[prisoner-rights] CAT 32nd session: Conclusions and recommendations for Czech Republic

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release

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xxxxxxxxxxCOMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE ISSUES CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS ON REPORT OF CZECH REPUBLIC xxxxxxxxxx

Committee against Torture
13 May 2004

The Committee against Torture issued its conclusions and
recommendations this afternoon on the third periodic report of the
Czech Republic, welcoming the ongoing efforts to revise its
legislation in order to safeguard human rights in general and, more
specifically, those relating to the implementation of the Convention
against Torture.

The Committee expressed concern, among other things, about the steady
progression of acts of violence against the Roma community and the
allegations of police violence towards them, including the
unjustified reluctance by the police to take action with regard to
violence perpetrated against that community by private individuals.

It recommended, among other things, that the State party monitor and
document incidents of inter-prisoner violence with a view to
revealing the root causes and designating appropriate prevention
strategies; and ensure that medical examinations were confidential
and consider the possibility of transferring the medical services
from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Health.

As one of the 135 States parties to the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the
Czech Republic must provide periodic reports to the Committee on how
it is giving effect to the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will reconvene in public session at 10 a.m. on Friday,
14 May, to issue its conclusions and recommendations on the second
periodic report of Monaco.



Conclusions and Recommendations on Third Periodic Report of Czech
Republic

The Committee welcomed the ongoing efforts by the State party to
revise its legislation in order to safeguard human rights in general
and, more specifically, those related to the implementation of the
Convention against Torture. Among other positive aspects, the
Committee welcomed the amendments to the Residence of Aliens Act
establishing an independent judicial second instance body to review
asylum cases; the amendment of the Act on Servicing Prison Terms,
which defined conditions in prison that were more favourable to
inmates; the amendment to the Penal Code providing for the direction
of investigation to criminal offences allegedly committed by members
of the Police to the State Prosecuting Attorney instead of the Police
investigator as was previously the case; the Law on the Special
Protection of Witnesses; and the introduction in 2003 of the National
Strategy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.

The Committee said it was concerned about the steady progression of
acts of violence against the Roma community and the allegations of
police violence towards them, including the unjustified reluctance by
the police to take action with regard to violence perpetrated against
that community by private individuals. It added that it was concerned
at the lack of explicit legal guarantees of the rights of all persons
deprived of liberty to have access to a lawyer, and to notify next of
kin from the very outset of their custody; the fact that minors were
not kept separately from adults in all situations of detention; and
the current system under which inmates were required to cover a
portion of the expenses related to their imprisonment.

The Committee also expressed concern at the findings of the
investigations into the excessive use of force by the police
following the demonstration in Prague during the September 2000
International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank meeting, according to
which only one case qualified as a criminal offence; the lack of
complete information from the State party on redress and compensation
provided to victims of acts of torture, or to their families; the
amendments to the law on the right to asylum, amplifying the grounds
for rejecting asylum requests and allowing for the detention of
persons in the process of being removed to be held in aliens'
detention centres for a period up to 180 days; and allegations
regarding some incidents of uniformed and involuntary sterilization
of Roma women, as well as the Government's inability to investigate
due to the insufficient identification of the individual
complainants.

The Committee recommended, among other things, that the State party
exert additional efforts to combat racial intolerance and xenophobia
and to ensure that the comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation
being discussed included all relevant grounds covered by the
Convention; take measures to establish an effective, reliable and
independent complaints system to undertake prompt and impartial
investigations into all allegations of ill-treatment or torture by
police and other public officials, including allegations of racially
motivated violence by non-state actors, in particular any that had
resulted in deaths, and to punish the offenders; strengthen existing
efforts to reduce occurrence of ill-treatment by police and other
public officials; and strengthen safeguards provided in the Code of
Criminal Procedure against ill-treatment and torture.

The Committee also recommended that the State party monitor and
document incidents of inter-prisoner violence with a view to
revealing the root causes and designating appropriate prevention
strategies; and ensure that medical examinations were confidential
and consider possibilities of transferring the medical services from
the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Health; review the
independence and effectiveness of the investigations into complaints
of excessive use of force related to the IMF/World Bank
demonstrations of September 2000; and review the strict regime of
detention for illegal immigrants with a view to its repeal and ensure
that all children held in those detention centres were removed with
their parents to family reception centres.

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