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[GENEVA, 11 December 2007] - As a party to the UN Convention against Torture, Brazil must carry out a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the sexual torture of a 15-year-old girl in pre-trial detention in the state of Parå, said OMCT today. It must also hold to account all those directly and indirectly responsible, applying adequate sanctions as provided by the law.
In the eyes of the international community, Brazil has recently given signs of genuine commitment to fight the widespread torture that plagues the country, as denounced in reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and by the Committee against Torture after their respective visits in 2001 and 2005. In July, Brazil ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which recognises the Committee's authority to investigate individual violations. However, increased openness to international scrutiny alone will not put an end to torture in the country. As the recent case of a young girl raped in a police cell shows, some of the most basic safeguards to prevent torture and ill-treatment, as provided in the Brazilian Constitution and international treaties, are consistently overlooked by the State. These include the separation of children and adults and men and women in detention. L. was arrested on suspicion of petty theft in October and placed in pre-trial detention in the city of Abaetetuba, ParĂĄ State. For a period of 26 days she was held in a police cell with some 20 adult male prisoners. While the police, Public Ministry, judiciary and detention system officials claim good faith in believing that she was an adult, none of them prevented her detention with and subsequent rape by several prisoners. OMCT asserts that good faith cannot constitute a criterion for failure to apply due diligence and points out that as children from the age of 12 are subject to specific measures, the relevant authorities had an obligation to base their decision to detain L. on clear evidence as to her age. Furthermore, a female suspect should never have been held with men. The case has prompted public outcry, and administrative investigations were ordered following an anonymous complaint to the Conselho Tutelar, the governmental body responsible for the protection and welfare of children and adolescents in November. However, in what appears to be a coordinated approach, there have been many attempts by public officials in declarations to the Brazilian media to minimise their responsibility in these events. OMCT recalls that according to the UN Convention, torture consists of an act by which severe pain or suffering is intentionally inflicted on a person for a specific purpose, such as discrimination on the basis of sex or age, by a person acting in an official capacity, at his or her instigation or with his or her consent or acquiescence. Given the apparent opportunities that law enforcement and judicial personnel had to prevent this incident, State negligence alone provides grounds for these officials and the rapists to be prosecuted for torture. Any proof of a personâs complicity requires him or her to be held accountable and duly prosecuted. OMCT welcomes the protection that has been offered to the victim and her family, including a move out of the state of ParĂĄ. It also welcomes the Governor's order to transfer all women in the state from police stations to more adequate facilities as well as the appointment of commissions to visit such places. Despite this positive move, this development has meant that some women are now hundreds of kilometres away from their families and this should therefore not be regarded as a long-term solution. OMCT is also deeply concerned by declarations that announce disciplinary measures while little is said by the competent authorities about the criminal prosecution of those responsible. Indeed, on 5 December, an official request by the National Council for Criminal and Penitentiary Policy of the Justice Ministry was addressed to the Prosecutor-General of the state of ParĂĄ calling on him to order the criminal prosecution for torture, rape and "violent assault on public decency" of all those officials in the prison system, police, Public Ministry and judiciary involved in the case, as well as their superiors who had knowledge of the situation but failed to order measures to address it. OMCT supports the National Council's recommendation, while emphasising that this should by no means exonerate the detainees themselves of their criminal responsibility for the same acts. OMCT recalls that administrative measures alone do not suffice to ensure compliance with international law, as either action or omission by public officials in such a case amounts to a violation of the prohibition of torture. Moreover, the UN Convention provides for the State's duty to ensure full reparation for torture victims, including compensation and rehabilitation. More generally, OMCT calls on the federal authorities to take this opportunity to adopt and implement structural measures nationwide to prevent further violations of this kind and to ensure that safeguards provided in national law are fully enforced. Indeed, this is not the first such case, and as the number of women arrested and detained in Brazil rapidly increases, facilities that fully meet the requirements for protection of womenâs physical and psychological welfare must be put in place and effective monitoring mechanisms made operational. For further information, contact OMCTâs Violence against Women Programme: Mariana Duarte, md@omct.org or Child Rights Programme: CĂŠcile Trochu Grasso, ct@omct.org Further information