SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TORTURE ENDS VISIT TO MONGOLIA

 

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 13 June (UN Information Service) -- The Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Manfred Nowak, issued the following statement today:

“The Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Manfred Nowak, undertook a fact-finding mission to Mongolia from 6 June to 9 June 2005, at the invitation of the Government.

“Over the course of the four-day visit the Special Rapporteur met with the President, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Deputy Minister of Justice, among other officials.  He enjoyed the full cooperation of the authorities with the exception of the administration of the Gants Hudag Pre-trial Detention Centre, Ulaanbaatar, and ZuunmodPre-trialDetentionCenter.  He also met with the commissioners of the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia, representatives of non-governmental human rights organizations, as well as representatives of international organizations.

“The Special Rapporteur praised the 2005 public inquiry on torture being carried out by the National Human Rights Commission, and expressed strong support for its efforts aimed at eradicating torture.

“On the other hand, despite recent efforts in Mongolia, such as legislative reform and the establishment of a unit within the Prosecutor’s Office to combat abuses of law enforcement, torture persists, particularly in police stations and pre-trial detention facilities.

“He was also concerned with the secrecy surrounding the application of the death penalty, especially the absence of any official data.  The deplorable conditions on death row and the lack of notification of families, among other things, amount to cruel treatment, according to the Special Rapporteur.  He also noted that the treatment of prisoners serving 30-year terms in isolation is inhuman.  However, the ‘ordinary’ prison regime was found generally to be in line with international standards.

“The Special Rapporteur highlighted that impunity in Mongolia for violations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment goes unimpeded because of the absence in the Criminal Code of a definition of torture in line with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the lack of effective mechanisms to receive and investigate allegations of ill-treatment; and a basic lack of awareness primarily on behalf of prosecutors, lawyers and the judiciary of the international standards relating to the prohibition of torture.  Consequently, there is no recourse to compensation and rehabilitation for torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

“The Special Rapporteur issued preliminary recommendations to the Government, which included that it criminalize torture in accordance with the definition contained in article 1 of the Convention against Torture, and impose appropriate penalties; investigate effectively every allegation of torture and bring the perpetrators to justice; and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, entrusting the National Human Rights Commission with the task of carrying out preventive visits to all places of detention.

“The Special Rapporteur expressed his appreciation to the Government, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Country Team for their assistance in organizing the visit to Mongolia.

“The report of his visit to Mongolia will be presented at the sixty-second session of the Commission on Human Rights.”

Background

Mr. Nowak was appointed Special Rapporteur on 1 December 2004.  As Special Rapporteur, he is independent from any government and serves in his individual capacity.  The Commission first decided to appoint a special rapporteur to examine questions relevant to torture in 1985.  The mandate covers all countries, irrespective of whether or not a State has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Mr. Nowak has previously served as a member of the Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances; as the United Nations expert on missing persons in the former Yugoslavia; as the United Nations expert on legal questions on enforced disappearances, and as a judge at the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina.  He is a Professor of Constitutional Law and Human Rights at the University of Vienna and the Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights.

For further information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, please visit the following website:  http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/torture/rapporteur/index.htm.

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