CAT/C/67/D/854/2017
7.4
The Committee notes the complainant’s statement that, as the rape and acts of sexual
violence and ill-treatment to which she was subjected twice in 1993 amounted to torture
pursuant to article 1 (1) of the Convention, the State party is under an obligation to, among
other things, provide her adequate compensation and integral redress pursuant to article 14
(1) of the Convention. The Committee notes that the State party has not contested these
allegations.
7.5
With regard to the alleged violation of article 14 (1) of the Convention, the
Committee notes the complainant’s allegations that the State party has deprived her of the
right to fair and adequate compensation by failing to ensure that she is compensated
because of the State party’s failure to adopt adequate legislation and develop law
enforcement practice which would ensure that victims of torture obtain redress and enforce
their right to compensation. The Committee recalls that article 14 of the Convention not
only recognizes the right to fair and adequate compensation but also requires States parties
to ensure that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress. The Committee recalls that the
obligation of the States parties to provide redress under article 14 is twofold: procedural
and substantive. To satisfy their procedural obligations, States parties shall enact legislation
and establish complaints mechanisms and ensure that such mechanisms and bodies are
effective and accessible to all victims. 36 The Committee recalls that, on account of the
continuous nature of the effects of torture, statutes of limitations should not be applicable as
they deprive victims of the redress, compensation and rehabilitation due to them. 37 The
Committee also recalls its concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of the State
party in which it urged the State party to take all the necessary measures to enable victims
of torture and ill-treatment, including victims of wartime sexual violence, to exercise their
right to redress.38 The Committee considers that redress should cover all the harm suffered
by the victim, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation of the victim and measures
to guarantee that there is no recurrence of the violation, while always bearing in mind the
circumstances of each case. Given the severity of the act of torture and the complainant’s
right to obtain compensation, and given the lack of any possibility to enforce her right as
fully as possible, the Committee concludes that the State party has breached its obligations
under article 14 of the Convention.
7.6
The Committee observes that, although the complainant was granted compensation,
there is no possibility to receive it in practice since the perpetrator has no property or
financial means to compensate the complainant for the violations committed. The
Committee notes that the domestic legislation regulating civil claims for non-pecuniary
damage provides for a statute of limitations 39 for such cases, and that the Constitutional
Court jurisprudence on the matter, interpreting article 377 of the Law on Civil Obligations,
fails to acknowledge the principle of subsidiary liability. The Committee is therefore of the
view that the State party has failed to fulfil its obligations under article 14 of the
Convention by failing to provide the complainant with redress, including fair and adequate
compensation.40
8.
The Committee, acting under article 22 (7) of the Convention, concludes that the
facts before it disclose a violation of article 14 (1) in conjunction with article 1 (1) of the
Convention.
9.
The Committee considers that the State party is required to: (a) ensure that the
complainant obtains prompt, fair and adequate compensation; (b) ensure that the
complainant receives medical and psychological care immediately and free of charge; (c)
offer public official apologies to the complainant; (d) comply with concluding observations
with respect to establishing an effective reparation scheme at the national level to provide
all forms of redress to victims of war crimes, including sexual violence, and to develop and
adopt a framework law that clearly defines the criteria for obtaining the status of victim of a
36
37
38
39
40
10
General comment No. 3, para. 5.
Ibid., para. 40.
CAT/C/BIH/CO/6, para. 19.
Law on Civil Obligations, art. 376.
See also Osmani v. Serbia, para. 10.8.