CAT/C/MCO/CO/4-5
The Committee recommends that the State party should include in its bill on specific
forms of violence explicit provisions on compensation for victims of torture or illtreatment, in accordance with article 14 of the Convention, which also stipulates that,
in the event of the death of the victim as a result of an act of torture, his or her
dependants shall be entitled to compensation.
Training
13.
The Committee takes note of the information the State party has provided on the
various training programmes for judges and police officers. Nevertheless, it regrets that the
training provided was not entirely as specified in the Convention (art. 10).
The Committee encourages the State party to continue to organize training sessions on
human rights and recommends that the Manual on the Effective Investigation and
Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (Istanbul Protocol) should be incorporated in training programmes for
medical personnel and other professionals. The State party should also assess the
effectiveness and impact of these programmes.
Measures to combat terrorism
14.
Although no cases of terrorism were recorded during the reporting period, the
Committee reiterates the concerns expressed by the Human Rights Committee (see
CCPR/C/MCO/CO/2) about the broad, ill-defined definition of terrorist acts contained in
the Criminal Code, including the lack of clarity in the definition of “environmental”
terrorism (arts. 2 and 16).
The State party should adopt a more precise definition of terrorist acts while ensuring
that all measures taken to combat terrorism comply with all its obligations under
international law, including article 2 of the Convention.
National human rights institution
15.
While noting the work done by the Human Rights Unit and the Mediator, and the
bill currently under consideration to strengthen the mandate of the latter, the Committee
regrets the State party’s reluctance to establish a national human rights institution (arts. 2,
12, 13 and 16).
The Committee encourages the State party to establish an independent national
human rights institution in accordance with the Principles relating to the status of
national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris
Principles, in the annex to General Assembly resolution 48/134) and to provide that
institution with the human and financial resources needed for it to effectively fulfil its
role, including the investigation of allegations of torture.
16.
The Committee invites the State party to consider ratifying the core human rights
instruments to which it is not yet a party, namely, the Optional Protocol to the Convention
against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
17.
The State party is encouraged to disseminate widely the reports it has submitted to
the Committee and the latter’s concluding observations through official websites, the media
and non-governmental organizations.
18.
The Committee invites the State party to submit its next periodic report, observing
the 40-page limit. It further invites the State party to update, if necessary, its core document
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