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Report by the Special Rapporteur on torture
Visit undertaken from 10-17 April 2007
Report A/HR/7/3/Add.5
Concerns raised:
Female genital mutilation: Articles 3 and 4 of Act No. 98-16 of 17 November 1998, supplementing the Togolese Criminal Code of 1980, prohibiting female genital mutilation, criminalize participation in female genital mutilation. (Paragraph 16).
Corporal punishment: With regard to corporal punishment, the Special Rapporteur was informed that, on 6 July 2007, taking into consideration the concerns expressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the National Assembly adopted the Child Code. Its article 376 provides that: “Corporal punishment and any other form of violence or ill-treatment are prohibited in schools, vocational training centres and institutions.” (Paragraph 20).
Juvenile justice system: As stated by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Togo has no juvenile justice system compatible with the provisions and principles of the Convention, which means that there is practically no alternative to detention of juveniles in conflict with the law and that no special safeguards are in place for persons under 18. The Government has indicated that the National Programme on the Modernization of the Judicial System, which is ongoing, envisages the creation of tribunals for minors in almost all jurisdictions of the country (for the time being there is only one, in Lomé). The establishment of a training centre for the justice system will allow for targeted training on juvenile justice. (Paragraph 55).
Juvenile justice: According to the Government, in principle minors are always separated from adults in all prisons, especially at night. However, in many cases it turned out that minors were not separated from adults, e.g. in the Kara police commissariat and also in Notsé prison. In Kara prison, the juveniles had been held together with the adults until a few days before the Special Rapporteur’s arrival. Although in the juveniles’ section they were protected from abuse by adult detainees, they disliked it because there was no shade in the courtyard and they therefore could not go outside. They also indicated that, not only were they unable to attend any classes, they were also deprived of any books or other means of in formation and communication. The Government informed the Special Rapporteur that in Kara prison the creation of a shaded courtyard for minors has been ordered. (Paragraph 56).
Often minors, sometimes even children, are put in detention instead of social care. In the police post of Kara the Special Rapporteur found a 13-year-old boy, who, at the time of the Special Rapporteur’s visit, had been in detention for two nights because he had slept in a churchyard. He was also subjected to beatings when he claimed that he was Christian and the officers did not believe him. (Paragraph 57).
At Kara prison, all of the juveniles in one cell had been beaten up on the same day. Prison security agents had forced them to lie down and beaten them with a tree branch on their buttocks to punish them. (Paragraph 58).
At the special juvenile detention centre in Lomé, where abandoned, trafficked and marginalized children, some younger than 10, are held together with young adults who have committed crimes, corporal punishment appears to be a routine practice. The Commander of the centre admitted to having recourse to beatings in severe cases of disobedience. This clearly violates the basic principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other applicable international standards, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules), the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty and the Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System (Vienna Guidelines). (Paragraph 59).
Report by the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders
Visit undertaken from 28 July - 3 August 2008
A/HRC/10/12/Add.2
Concerns raised:
However, women defenders continue to face a series of challenges in their daily activities. First and foremost, women defenders are vulnerable to criticism and ostracism among their own families and communities. They are labelled as, inter alia, “bad mothers” and “family breakers”. Relatives of women defenders, such as spouses and children, are also the subjects of mockery. Women defenders further encounter discrimination within the or ganization or trade union they operate as their male colleagues often treat them with condescendence. (Paragraph 70).
