A/65/44 The State party should provide information on the situation of Iranian nationals of Arab (Ahwazi) ethnic descent and measures taken to ensure their protection against refoulement. Training (20) The Committee takes note of the information on trainings, seminars and courses on human rights for police officers included in the State report and provided during the oral presentation. However, the Committee regrets that there was sparse and inadequate information on training programmes for security and intelligence personnel, as well as for judges, prosecutors, forensic doctors and medical personnel dealing with detained persons, on the provisions of the Convention and on how to detect and document physical and psychological sequelae of torture. The Committee also regrets the lack of information on monitoring and evaluation of the impact of any of its training programmes in reducing incidents of torture and ill-treatment (art. 10). The State party should further develop and strengthen educational programmes to ensure that all officials, including law enforcement, security, intelligence and prison officials, are fully aware of the provisions of the Convention, that breaches of the Convention will not be tolerated and will be promptly and effectively investigated, and that offenders will be prosecuted. Furthermore, all relevant personnel, including medical personnel, should receive specific training on how to identify signs of torture and ill-treatment, including training on the use of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), which should be utilized effectively. In addition, the State party should assess the effectiveness and impact of such training/educational programmes. Enforced disappearances (21) The Committee is deeply concerned at the numerous reports regarding a high number of persons involuntary disappeared in the State party. The 2009 report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (A/HRC/13/31)) refers to allegations of enforced disappearance of 28 persons, on which the delegation failed to provide sufficient and precise explanations and information. Furthermore, the Committee has received numerous and credible reports pointing at a much higher number of persons subjected to disappearance. These allegations concern, in particular, the disappearances of members of the Muslim Brotherhood and those that occurred during the military presence of the Syrian Arab Republic in Lebanon since the early 1970s. The Committee has been informed about the Lebanese-Syrian official commission that was established on 31 July 2005 to look into the issue of disappeared Syrians in Lebanon and disappeared Lebanese in the Syrian Arab Republic. A total of 640 cases were submitted to the commission, but no further action has been taken to investigate these cases. Furthermore, the Secretary General of the Lebanese Centre for Human Rights, who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, has not been permitted entry to the State party to research these matters. The Committee expresses its concern that the competent authorities have not initiated proceedings to investigate the fate of missing persons and to identify, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of enforced disappearances, which constitutes a violation of the Convention (arts. 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16). The State party should as a matter of urgency investigate every case of reported enforced disappearances and communicate the results of the investigations to the families of missing persons. The Committee urges the State party to establish, within an appropriate time frame, an independent commission of inquiry into all disappearances, including of members of the Muslim Brotherhood and those that occurred during the military presence of the Syrian Arab Republic in Lebanon since GE.10-44721 133

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