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Summary: References to child rights in the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel , inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment.
Summary of report: In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment gives an overview of the mandate and his activities, and the main observations he has made over five years of fact-finding and research. His global assessment is based on a detailed study of the phenomena of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including an assessment of conditions of detention, in the world today, contained in document A/HRC/13/39/Add.5. Based on the study, he observes that torture remains a global phenomenon and is practised widely in many countries, the major structural reason being the malfunctioning of the administration of justice and, consequently the lack of respect for safeguards. Moreover, he maintains that, in practice, most States parties to the Convention against Torture have failed to fulfil their obligations, such as criminalizing torture, investigating allegations, prosecuting perpetrators and providing redress for victims of torture. He further holds that, in many countries, conditions of detention in police custody, pretrial detention, other detention facilities and sometimes correctional institutions for convicted prisoners, amount to inhuman or degrading treatment: detainees, whether deprived of their liberty for justified or less justified reasons, belong to the most vulnerable and forgotten sectors of our societies. He also recalls that other forms of widespread cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment include corporal punishment and excessive police violence during arrest, in reacting to demonstrations and political gatherings, combating riots and similar law enforcement activities. States also do not live up to the standard of due diligence required by the obligation not to commit torture by acquiescence when combating torture and ill-treatment by private actors, including harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation, domestic violence and trafficking in human beings, notably of women and children. 59. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate is not only about torture, but also includes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. During the tenure of his mandate, much of his attention — and many of his thematic reports — has been devoted to issues relating to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including privately inflicted violence, corporal punishment and conditions of detention. The following are some brief remarks in relation to the most salient questions arising in this regard. A. Distinguishing cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment from torture: C. Privately inflicted harm 62. Domestic violence, in particular against women and children, is a widespread practice in most countries, and not enough action is taken by States to protect women and children against ill-treatment by their husbands, partners or parents. Although female genital mutilation inflicts most severe pain and long-term suffering on girls, it continues to be practised in too many African and other countries without adequate laws prohibiting it and without law enforcement bodies implementing existing laws. Trafficking in human beings, notably women and girls, is one of the most widespread and lucrative activities of organized crime. Most Governments seem to be more interested in returning victims of trafficking to their countries of origin than providing protection and reparation for them. By not acting with due diligence to protect victims of domestic violence, trafficking, female genital mutilation and similar practices, States may commit torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by acquiescence.15 D.Corporal punishment 63. In its pervasiveness, impact on the victim and justifications put forward by its proponents, corporal punishment of children in the home and in educational settings differs from corporal punishment that is administered as part of a judicial sentence in a number of States. A separate problem is the corporal chastisement of detainees as a disciplinary sanction that the Special Rapporteur has witnessed in many countries. What is common to all these forms of corporal punishment, however, is that physical force is used intentionally against a person in order to cause severe pain. Furthermore, without exception, corporal punishment has a degrading and humiliating component. Corporal punishment must therefore without exception be considered to amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or torture in violation of international treaty and customary law. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 75. Among detainees, certain groups are subject to double discrimination and vulnerability, including aliens and members of minorities, women, children, the elderly, the sick, persons with disabilities, drug addicts and gay, lesbian and transgender persons. 76. Other forms of widespread cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment include corporal punishment and excessive police violence during arrest and in reacting to demonstrations and political gatherings, combating riots and similar law enforcement activities. States also do not live up to the standard of due diligence required by the obligation not to commit torture by acquiescence when combating torture and ill-treatment by private actors, including harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation and honour crimes, domestic violence and trafficking in human beings, above all of women and children. 77. In building upon the general recommendations elaborated by his distinguished predecessor, Theo van Boven, in 2003,20 the Special Rapporteur wishes to particularly stress the following recommendations: (b) All States should ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and establish effective national preventive mechanisms to carry out preventive visits to all places of detention. Those mechanisms should be fully independent bodies with a pluralistic composition and equipped with the financial and human resources necessary to conduct regular and ad hoc visits to all places of detention (police lock-ups, prisons, pretrial detention facilities, psychiatric hospitals and special detention facilities for women, children, migrants, drug addicts, etc.); For further information, visit the 13th session reports of the HRC here