CAT/C/PHL/CO/3
acts of torture or ill-treatment are immediately suspended from their duties and
remain so throughout the investigation, while ensuring that the principle of
presumption of innocence is observed;
(d)
Establish a database on the number of investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, sanctions and compensation granted to victims of torture and members of
their families, and report these figures to the Committee in its next report.
Coerced confessions
17.
While noting that the Anti-Torture Act provides for the inadmissibility of any
confession, admission or statement obtained as a result of torture, the Committee is
concerned at numerous reports of confessions extracted under torture and ill-treatment by
law enforcement officers. It is also concerned at the reported shortage of police officers and
the lack of capabilities to conduct investigations (art. 15).
18.
The State party should:
(a)
Take immediate and effective measures to guarantee that coerced
confessions or statements are inadmissible in any proceedings, except when invoked
against a person accused of torture;
(b)
Review cases of convictions based solely on confessions, since many of
these may have been based on evidence obtained through torture or ill-treatment and,
as appropriate, provide prompt and impartial investigations and take appropriate
remedial measures;
(c)
Ensure that persons convicted on the basis of coerced evidence or as a
result of torture and ill-treatment are afforded a new trial and adequate redress;
(d)
Ensure that law enforcement officials, army personnel, judges,
prosecutors and lawyers receive training on how to detect and investigate cases in
which confessions are obtained under torture;
(e)
Ensure that officials who extract such confessions, including persons
liable under the principle of command responsibility, are brought to justice,
prosecuted and punished accordingly;
(f)
Provide the Committee with information on any cases in which
confessions were deemed inadmissible on the grounds that they were obtained
through torture and indicate whether any officials have been prosecuted and punished
for extracting such confessions.
Blindfolding
19.
The Committee is concerned at reports that persons detained by security forces are
blindfolded. It is also concerned at the reported insistence of public prosecutors on positive
visual identification, which prevents victims of torture who were blindfolded from
identifying the perpetrators, even if their allegations are consistent with physical and
psychological symptoms of torture and visible or permanent physical injury (arts. 2, 11 and
16).
20.
The State party should:
(a)
Increase awareness among the security forces about the prohibition of
blindfolding under section 4 (b) (1) of the Anti-Torture Act;
(b)
6
Sanction all instances of blindfolding;