CAT/OP/CHL/1/Add.1 article 17 of that instrument.15 The Government subsequently indicated that the National Human Rights Institute would be designated as the national preventive mechanism. 16 Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has drafted a bill that designates the National Human Rights Institute as the national preventive mechanism, in compliance with this obligation. In the drafting of the bill, close attention was paid to the Subcommittee’s recommendations that the mechanism should enjoy financial and functional autonomy and be able to follow its own programme of work, operate confidentially and have its own body of staff that is independent of the National Human Rights Institute. Its duties will certainly include conducting unannounced visits to places where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty. 20. The bill stipulates that the national preventive mechanism will be implemented gradually and provided with an adequate budget each year. The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Office of the Minister and Secretary General of the Presidency are currently finalizing the draft, which will be shared with the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance and the National Human Rights Institute, before being submitted to the National Congress in the coming weeks. 2.1.2 Definition of the offence of torture 21. Paragraph 24: The Subcommittee reiterates the recommendations made by the Committee against Torture in 2009 and those made in the second universal periodic review of Chile in 2014 and urges the State party to bring the definition of the offence of torture fully into line with international law and, in particular, with article 1 of the Convention against Torture. The Subcommittee calls on the State party to harmonize its legislation and, in particular, to repeal articles 150A and 150B of the Criminal Code, as well as article 19 of Decree-Law No. 2460. Lastly, the Subcommittee recommends that penalties for other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment not constituting torture should be incorporated into the law. 22. With the promulgation, on 22 November 2016, of Act No. 20968, which defines the offence of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Chile brought its domestic legislation into line with the relevant international standards. In so doing, it fulfilled not only the Subcommittee’s recommendations but also those made by the Committee against Torture in 2009 and in the second universal periodic review of Chile in 2014. The offence of torture, as defined by the Act, replaces the offence of unlawful physical or mental coercion, and the penalty provided for in articles 150A and 150B of the Criminal Code prior to their amendment has been increased. 23. Under the new Act, section 4 of title III, book II of the Criminal Code has been amended to include torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and other violations of constitutional rights by public officials, so that provisions on all these offences are contained in a single section. In addition, the penalties for these offences have been significantly increased under the new legislation. 24. In accordance with the relevant international conventions, notably article 1 of the Convention against Torture, the new definition of torture includes the following components: (i) the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person; (ii) the existence of a concrete aim or purpose (coercion, punishment or discrimination); and (iii) the involvement of a public official who commits, instigates or consents to the act of torture.17 The provisions also extend to private individuals who commit acts of torture while 15 16 17 Article 24 (2) of the Optional Protocol provides that States may request twice to postpone the implementation of some of their obligations under the instrument, including the obligation to maintain, designate or establish a national preventive mechanism, for periods of three years and two years respectively. See Human Rights Committee, Sixth periodic report of Chile, CCPR/C/CHL/6, 12 September 2012, para. 52. Article 150A, as amended, reads as follows: “Any public official who abuses his or her position or role by inflicting, instigating or consenting to the infliction of torture shall be sentenced to the minimum duration of long-term rigorous imprisonment. The same penalty shall be imposed on any public official who was aware that such GE.17-07762 7