Convention
Abbreviation:
CAT
COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE
Twenty-sixth session
30 April - 18 May 2001
Brazil
115. The
Committee considered Brazil's initial report (CAT/C/9/Add.16) at its
468th, 471st and 481st meetings, held on 8, 9 and 16 May 2001 (CAT/C/SR.468,
471 and 481), and adopted the following conclusions and recommendations.
A. Introduction
116. The
Committee welcomes the initial report of Brazil while noting that
this report, which should have been submitted in October 1990, arrived
after an excessive delay of 10 years. Brazil ratified the Convention
on 28 September 1989 without making any reservation. The State party
has not made the declarations provided for in articles 21 and 22.
117. The
report was not prepared in complete conformity with the Committee's
guidelines for the preparation of initial reports of States parties.
However, the Committee expresses its appreciation for the remarkably
frank and self-critical character of the report, which was, moreover,
drafted in cooperation with a non-governmental academic institution.
The Committee also welcomes the additional information provided by
the State party delegation in its oral presentation and the constructive
dialogue which took place.
B. Positive aspects
118. The
Committee notes with satisfaction the following:
(a) The
political will expressed by the State party to combat the practice
of torture, and its eagerness to cooperate with United Nations bodies
and regional organizations to this end;
(b) The
frankness and transparency with which the Government recognizes the
existence, seriousness and extent of the practice of torture in Brazil;
(c) The
State party's efforts concerning the implementation of an education
programme and the national human rights promotion campaign (scheduled
for June 2001) aimed at sensitizing public opinion and the official
actors concerned to action to combat torture. The Committee also welcomes
the other measures taken by the State party to meet the concerns of
the Special Rapporteur on torture following his visit to Brazil;
(d) The
promulgation, in April 1997, of Law No. 9455/97 (Torture Act), which
introduces into Brazilian criminal law the categorization of torture
as an offence, with appropriate penalties;
(e) The
establishment of various bodies intended to enhance respect for human
rights, notably the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies,
the National Human Rights Secretariat under the Ministry of Justice,
the Federal Procurator for Human Rights and the human rights commissions
set up in some states;
(f) The
legislation relating to refugees and the establishment of a procedure
aimed at ensuring that an asylum-seeker is not returned to a State
where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would
be in danger of being subjected to torture;
(g) The
external monitoring of the police by the Public Prosecutor's Office
and the State party's efforts to reinforce external and independent
supervision through the appointment of police ombudsmen in several
states;
(h) The
contributions regularly paid by the State party to the United Nations
Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
C. Subjects of concern
119. The
Committee expresses its concern about the following:
(a) The
persistence of a culture that accepts abuses by public officials,
the numerous allegations of acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment - in police stations, prisons and facilities belonging
to the armed forces - and the de facto impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators
of those acts;
(b) The
overcrowding, lack of amenities and poor hygiene in prisons, the lack
of basic services and of appropriate medical attention in particular,
violence between prisoners and sexual abuse. The Committee is particularly
concerned about allegations of ill-treatment and discriminatory treatment
of certain groups with regard to access to the already limited essential
services, notably on the basis of social origin or sexual orientation;
(c) The
long periods of pre-trial detention and delays in judicial procedure
which, together with the overcrowding in prisons, have resulted in
convicted prisoners and prisoners awaiting trial being held in police
stations and other places of detention not adequately equipped for
long periods of detention, a fact which could in itself constitute
a violation of the provisions of article 16 of the Convention;
(d) The
lack of training of law-enforcement officials in general, at all levels,
and of medical personnel, as provided by article 10 of the Convention;
(e) The
competence of the police to conduct inquiries following reports of
crimes of torture committed by members of police forces without effective
control in practice by the Public Prosecutor's Office, with the result
that immediate and impartial inquiries are prevented, which contributes
to the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of these acts;
(f) The
absence of an institutionalized and accessible procedure to guarantee
victims of acts of torture the right to obtain redress and to be fairly
and adequately compensated, as provided for in article 14 of the Convention;
(g) The
absence in Brazilian legislation of an explicit prohibition on any
statement obtained through torture being accepted as evidence in judicial
proceedings.
D. Recommendations
120. The
Committee makes the following recommendations:
(a) The
State party should ensure that the law on the crime of torture is
interpreted in conformity with article 1 of the Convention;
(b) The
State party should take all necessary measures to ensure that immediate
and impartial inquiries are carried out, under the effective control
of the Public Prosecutor's Office, in all cases of complaints of torture
or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including acts committed
by members of police forces. During such inquiries, the officers concerned
should be suspended from their duties;
(c) All
necessary measures should be adopted in order to guarantee to any
person deprived of his or her liberty the right of defence and, consequently,
the right to be assisted by a lawyer, if necessary at the State's
expense;
(d) Urgent
measures should be taken to improve conditions of detention in police
stations and prisons, and the State party should, moreover, redouble
its efforts to remedy prison overcrowding and establish a systematic
and independent system to monitor the treatment in practice of persons
arrested, detained or imprisoned;
(e) The
State party should reinforce human rights education and promotion
activities in general and regarding the prohibition of torture in
particular, for law-enforcement officials and medical personnel, and
introduce training in these subjects in official education programmes
for the benefit of the younger generations;
(f) Measures
should be taken to regulate and institutionalize the right of victims
of torture to fair and adequate compensation payable by the State,
and to establish programmes for their fullest possible physical and
mental rehabilitation;
(g) The
State should explicitly prohibit the use as evidence in judicial proceedings
of any statement obtained through torture;
(h) The
State should make the declarations provided for in articles 21 and
22 of the Convention;
(i) The
second periodic report of the State party should be submitted as soon
as possible in order to conform to the schedule provided for in article
19 of the Convention, and should include in particular: (i) relevant
judicial decisions relating to the interpretation of the definition
of torture; (ii) detailed information on allegations, inquiries and
convictions relating to acts of torture committed by public officials;
and (iii) information concerning measures taken by the public authorities
to implement, throughout the country, the recommendations of the Committee,
and those of the Special Rapporteur on torture to which the State
party delegation referred during the dialogue with the Committee.