Statement to the 34th session of the Human Rights Council: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment

OralStatement, World Organisation Against Torture

Thank youMr. President.

Mr. SpecialRapporteur,

OMCT would like to thank you for your report. We share your concerns on theincreasing tolerance to the use of torture in the name of security and thefight against terrorism. We commend your commitment to unequivocally reaffirmthe absolute and non-derogatory nature of torture, which is paramount in thecurrent changing political climate.

We also consider crucial your commitmentto address protection gaps of people on the move, including patterns of abusein transit countries and attempts to circumvent the non-refoulement principlethrough mass expulsions and the externalization of border controls and asylumproceedings. We also call for a systematic screening to identify the needs forthose who have suffered trauma to have access to treatment.

We commend your efforts to make theimplementation and protection gap a primary focus of your mandate. We believethat the very first step towards an effective implementation of internationaltreaties, including the Convention against Torture, is for State Parties tocomply with their reporting obligations. However, to date many are the countries,including Bangladesh, that are yetto submit their initial report to the Committee against Torture. What actionswill you take in this regard?

OMCT welcomes your recent visit to Turkey and your appeal to thegovernment to publicly reinforce its zero-tolerance policy on torture. It isvital that the situation continues to be monitored. We remain deeply troubledby the skyrocketing of allegations of torture and ill-treatment reported sincethe attempted coup d’état, amidst aclimate of fear and intimidation of victims, witnesses, lawyers and doctorstaking up such allegations. We are also deeply concerned about reportsindicating gross violations of human rights in the south-east part of thecountry and about what it seems to be a systematization of torture under thecountry’s state of emergency.

Mr. Melzer, could you identifyclearly which steps Turkey should take urgently to prevent the normalization oftorture as well as to ensure a climate that allows those who are documentingtorture and treating victims – no matter who the person may be - in Turkey?

Finally, we welcome the outgoing SRT’sreports on Sri Lanka, Mauritania and Mexico and strongly support hisrecommendations. With regard to the latter, we would be grateful to know whichactions you plan to undertake in order to monitor the implementation of therecommendations issued by the former SRT in its mission and follow up reports;do you foresee a follow up visit to Mexico?

Thank you.