Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Thirteenth meeting
Summary record of the 16th meeting
Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, at 10 a.m.
Temporary Chairperson:Mr. Walker
(Representative of the Secretary-General)
Chairperson:Mr. Seilenthal(Estonia)
Contents
Opening of the meeting by the Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Election of the Chairperson
Adoption of the agenda
Election of officers of the meeting
Election of five members of the Committee against Torture to replace those whose terms of office will expire on 31 December 2011, in accordance with article 17, paragraphs 1 to 5, of the Convention
The meeting was called to order at 10.25 a.m.
Opening of the meeting by the Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
The Temporary Chairperson, speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, declared open the Thirteenth Meeting of the States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Since the Twelfth Meeting on 13 October 2009, the number of ratifications of or accessions to the Convention had increased to 149, which was cause for satisfaction, although there was still some way to go before universal ratification was achieved. He welcomed the representatives of States parties attending their first such Meeting.
Reviewing the work of the Committee against Torture, he said that since the Meeting of States parties in 2009, the Committee had considered reports submitted by 28 States and that a further 27 reports were awaiting consideration. It had concluded seven confidential inquiries under article 20 of the Convention and made public the results. Nine States parties, however, had declared that they did not recognize the competence of the Committee provided for by article 20. Since 1989 the Committee had also registered 476 individual complaints under article 22, of which 181 had been considered on the merits. A further 106 were pending before the Committee.
Since the introduction of its new optional reporting procedure, the Committee had transmitted 75 lists of issues prior to reporting to States parties, 55 of which had accepted them and 3 of which had not, thereby indicating that the new procedure had received substantial support.
In response to a request by the Committee for additional meeting time, the General Assembly, by resolution 65/204, had granted it one additional week per session as a temporary measure for two years until November 2012.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment had been accepted by 61 States parties and membership of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture had increased to 25 in 2011. The Subcommittee had already carried out 13 confidential visits to places of detention in States parties.
In addition, the Committee had pursued its efforts to strengthen cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of the Human Rights Council and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
Amendments adopted in 1992 by a Conference of the States parties to finance the Committee’s activities under the regular budget had been endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/111 and, since 1 January 1994, activities under the Convention had been charged to the regular budget. However, the amendments needed to be approved by two thirds of the States parties before they formally entered into force and to date only 28 States parties had notified the Secretary-General of their acceptance of the amendments. He therefore urged States parties to take appropriate action to bring them into effect.
Election of the Chairperson
Ms. Bokuchava (Georgia) nominated Mr. Seilenthal (Estonia) for the office of Chairperson.
Mr. Seilenthal (Estonia) was elected by acclamation and took the Chair.
(CAT/SP/34)
The agenda was adopted.
The Chairperson said that, in accordance with rules 2 and 3 of the rules of procedure of the Meetings of States parties adopted by the States parties at their First Meeting on 26 November 1987 (CAT/SP/2/Rev.1), the Secretary-General, in his note of 30 August 2011, had invited the States parties to send representatives to the Thirteenth Meeting and to forward the credentials of their representatives to him no later than one week before the date of the Meeting. As the Secretary-General had yet to receive proper credentials from some of the States parties represented at the Meeting, he suggested that, in accordance with rule 3, the representatives of those States should be entitled provisionally to participate in the Meeting, but he urged them to submit their credentials to the Secretary-General as soon as possible.
It was so decided.
Election of officers of the meeting
The Chairperson said that, in the light of previous practice, he took it that the States parties wished to elect one Vice-Chairperson.
It was so decided.
The Chairperson nominated Mr. Okio (Congo) for the office of Vice-Chairperson.
Mr. Okio (Congo) was elected Vice-Chairperson by acclamation.
Election of five members of the Committee against Torture to replace those whose terms of office will expire on 31 December 2011, in accordance with article 17, paragraphs 1 to 5, of the Convention
The Chairperson said that, under article 17 of the Convention, the five members of the Committee would be elected by secret ballot from a list of persons nominated by States parties. They would serve for a term of four years, beginning on 1 January 2012. The names of the candidates nominated by States parties were contained in documents CAT/SP/35 and CAT/SP/35/Add.1. Annex I to document CAT/SP/35 contained the names of the five Committee members whose terms of office were due to expire on 31 December 2011, while annex II contained the names of the five members who would continue to serve on the Committee until 31 December 2013. Biographical data on the candidates nominated, as furnished by the States parties concerned, appeared in annex III to document CAT/SP/35 and in the annex to document CAT/SP/35/Add.1. On 22 September 2011, Ecuador had withdrawn the nomination of its candidate, as indicated in document CAT/SP/35/Add.2.
At the invitation of the Chairperson, Ms. Aguilar (Ecuador) and Mr. Rodrigues da Silva (Portugal) acted as tellers.
A vote was taken by secret ballot.
The meeting was suspended at 11.10 a.m. and resumed at 12.10 p.m.
The Chairperson announced the results of the ballot, which were:
Number of ballot papers:134
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Number of valid ballots:133
Number of representatives voting:134
Required majority: 67
Number of votes obtained:
Mr. Butala (Slovenia) 49
Ms. del Valle Cóbar (Guatemala) 62
Mr. Domah (Mauritius)105
Ms. Gaer (United States of America) 82
Mr. Gaye (Senegal) 72
Mr. Grossman (Chile)111
Mr. Tugushi (Georgia) 97
Ms. Zinkpe (Benin) 66
Having obtained the required majority and the largest number of votes, Mr. Domah (Mauritius), Ms. Gaer (United States of America), Mr. Gaye (Senegal), Mr. Grossman (Chile) and Mr. Tugushi (Georgia) were elected members of the Committee against Torture for a four-year term beginning on 1 January 2012.
The meeting rose at 12.15 p.m.