CAT/C/BFA/CO/1
The State party should take appropriate measures to ensure that victims of acts of
torture and ill-treatment receive full and fair redress and the fullest possible
rehabilitation. It should provide detailed information on the follow-up given to such
cases involving compensation for victims of torture or ill-treatment.
The Committee draws the State party’s attention to general comment No. 3 (2012),
concerning the implementation of article 14 by States parties, in which the Committee
explains and clarifies the content and scope of the obligation of States parties to
ensure and provide full redress to victims of torture or ill-treatment.
Prison conditions
19.
Despite the efforts made by the State party to build new prisons, the Committee
remains deeply concerned by the poor conditions in the country’s prisons, including
insanitary conditions which reportedly have caused several deaths. It also regrets that the
State party has not made sufficient use of non-custodial measures to ease overcrowding in
prisons. The Committee is also concerned that there is no effective system for separating
inmates by category (arts. 2, 11 to 14 and 16).
The State party should step up its efforts to improve prison conditions in line with
international standards and with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners. It should inter alia:
(a)
Significantly reduce prison overcrowding, in particular in the prisons of
Bobo-Dioulasso, Fada N’gourma, Ouagadougou and Tenkodogo, by making greater
use of non-custodial measures, in the light of the United Nations Standard Minimum
Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules);
(b)
Ensure that prisoners have access to health care, a proper and varied
diet and hygienic conditions;
(c)
Ensure that young prisoners are kept separate from adults, untried
prisoners from convicts and women from men;
(d)
Establish an effective, independent and confidential mechanism for
lodging complaints about conditions of detention, including any ill-treatment, and
ensure that thorough, impartial and independent investigations are conducted into
any and all complaints;
(e)
Strengthen judicial supervision of prison conditions; and
(f)
Guarantee that the National Human Rights Commission, nongovernmental organizations and the future mechanism for the prevention of torture
have unhindered access to all places of detention through, in particular, unannounced
visits and the ability to speak with prisoners in private.
Orders from a superior officer
20.
While taking note of Decree No. 2004-077/SECU/CAB of 27 December 2004 on the
code of conduct of the national police force, which stipulates that subordinates must
comply with instructions from their superiors except where an order is manifestly unlawful
and would seriously jeopardize the public interest, the Committee remains concerned that
these provisions only apply to the national police and do not offer subordinates who refuse
to obey such an order protection against retaliation by superior officers (art. 2).
The State party should guarantee for all law enforcement officers the right, both in
law and in practice, as subordinates to refuse to execute an order from their superior
officers that would result in a contravention of the Convention. The State party should
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