(b) (c) Torture”; (d) (e) of War; (f) Act No. 7/2006 on the prohibition of female genital mutilation; Act No. 74/2005, entitled “Voluntary contributions to the United Nations Fund for Victims of Act No. 228/2003 on “Measures against trafficking in human beings”; The introduction in 2002 of the crime of torture in article 185 bis of the Military Penal Code in Time Act No. 154/2001, entitled “Measures against violence within the household”; (g) The entry into force of the Guidelines on the management of centres for immigrants, issued under the Directive of the Minister of Interior on 8 January 2003; (h) The Directive by the Minister of the Interior which entered into force on 8 March 2007 in order to facilitate the taking into care, by the National System of Protection for Asylum-seekers, of unaccompanied minors who reach the Italian borders; (i) The establishment of the Committee for the Protection of Foreign Minors to set the methods and modalities for the reception and temporary protection of unaccompanied foreign minors at the national level; and (j) The establishment of the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office (UNAR) which started its activities in September 2004. C. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations Definition of torture/introduction of a crime of torture (5) Notwithstanding the State party’s assertion that, under the Italian Criminal Code all acts that may be described as “torture” within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention are punishable and while noting the draft law (Senate Act No. 1216) which has been approved by the Chamber of Deputies and is currently awaiting consideration in the Senate, the Committee remains concerned that the State party has still not incorporated into domestic law the crime of torture as defined in article 1 of the Convention (arts. 1 and 4). The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (A/54/44, para. 169 (a)) that the State party proceed to incorporate into domestic law the crime of torture and adopt a definition of torture that covers all the elements contained in article 1 of the Convention. The State party should also ensure that these offences are punished by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature, as set out in article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention. Preventive detention (6) The Committee expresses its concern at the length of preventive detention. It also regrets that the maximum period for preventive detention is set by reference to the penalty for the offence of which the person stands accused (arts. 2, 11 and 16). The State party should urgently take appropriate measures to considerably reduce the length of preventive detention and restrict such detention to those cases, where it is deemed to be strictly necessary. Furthermore, the Committee encourages the State party to apply alternative non-custodial measures. Fundamental safeguards (7) The Committee is concerned at allegations that fundamental legal safeguards for persons detained by the police, including the rights of access to a lawyer, are not being observed in all situations. In this respect, the Committee is concerned that Act. No. 155/2005 (the “Pisanu Decree”) includes a provision that extends the 52

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