CAT/C/MUS/CO/3
The State party should take concrete measures to ensure that complaints
lodged against the police are addressed promptly, thoroughly and impartially by
independent complaint mechanisms and that those responsible can be prosecuted,
convicted and punished. In this regard, the State party should rapidly adopt and
implement the draft Police Complaints Bill under preparation and establish the
Independent Police Complaints Bureau; adopt a new Police Act and a Police
Procedures and Criminal Evidence Act, as well as Codes of Practice to regulate the
conduct of persons entrusted to investigate offences. The State party should also
ensure the implementation of recommendations made by the National Human Rights
Commission in 2007 regarding the conduct of the police and inform the Committee on
its concrete results.
Non-refoulement
12.
The Committee is concerned that the legislation of the State does not clearly and
fully guarantee the principle of non-refoulement set out in article 3 of the Convention, as
requested by the Committee in its concluding observations (A/54/44, 1999, para. 123 (c)). It
is also concerned about the lack of sufficient information regarding the process followed in
cases of requests for extradition as well as the procedural guarantees the person extradited
enjoys, including the right to appeal against the extradition, with suspensive effect (art. 3).
The State party should revise its legislation guaranteeing the principle of nonrefoulement. The State party should review its Extradition Act to make it in full
compliance with article 3 of the Convention, in particular, it should clarify the process
under which extradition is requested and decided, the guarantees offered, including
the possibility to challenge the decision with suspensive effect in order to ensure that
persons expelled, returned or extradited are not in danger of being subject to torture.
The State party should also provide detailed statistical data on the number of requests
received, the requesting States and the number of persons extradited or not.
Human rights education and training
13.
While noting efforts undertaken by the State party to provide human rights
education and training to police officers and other personnel, including on the prevention of
torture, the Committee regrets the lack of information about the concrete results of such
training programmes. The Committee is also concerned about the fact that training
programmes for medical personnel do not include the “Manual on the Effective
Investigation and Documentation on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment” (Istanbul Protocol) (art. 10).
The State party should reinforce its training programmes to law enforcement
and medical personnel, and to those involved in documenting and investigating acts of
torture, on the provisions of the Convention, as well as on other instruments, such as
the “Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation on Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” (Istanbul Protocol). The
State party should also set out a methodology to assess the concrete impact of such
training programmes and inform the Committee on their results. In this regard, the
State party is encouraged to seek technical assistance from international bodies and
organizations.
Conditions of detention
14.
The Committee takes note of the information provided by the State party regarding
its efforts to improve conditions of detention, including the construction on a new Prison
for 750 detainees at Melrose. However, the Committee is concerned about the
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