COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE ISSUES CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON REPORT OF ICELAND

CAT
30th session
13 May 2003
Morning




The Committee against Torture offered its conclusions and recommendations this morning on the second periodic report of Iceland, noting that it had not received any complaint of such maltreatment in the country and citing among other positive aspects to the situation new legislative Acts on children and foreigners that offered greater protection for those groups.
The Committee expressed concern about the lack of a precise prohibition of the use as evidence in court of any statement established to have been made as a result of torture, and about inter-prisoner violence that had frightened some inmates to the extent that they had requested solitary confinement.
The panel recommended, among other things, that torture be defined as a specific offense in Icelandic law; that inter-prisoner violence be monitored and that prison staff be trained to intervene appropriately; and that doctors having contact with persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment be trained in the field of prohibition of torture.
The Committee will reconvene in public session at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 May, to issue its conclusions and recommendations on the reports of Turkey and Slovenia.

Conclusions and Recommendations on Second Periodic Report of Iceland
The Committee noted with satisfaction that it had not received any complaint of torture or ill-treatment in Iceland. Among other positive aspects to the situation in the country, the Committee welcomed a new Act on Protection of Children and a new Act on Foreigners which offered greater protections for the persons concerned; and amendments to the Police Act by which allegations of an offense committed by a member of the police force were now to be submitted directly to the General Prosecutor for investigation.
The Committee said it was still concerned that Icelandic law did not contain specific provisions ensuring that any statement that was established to have been made as a result of torture should not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, as required by article 15 of the Convention. It added that it was concerned at the problem of inter-prisoner violence (in Litla Hraun State Prison) that had created a fear among certain categories of prisoners leading, among other things, to requests for voluntary placement in solitary confinement.
The Committee urged the State party to reconsider the Committee’s previous recommendations that torture be defined as a specific offense in Icelandic law and that legislation concerning evidence to be adduced in judicial proceedings be brought into line with article 15 of the Convention so as to exclude explicitly any evidence obtained as a result of torture.
The Committee also recommended that doctors who were in contact with persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment be trained in the field of prohibition of torture; that Iceland continue to address issues of inter-prisoner violence by actively monitoring such violence and ensuring that prison staff were trained and able to intervene appropriately; and that information on the investigation of cases of suicide in prison, along with any guidelines for suicide prevention adopted in this regard, be included in Iceland’s next periodic report.



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