CAT/C/NOR/CO/6-7
alleged. The State party is requested to provide detailed information on the results of
the ongoing review.
Minorities and other vulnerable groups
21.
The Committee notes with concern allegations of cases of ill-treatment, harassment,
incitement to violence and hate speech towards minorities and other vulnerable groups in
the State party, including persons belonging to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) community (art. 16).
The Committee recalls that, in the light of its general comment No. 2 (2007) on the
implementation of article 2, the special protection of minorities or marginalized
individuals or groups especially at risk is part of the State party’s obligation to
prevent torture or ill-treatment. In this respect, the State party should enhance efforts
to eradicate any instances of violence and ill-treatment of vulnerable groups, including
through increased awareness-raising and information campaigns to promote tolerance
and respect for diversity. The State party should ensure that violent acts,
discrimination and hate speech are systematically investigated, prosecuted and the
alleged perpetrators prosecuted, if found guilty, convicted and sanctioned with
penalties commensurate with the gravity of the offence.
Missing minors and trafficking
22.
The Committee has received reports of NGOs raising concerns about the number of
unaccompanied minors who have not returned to asylum centres in the State party,
including the 68 children who were still missing from these centres on 31 August 2012. The
Committee is also concerned about the provision in the Immigration Regulations (Section
8-8) which grants unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors between the ages of 16 and 18
years a temporary permit that expires at the age of 18, as this may encourage minors to
leave the asylum centres before their permit expires. Furthermore, while welcoming the
different measures taken to combat human trafficking such as the new Plan of Action
against Human Trafficking launched by the Government in December 2010, the Committee
notes with regret that trafficking in persons still remains a problem in the State party,
especially concerning girls (arts. 2 and 16).
The State party should strengthen its efforts to prevent minors from going missing
from asylum centres by allocating sufficient resources to the immigration authorities
to prevent and investigate every case of missing minors. The police should be provided
with all the necessary resources to investigate and prosecute cases of trafficking.
Detention of minors
23.
While welcoming the continued efforts of the State party to establish two separate
prison units for young offenders, the Committee notes with concern that, despite the
reduced number of children in prison, children are almost always detained with adults (arts.
11 and 16).
The State party should ensure that minors are always segregated from adults, either
in pretrial detention or after conviction, in accordance with international standards,
such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
Justice (the Beijing Rules). The State party is urged to establish the second unit for the
detention of juveniles as soon as possible.
7