http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/53/plenary/a53-253.htmUnited Nations
A/53/253
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
17 August 1998
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
A/53/253
Original: English
General Assembly
Fifty-third session
Item 113 (a) of the provisional agenda*
Human rights questions: implementation of
human rights instruments
* A/53/150.
Status of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Report of the Secretary-General
1. The General Assembly, by its resolution 39/46 of 10
December 1984, adopted and opened for signature,
ratification and accession the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment contained in the annex to that resolution, and
called upon all Governments to consider signing and
ratifying the Convention as a matter or priority.
2. The Convention was opened for signature in New
York on 4 February 1985. In accordance with article 27
thereof, the Convention entered into force on 26 June 1987,
on the thirtieth day after the date of the deposit with the
Secretary-General of the twentieth instrument of ratification
or accession.
3. In its resolution 51/86 of 12 December 1996, the
General Assembly welcomed the report of the Committee
against Torture; 1/ urged all States that had not yet done so
to become parties to the Convention as a matter of priority;
invited all States ratifying or acceding to the Convention
and those States that were parties to the Convention and that
had not yet done so to consider joining the States parties
that had already made the declarations provided for in
articles 21 and 22 of the Convention and to consider the
possibility of withdrawing their reservations to articles 20;
urged States parties to comply strictly with their obligations
under the Convention, including their obligation to submit
reports in accordance with article 19 of the Convention, in
view of the high number of reports not submitted; stressed
the need for regular exchanges of views between the
Committee against Torture, the Special Rapporteur on
Torture and other relevant United Nations mechanisms and
bodies, with a view to enhancing further their effectiveness
and cooperation on issues relating to torture, inter alia, by
improving their coordination; commended the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights/Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat for the
support given to States in the preparation of national reports
to the Committee; urged States parties to take fully into
account the conclusions and recommendations made by the
Committee after its consideration of their reports; urged all
States parties to the Convention to notify the Secretary-General
of their acceptance of the amendments to articles
17 and 18 of the Convention as soon as possible; 2/ and
requested the Secretary-General to submit to the General
Assembly at its fifty-third session a report on the status of
the Convention.
4. The Commission on Human Rights, at its fifty-fourth
session, on 17 April 1998 adopted resolution 1998/38, in
which it called upon all Governments to implement fully the
prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment; urged all Governments to promote
the speedy and full implementation of the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action (A/CONF.157/23)
and, in particular, of Part II, section B.5, relating to freedom
from torture, in which it is stated that States should abrogate
legislation leading to impunity for those responsible for
grave violations of human rights such as torture and
prosecute such violations, thereby providing a firm basis for
the rule of law; reminded Governments that corporal
punishment could amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading
punishment or even to torture; stressed in particular that all
allegations of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment should be promptly and impartially
examined by the competent national authority, that those
who encouraged, ordered, tolerated or perpetrated such acts
must be held responsible and severely punished, including
the officials in charge of the place of detention where the
prohibited act was found to have taken place, and that
national legal systems should ensure that the victims of such
acts obtained redress and were awarded fair and adequate
compensation and received appropriate socio-medical
rehabilitation. The Commission also reminded all States that
prolonged incommunicado detention might facilitate the
perpetration of torture and could in itself constitute a form
of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; stressed that
under article 4 of the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment acts
of torture must be made an offence under domestic criminal
law and that acts of torture during armed conflict were
considered a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions of
1949, with the perpetrators liable to prosecution and
punishment; emphasized the obligation of States parties
under article 10 of the Convention to ensure education and
training for personnel who might be involved in the custody,
interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any
form of arrest, detention or imprisonment, and called upon
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
in conformity with her mandate established in General
Assembly resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, to
provide, at the request of Governments, advisory services
in that regard, as well as technical assistance in the
development, production and distribution of appropriate
teaching material for the purpose. The Commission stressed
in that context that States mush not punish such personnel
for not obeying orders to commit acts amounting to torture
or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
5. As at 15 July 1998, the Convention had been ratified
or acceded to by 105 States. In addition, 13 States had
signed the Convention. The list of States that have signed,
ratified or acceded to the Convention, as well as the dates
of their signature, ratification or accession, is contained in
the annex to the present report.
6. As at the same date, 39 of the States parties to the
Convention, namely Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria,
Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco,
the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
the Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay,
Venezuela and Yugoslavia, had made the declarations
provided for in articles 21 and 22 of the Convention. In
addition, two States parties, namely, the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States
of America, had made the declaration provided for in article
21 only, thus bringing the total number of declarations
under that article to 41. Under article 21, a State party to the
Convention may declare at any time that it recognizes the
competence of the Committee against Torture to receive and
consider communications to the effect that a State party
claims that another State party is not fulfilling its
obligations under the Convention. Under article 22, a State
party to the Convention may declare at any time that it
recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and
consider communications from or on behalf of individuals
subject to its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a
violation by a State party of the provisions of the
Convention.
7. The provisions of articles 21 and 22 entered into force
on 26 June 1987 in accordance with paragraph 2 of article
21 and paragraph 8 of article 22.
8. The sixth meeting of the States parties to the
Convention was convened by the Secretary-General at the
United Nations Office at Geneva on 26 November 1997 to
elect five members of the Committee against Torture to
replace those whose terms of office were due to expire on
31 December 1997. As a result of the election, the
membership of the Committee for 1998 is as follows:
Mr. Peter Thomas Burns (Canada)
Mr. Guibril Camara (Senegal)
Mr. Sayed Kassem El Masry (Egypt)
Mr. Alejandro Gonza'lez Poblete (Chile)
Mr. Andreas Mavromatis (Cyprus)
Mr. Anto'nio Silva Henriques Gaspar (Portugal)
Mr. Bent Sorensen (Denmark)
Mr. Alexander M. Yakovlev (Russian Federation)
Mr. Yu Mengjia (China)
Mr. Bostjan M. Zupancic (Slovenia)
9. The Committee against Torture held its seventeenth,
eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth sessions at the United
Nations Office at Geneva from 11 to 22 November 1996,
from 29 April to 9 May 1997, from 10 to 21 November 1997
and from 4 to 22 May 1998, respectively. In accordance
with article 24 of the Convention, the Committee submitted
its annual reports, 3/ covering its activities at the sessions
referred to above, to the States parties and to the General
Assembly at its fifty-second and fifty-third sessions.
Notes
1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session,
Supplement No. 44 (A/51/44).
2/ Adopted by the Conference of States Parties to the Convention
on 9 September 1992 in accordance with article 29, paragraph
1, of the Convention (CAT/SP/SR.4) and endorsed by the
General Assembly in its resolution 47/111 of 16 December
1992.
3/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-second
Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/52/44); ibid., Fifty-third
Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/53/44).
Annex
List of States that have signed, ratified or acceded to the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment as at 15 July 1998
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date of receipt of the
instrument of ratification,
State Date of signature accession or succession
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afghanistan 4 February 1985 1 April 1987
Albania 11 May 1994 b/
Algeria a/ 26 November 1985 12 September 1989
Antigua and Barbuda 19 July 1993 b/
Argentina a/ 4 February 1985 24 September 1986
Armenia 13 September 1993 b/
Australia a/ 10 December 1985 8 August 1989
Austria a/ 14 March 1985 29 July 1987
Azerbaijan 16 August 1996 b/
Bahrain 6 March 1998 b/
Belarus 19 December 1985 13 March 1987
Belgium 4 February 1985
Belize 17 March 1986 b/
Benin 12 March 1992 b/
Bolivia 4 February 1985
Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 March 1992 c/
Brazil 23 September 1985 28 September 1989
Bulgaria a/ 10 June 1986 16 December 1986
Burundi 18 February 1993 b/
Cambodia 15 October 1992 b/
Cameroon 19 December 1986 b/
Canada a/ 23 August 1985 24 June 1987
Cape Verde 4 June 1992 b/
Chad 9 June 1995 b/
Chile 23 September 1987 30 September 1988
China 12 December 1986 4 October 1988
Colombia 10 April 1985 8 December 1987
Costa Rica 4 February 1985 11 November 1993
Co^te d'Ivoire 18 December 1995 b/
Croatia a/ 8 October 1991 c/
Cuba 27 January 1986 17 May 1995
Cyprus a/ 9 October 1985 18 July 1991
Czech Republic 1 January 1993 c/
Democratic Republic
of the Congo 18 March 1996 b/
Denmark a/ 4 February 1985 27 May 1987
Dominican Republic 4 February 1985
Ecuador a/ 4 February 1985 30 March 1988
Egypt 25 June 1986 b/
El Salvador 17 June 1996 b/
Estonia 21 October 1991 b/
Ethiopia 14 March 1994 b/
Finland a/ 4 February 1985 30 August 1989
France a/ 4 February 1985 18 February 1986
Gabon 21 January 1986
Gambia 23 October 1985
Georgia 26 October 1994 b/
Germany 13 October 1986 1 October 1990
Greece a/ 4 February 1985 6 October 1988
Guatemala 5 January 1990 b/
Guinea 30 May 1986 10 October 1989
Guyana 25 January 1988 19 May 1988
Honduras 5 December 1996 b/
Hungary a/ 28 November 1986 15 April 1987
Iceland a/ 4 February 1985 23 October 1996
India 14 October 1997
Indonesia 23 October 1985
Ireland 28 September 1992
Israel 22 October 1986 3 October 1991
Italy a/ 4 February 1985 12 January 1989
Jordan 13 November 1991 b/
Kenya 21 February 1997 b/
Kuwait 8 March 1996 b/
Kyrgyzstan 5 September 1997 b/
Latvia 14 April 1992 b/
Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya 16 May 1989 b/
Liechtenstein a/ 27 June 1985 2 November 1990
Lithuania 1 February 1996 b/
Luxembourg a/ 22 February 1985 29 September 1987
Malawi 11 June 1996 b/
Malta a/ 13 September 1990 b/
Mauritius 9 December 1992 b/
Mexico 18 March 1985 23 January 1986
Monaco a/ 6 December 1991 b/
Morocco 8 January 1986 21 June 1993
Namibia 28 November 1994 b/
Nepal 14 May 1991 b/
Netherlands a/ 4 February 1985 21 December 1988
New Zealand a/ 14 January 1986 10 December 1989
Nicaragua 15 April 1985
Nigeria 28 July 1988
Norway a/ 4 February 1985 9 July 1986
Panama 22 February 1985 24 August 1987
Paraguay 23 October 1989 12 March 1990
Peru 29 May 1985 7 July 1988
Philippines 18 June 1986 b/
Poland a/ 13 January 1986 26 July 1989
Portugal a/ 4 February 1985 9 February 1989
Republic of Korea 9 January 1995 b/
Republic of Moldova 28 November 1995 b/
Romania 18 December 1990 b/
Russian Federation a/ 10 December 1985 3 March 1987
Saudi Arabia 22 September 1997 b/
Senegal a/ 4 February 1985 21 August 1986
Seychelles 5 May 1992 b/
Sierra Leone 18 March 1985
Slovakia a/ 29 May 1993 c/
Slovenia a/ 16 July 1993 b/
Somalia 24 January 1990 b/
South Africa 29 January 1993
Spain a/ 4 February 1985 21 October 1987
Sri Lanka 3 January 1994 b/
Sudan 4 June 1986
Sweden a/ 4 February 1985 8 January 1986
Switzerland a/ 4 February 1985 2 December 1986
Tajikistan 11 January 1995 b/
The former Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia 12 December 1994 c/
Togo a/ 25 March 1987 18 November 1987
Tunisia a/ 26 August 1987 23 September 1988
Turkey a/ 25 January 1988 2 August 1988
Uganda 3 November 1986 b/
Ukraine 27 February 1986 24 February 1987
United Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland d/ 15 March 1985 8 December 1988
United States of
America d/ 18 April 1988 21 October 1994
Uruguay a/ 4 February 1985 24 October 1986
Uzbekistan 28 September 1995 b/
Venezuela a/ 15 February 1985 29 July 1991
Yemen 5 November 1991 b/
Yugoslavia a/ 18 April 1989 10 September 1991
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes
a/ Made the declaration under articles 21 and 22 of the
Convention.
b/ Accession.
c/ Succession.
d/ Made the declaration under article 21 of the Convention.
