CAT/C/BGD/CO/1 Corporal punishment in law 46. While noting that article 35 (5) of the Constitution clearly stipulates that “No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment”, the Committee is concerned that the legislation in Bangladesh permits the imposition of whipping as a punishment and the use of iron bar fetters, and that section 35 (6) of the Constitution states that its prohibition against torture does not apply to any legally prescribed punishment (arts. 1, 2, 4, 11 and 16). 47. The State party should take the necessary legislative measures to eradicate and explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment in all settings, as they amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in violation of the Convention. Notably, the State party should ensure the amendment of the Prisons Act of 1894. Corporal punishment of children 48. While taking note of the directives issued in 2010 to stop all forms of corporal punishment in primary and secondary educational institutions and the 2011 declaration by the High Court of Bangladesh that all types of corporal punishment in schools, including caning, beating, chaining and confinement, are “illegal and unconstitutional” and a form of ill-treatment, the Committee is concerned that the State party has not outlawed corporal punishment in all settings and that it continues to take place on a broad scale, including in schools (arts. 2 and 16). 49. The State party should: (a) Introduce additional amendments in the Children Act, the Penal Code and other national legislation in order to explicitly and clearly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings; (b) Take all the measures necessary to prevent corporal punishment, including in schools, and investigate and take appropriate action against teachers who continue to apply corporal punishment in educational institutions; (c) Conduct public information campaigns to raise awareness among the general population of the harmful effects of corporal punishment and encourage nonviolent forms of discipline as alternatives to corporal punishment. Death penalty 50. The Committee is concerned at the numerous sentences handed down prescribing the death penalty. The delegation stated that the Government has been gradually replacing the death penalty with other forms of punishment such as life imprisonment. However, it confirmed that between 2013 and 2017, while 1,119 death sentences were handed down, “only” 130 such sentences were confirmed by the High Court Division, 239 such sentences were commuted and a total of 17 were carried out. The Committee is concerned because of the uncertainty these sentences cause to the large numbers of prisoners who have received them, the poor conditions of detention provided for such prisoners and reports that the State party is expanding crimes for which the death penalty may be pronounced, for example, through such laws as the Narcotics Control Act of 2018 (arts. 2, 11 and 16). 51. The Committee urges the State party to establish a moratorium on the death penalty; continue its efforts to commute all death sentences to other punishments; improve the conditions of detention of prisoners on death row; carefully review the application of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Narcotics Control Act and other relevant laws that may entail the imposition of the death penalty in the light of its international obligations; and consider ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Follow-up procedure 52. The Committee requests the State party to provide, by 9 August 2020, information on follow-up to the Committee’s recommendations on ensuring the full implementation by 15