questions were asked about prerequisites for arrest and pre-trial
investigations and the rights of detainees. Further information was also
requested regarding the conditions of indeterminate preventive detention and
the possibility of appeal, the duration of police interrogation, pre-trial
detention and the conditions governing police custody and solitary
confinement, and whether there had been in Finland any specific cases in which
the provision stating that an order by a superior could not be construed to
justify torture had been invoked.
191. Referring to the Finnish Extradition Act, members of the Committee
observed that its provisions were restrictive by comparison with those ef
article 3 of the Convention. They expressed the hope that some shortcomings
of the Act, especially in respect of the principle of non-refou1ement where
the threat of torture was concerned, would be remedied by the enactment of
additional human rights legislation.
192. Members of the Committee referred to a prov1s10n of the Finnish Penal
Code whereby certain acts constituted crimes only once they had been
accomplished and observerd that such a provision did not seem to be in
conformity with article 4 of the Convention. They also asked what penalty
applied when a victim of aggravated assault and battery had died.
193. with regard to article 9 of the Convention, members of the Committee were
of the view that Finnish legislation on mutual assistance was restrictive
because it appeared to require a specific treaty on the subject and asked
whether the Convention would qualify as the basis for such assistance.
194. In relation to article 10 of the Convention, information was requested
specifically about the inclusion of education regarding the prohibition of
torture in the training of medical personnel and prison staff.
195. In connection with articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, it was asked
whether the allegations against the police referred to in the report concerned
mild ill-treatment or grave misconduct, what the outcome of the investigations
had been and what sentences, if any, had been handed down. It was asked also
what action had been taken on the proposal to establish an independent
investigatory body, whether the victim's right to initiate legal proceedings
even in the event that the Public Prosecutor decided not to press charges had
been exercised in practice and which legislative provision guaranteed it.
196. As for article 14 of the Convention, it was inquired whether there were
in Finland any specific provisions on medical rehabilitation as distinct from
merely financial rehabilitation, and how victims were compensated for mental
injury.
197. With reference to article 15 of the Convention, and noting that minors in
Finland could never be interrogated without the presence of a witness, members
of the Committee asked how the witness in question was chosen. They also
pointed out that, if article 15 was not directly applicable, legislation
should be enacted to guarantee that evidence obtained as a result of torture
could not be invoked in legal proceedings.
-36-
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents