Third CommitteeAgenda item 69 (a)Promotion and protection of human rights: implementationof human rights instrumentsArgentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, , Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus,Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein,Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand,Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, United Kingdomof Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America and Uruguay:draft resolution

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatmentor punishmentThe General Assembly,Reaffirmingthat no one shall be subjected to torture or to other cruel, inhumanor degrading treatment or punishment,Recallingthat freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment is a non-derogable right that must be protected under allcircumstances, including in times of international or internal armed conflict ordisturbance, and that the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or punishment is affirmed in relevant international instruments,Recalling alsothat the prohibition of torture is a peremptory norm ofinternational law and that international, regional and domestic courts have held theprohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to be customaryinternational law,Recalling furtherthe definition of torture contained in article 1 of theConvention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment,1without prejudice to any international instrument or nationallegislation which contains or may contain provisions of wider application,Emphasizingthe importance of properly interpreting and implementing theobligations of States with respect to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment, and of abiding strictly by the definition of torturecontained in article 1 of the Convention,Notingthat under the Geneva Conventions of 1949,2torture and inhumantreatment are a grave breach and that under the statute of the International Tribunalfor the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of InternationalHumanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991,the statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of PersonsResponsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of InternationalHumanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan CitizensResponsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in the Territory ofNeighbouring States between 1 January and 31 December 1994 and the RomeStatute of the International Criminal Court,3acts of torture can constitute crimesagainst humanity and, when committed in a situation of armed conflict, constitutewar crimes,Emphasizingthat the entry into force as soon as possible of the InternationalConvention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance4and itsimplementation will make a significant contribution to the prevention andprohibition of torture, including by prohibiting secret places of detention, andencouraging all States that have not done so to consider signing, ratifying oracceding to the Convention,Commendingthe persistent efforts of civil society organizations, includingnon-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and theconsiderable network of centres for the rehabilitation of victims of torture, tocombat torture and to alleviate the suffering of victims of torture,1.Condemnsall forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment, including through intimidation, which are and shall remainprohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever and can thus never be justified,and calls upon all States to implement fully the absolute prohibition of torture andother cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;2.Emphasizesthat States must take persistent, determined and effectivemeasures to prevent and combat all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or punishment, stresses that all acts of torture must be madeoffences under domestic criminal law, and encourages States to prohibitunderdomestic lawacts constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment;3.Welcomesthe establishment of national preventive mechanisms toprevent torture, encourages all States that have not yet done so to establish suchmechanisms, and calls upon States parties to the Optional Protocol to the__________________1234

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment orPunishment5to fulfil their obligation to designate or establish truly independent andeffective national preventive mechanisms for the prevention of torture;4.Emphasizesthe importance of States ensuring proper follow-up to therecommendations and conclusions of the relevant treaty bodies and mechanisms,including the Committee against Torture, the Subcommittee on Prevention ofTorture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and theSpecial Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on torture and other cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;5.Condemnsany action or attempt by States or public officials to legalize,authorize or acquiesce in torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment under any circumstances, including on grounds of national security orthrough judicial decisions;6.Stressesthatan independentcompetentdomesticauthority mustpromptly, effectively, and impartially examine all allegations of torture or othercruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and wherever there isreasonable ground to believe that such an act has been committed, and that thosewho encourage, order, tolerate or perpetrate such acts must be held responsible,brought to justice and punished in a manner commensurate with the severity of theoffence, including the officials in charge of the place of detention where theprohibited act is found to have been committed;7.Takes notein this respect of the Principles on the Effective Investigationand Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment orPunishment (the Istanbul Principles)6as a useful tool in efforts to prevent andcombat torture and of the updated set of principles for the protection of humanrights through action to combat impunity;78.Calls uponall States to implement effective measures to prevent tortureand other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, particularly inplaces of detention and other places where persons are deprived of their liberty,including education and training of personnel who may be involved in the custody,interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest,detention or imprisonment;9.Also calls uponall States to adopt a gender-sensitive approach in thefight against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,paying special attention to gender-based violence;

12.Encouragesall States to ensure that persons convicted of torture or othercruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment have no subsequentinvolvement in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any person under arrest,detention, imprisonment or other deprivation of liberty;13.Emphasizesthat acts of torture in armed conflict are serious violations ofinternational humanitarian law and in this regard constitute war crimes, that acts oftorture can constitute crimes against humanity and that the perpetrators of all acts oftorture must be prosecuted and punished;14.Strongly urgesStates to ensure that no statement that is established tohave been made as a result of torture is invoked as evidence in any proceedings,except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made,and calls upon States to consider extending that prohibition to statements made as aresult of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;15.Stressesthat States must not punish personnel for not obeying orders tocommit or conceal acts amounting to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment;16.UrgesStates not to expel, return (“refouler”), extradite or in any otherway transfer a person to another State where there are substantial grounds forbelieving that the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, andrecognizes that diplomatic assurances, where used, do not release States from theirobligations under international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, inparticular the principle of non-refoulement;17.Recallsthat, for the purpose of determining whether there are suchgrounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevantconsiderations, including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned ofa consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights;18.Calls uponStates parties to the Convention against Torture and OtherCruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to fulfil their obligation tosubmit for prosecution or extradite those alleged to have committed acts of torture,and encourages other States to do likewise, bearing in mind the need to fightimpunity;19.Stressesthat national legal systems must ensure that victims of tortureand other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment obtain redress, areawarded fair and adequate compensation and receive appropriate social and medicalrehabilitation, urges States to take effective measures to this end, and in this regardencourages the development of rehabilitation centres;20.Recallsits resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988 on the Body ofPrinciples for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention orImprisonment, and in this context stresses that ensuring that any individual arrestedor detained is promptly brought before a judge or other independent judicial officerin person and permitting prompt and regular medical care and legal counsel as wellas visits by family members and independent monitoring mechanisms are effectivemeasures for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment;21.Remindsall States that prolonged incommunicado detention or detentionin secret places can facilitate the perpetration of torture and other cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment and can in itself constitute a form of suchtreatment, and urges all States to respect the safeguards concerning the liberty,security and dignity of the person and to ensure that secret places of detention andinterrogation are abolished;22. ,Emphasizesthat conditions of detention must respect the dignity andhuman rights of detainees, highlights the importance of reflecting on this in effortsto promote respect for and protection of the rights of detaineesand notes in thisregard concerns about solitary confinement;23.Calls uponall States to take appropriate effective legislative,administrative, judicial and other measures to prevent and prohibit the production,trade, export and use of equipment that is specifically designed to inflict torture orother cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;24.Urgesall States that have not yet done so to become parties to theConvention as a matter of priority, and calls upon States parties to give earlyconsideration to signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention;25.Urgesall States parties to the Convention that have not yet done so tomake the declarations provided for in articles 21 and 22 concerning inter-State andindividual communications, to consider the possibility of withdrawing theirreservations to article 20, and to notify the Secretary-General of their acceptance ofthe amendments to articles 17 and 18 with a view to enhancing the effectiveness ofthe Committee against Torture as soon as possible;26.UrgesStates parties to comply strictly with their obligations under theConvention, including, in view of the high number of reports not submitted in time,their obligation to submit reports in accordance with article 19 of the Convention,and invites States parties to incorporate a gender perspective and informationconcerning children and juveniles and persons with disabilities when submittingreports to the Committee;27.Welcomesthe work of the Committee and its report submitted inaccordance with article 24 of the Convention,9recommends that the Committeecontinue to include information on the follow-up by States to its recommendations,and supports the Committee in its intention to further improve the effectiveness ofits working methods;28.Invitesthe Chairpersons of the Committee and the Subcommittee topresent oral reports on the work of the committees and to engage in an interactivedialogue with the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session under the sub-itementitled “Implementation of human rights instruments”;29.Calls uponthe United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, inconformity with her mandate established by the General Assembly in its resolution48/141 of 20 December 1993, to continue to provide, at the request of States,advisory services for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or punishment, including for the preparation of national reportsto the Committee and for the establishment and operation of national preventivemechanisms, as well as technical assistance for the development, production anddistribution of teaching material for this purpose;__________________9

30.

Notes with appreciation

the interim report of the Special Rapporteur, andencourages the Special Rapporteur10to continue to include in his recommendationsproposals on the prevention and investigation of torture and other cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or punishment, including its gender-based manifestations;31.Requeststhe Special Rapporteur to continue to consider including in hisreport information on the follow-up by States to his recommendations, visits andcommunications, including progress made and problems encountered, and on otherofficial contacts;32.Calls uponall States to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteurin the performance of his task, to supply allnecessaryinformation requested by theSpecial Rapporteur, to fully and expeditiously respond to and follow up on hisurgent appeals,to give serious consideration to responding favourably to requestsby the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries and to enter into a constructivedialogue with the Special Rapporteur on requested visits to their countries as well aswith respect to the follow-up to his recommendations;33.Stressesthe need for the continued regular exchange of views among theCommittee, the Subcommittee, the Special Rapporteur and other relevant UnitedNations mechanisms and bodies, as well as for the pursuance of cooperation withrelevant United Nations programmes, notably the United Nations Crime Preventionand Criminal Justice Programme, with regional organizations and mechanisms, asappropriate, and civil society organizations, including non-governmentalorganizations, with a view to enhancing further their effectiveness and cooperationon issues relating to the prevention and eradication of torture, inter alia, byimproving their coordination;34.Recognizesthe global need for international assistance to victims oftorture, stresses the importance of the work of the Board of Trustees of the UnitedNations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, appeals to all States andorganizations to contribute annually to the Fund, preferably with a substantialincrease in the level of contributions, and encourages contributions to the SpecialFund established by the Optional Protocol to help finance the implementation of therecommendations made by the Subcommittee as well as education programmes ofthe national preventive mechanisms;35.Requeststhe Secretary-General to continue to transmit to all States theappeals of the General Assembly for contributions to the Funds and to include theFunds on an annual basis among the programmes for which funds are pledged at theUnited Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities;36.Also requeststhe Secretary-General to submit to the Human RightsCouncil and to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session a report on theoperations of the Funds;37.Further requeststhe Secretary-General to ensure, within the overallbudgetary framework of the United Nations, the provision of adequate staff andfacilities for the bodies and mechanisms involved in preventing and combatingtorture and assisting victims of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment, including in particular the Subcommittee on Prevention of__________________10

Torture, commensurate with the strong support expressed by Member States forpreventing and combating torture and assisting victims of torture;38.Calls uponall States, the Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights and other United Nations bodies and agencies, aswell as relevant intergovernmental and civil society organizations, includingnon-governmental organizations, to commemorate, on 26 June, the United NationsInternational Day in Support of Victims of Torture;39.Decidesto consider at its sixty-fifth session the reports of the Secretary-General, including the report on the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims ofTorture and the Special Fund established by the Optional Protocol, the report of theCommittee against Torture and the interim report of the Special Rapporteur ontorture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.