution. By refusing both options the State party had failed to fulfil its obligations under
article 7 of the Convention.
73.
In complaints Nos. 256/2004 (M.Z. v. Sweden) and 278/2005 (A.E. v. Switzerland) the
complainants claimed violations of article 3 of the Convention by the respective States, should
they be returned to their countries after being refused asylum. The Committee held, however,
that the complainants had not demonstrated the existence of substantial grounds for believing
that their return to such countries would expose them to a real, specific and personal risk of
torture, and, therefore, no violations of the Convention were found.
74.
Also at its thirty-sixth session, the Committee decided to declare inadmissible complaints
Nos. 248/2004 (A.K. v. Switzerland) and 273/2005 (A.T. v. Canada). In both cases the
complainants claimed violations of article 3 of the Convention. However, the Committee
concluded that domestic remedies had not been exhausted. The text of these decisions is
reproduced in annex VIII, section B, to the present report.
D. Follow-up activities
75.
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. At its 527th meeting, on 16 May 2002, the Committee
decided that the Rapporteur shall engage, inter alia, in the following activities: monitoring
compliance with the Committee’s decisions by sending notes verbales to States parties enquiring
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