Meeting of the States Parties
Thirteenth Meeting
Geneva, 18 October 2011
Item 5 of the provisional agenda
Election of five members of the Committee against Torture
to replace those whose terms are due to expire
on 31 December 2011, in accordance with article 17
of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Election of five members of the Committee against Torture to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2011, in accordance with article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Note by the Secretary-General *
1.In accordance with article 17, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention will be convened by the Secretary-General at the United Nations Office at Geneva on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, to elect five members of the Committee against Torture to replace those whose terms of office are due to expire on 31 December 2011 (see annex I). The names of the other five members who will continue to serve on the Committee until 31 December 2013 appear in annex II.
2.In accordance with article 17, paragraph 4, of the Convention, the Secretary-General, in a note verbale dated 12 April 2011, invited the States parties to the Convention to submit their nominations for the election by 13 July 2011.
3.In compliance with the provisions of article 17, paragraph 4, of the Convention, the Secretary-General has the honour to list below, in alphabetical order, the names of persons nominated by 13 July 2011 and the States parties which have nominated them.
|
Name of candidate |
Nominated by |
|
Mr. Aleš Butala Mr. Satyabhooshun Gupt Domah |
Slovenia Mauritius |
|
Ms. Felice Gaer |
United States of America |
|
Mr. Luis Gallegos Chiriboga |
Ecuador |
|
Mr. Abdoulaye Gaye |
Senegal |
|
Mr. Claudio Grossman Mr. George tugushi |
Chile Georgia |
|
Ms. Marie-Gisèle Zinkpe |
Benin |
4.Biographical data on the persons nominated, as provided by the States parties concerned, are contained in annex III.
Annexes
Annex I
List of the five members of the Committee whose terms of office expire on 31 December 2011
|
Name |
Country of nationality |
|
Ms. Felice Gaer |
United States of America |
|
Mr. Luis Gallegos Chiriboga |
Ecuador |
|
Mr. Abdoulaye Gaye |
Senegal |
|
Mr. Claudio Grossman |
Chile |
|
Ms. Myrna Y. Kleopas |
Cyprus |
Annex II
List of the five members of the Committee whose terms of office expire on 31 December 2013
|
Name |
Country of nationality |
|
Ms. Essadia Belmir |
Morocco |
|
Mr. Alessio Bruni |
Italy |
|
Mr. Fernando Mariño Menéndez |
Spain |
|
Ms. Nora Sveaass |
Norway |
|
Mr. Xuexian Wang |
China |
Annex III
Biographical data on candidates for election to the Committee against Torture
Last and first name s : Butala , Aleš
Date and place of birth: 20 October 1952, Bistrica pri Tržiču, Slovenia
Working languages: English
Current position/function:
Supreme State Prosecutor (since 2007) in the Office of the State prosecutor General of the Republic of Slovenia, Head of the Legal information Department
Main professional activities:
Trial judge at the court of first instance (from 1980 to 1990)
Appellate judge at the Higher Court in Ljubljana (from 1990 to the end of 1995)
Deputy to the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman (from 1995 to the end of 2006)
Member of the State bar examining board, appointed by the Ministry of Justice, to conduct Examination for the State bar examination (since 1995)
Educational background:
Graduated from the Law school of the University of Ljubljana in 1976
Other main activities in the field relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
Since 1994 my work has been profoundly related to the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
From 1998 to the end of 2009 I was a member of the Council of Europe’s CPT, elected in respect of Slovenia. I was re-elected twice. As a CPT member I participated in visits to many State Parties and was often the head of the visiting delegation.
I have more than 15 years of experience in monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty in Slovenia and in many other countries. I am also closely involved in dealing with police complaints procedures (impunity issues) and anti-torture issues.
Since the adoption of the OPCAT my work has been closely related to the promotion of NPMs in Europe and Asia. I was involved in the drafting of the Slovenian Act on the ratification of the OPCAT. It was my idea to designate the Ombudsman as the NPM in Slovenia and to invite NGOs and civil society to closely cooperate in the NPM in the way that is perhaps so far a unique experience.
List of most recent publications in the field:
I wrote numerous articles on various legal subjects and participated at various conferences, seminars, workshops and forums at home and abroad. Some of my recent publications/presentations:
External monitoring of prisons: ECPT and OPCAT, some basic standards to prevent ill-treatment (EC; Workshop on Recognition of Torture in Detention, Skopje, FYROM May 2011)
The role of judges and prosecutors in preventing torture and their response to allegations of torture (APT, Nepal, June 2010 and OSCE, FYROM, June 2011)
“Will police be investigating themselves again?” Pravna Praksa, September 2010)
ECPT and OPCAT, the standards and parts of the reports on Turkey (The Council of Europe/EU joint programme on dissemination of model prison practices and promotion of the prison reform in Turkey – Izmir, April 2010)
Implementation of OPCAT – the Slovenian experience (Twinning-Light project “Support for setting up an efficient NPM for increased promotion and protection of human rights in the places of detention” Bucharest, Romania, June 2010)
“Quo vadis, ombudsman”, Pravna Praksa, Ljubljana, 2009
Hate crime in Slovenia (8th European Conference, International Association of Prosecutors, The Hague, 2008)
Last and first name s : Domah , Satyabhooshun Gupt
Date and place of birth:30 September 1946
Working languages:English, French, Hindi and Creole
Current position/function:
Judge of Appeal of the Republic of Seychelles
Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mauritius
Lecturer at Associate Professor Level in Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Mauritius
Lecturer at Associate Professor Level in Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Technology, Mauritius
Main professional activities:
A major portion of my work on the Bench comprises application of the fundamental freedoms and liberties of the individual in a democratic system of Government. For the purpose, I use legal and judicial materials from national, regional, European and United Nations sources. The hierarchical level of my functions is the highest national legal system of the two jurisdictions, except that for Mauritius it is just one level short of the Privy Council. My daily work consists of, inter alia, determining the legitimacy and legality of State action, whether through police, prisons or otherwise, judged from international human right norms. Likewise, a major portion of the Law Module which I teach at the two Universities concerns the day-to-day application of, and adherence to, the civil and political rights as well as the economic and social rights of the individual in a constitutional democracy with an entrenched Bill of Rights under the Rule of Law. One whole chapter is dedicated to the judicious use as opposed to the arbitrary/despotic use of power of State and State agencies. The supporting materials come from jurisprudence from national courts as seen by Human Rights Committee decisions as propagated by, inter alia, relevant UN agencies.
Educational background:
Doctorate in Comparative Law, University of Aix-Marseilles
D.E.S. in Comparative Law, University of Aix-Marseilles
Masters in International Law, University of London
Bachelor in Laws, University of London
Bar at Law, Member of Middle Temple
Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London
Other main activities in the field of human rights relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
I was Parliamentary Counsel in the State Law Office when I actively involved my then Office to formulate and draft the article of our Criminal Code which would specifically criminalize torture in Mauritius. That was prompted by a comment in the report of the UN Committee against Torture. The text was duly passed by our Parliament soon after I was elevated to the Bench.
I lectured on the Human Rights in the BSC Degree Course in Police Studies at the University of Mauritius. This module includes criminal prosecutions against torture and the materials include the UN materials on the subject, including the United Nations Convention against Torture 1984 and the related Optional Protocols.
I am often called upon to give Key-Note Addresses to Conferences and Workshops, at national and international forums, on issues touching Human Rights in society and in the law such as Law of Organized Crime, Mutual Legal Assistance, Terrorism etc. Many of my materials are on Power-Points and are distributed to participants on CD’s and hard copies.
Some of the judgments I have given on human rights in Mauritius have made landmarks in our jurisprudence.
List of most recent publications in this field:
I have a number of publications since early age which include human rights issues then broadcast in the World Service of the BBC. However, the ones relevant to the field of our present concern and which are recent are:
ConstitutionaeAfricae, University of Antwerp Publications, Germany, 1994
The Mauritian Constitution and Civil and Political Rights, Encyclopaedia of World Constitutions, USA, 2006
University Study Materials on Constitutional and Administrative Law (Civil and Political Rights and Social and Economic Rights) (on-going)
Monograph on Law of Terrorism, International Security Studies (ISS), 2003
Monograph on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal and Related Matters, International Security Studies, Cape Town, 2004
Monograph on the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime in the SADC region, (ISS) 2006
Monograph on Prevention of Corruption in the SADC region, (ISS) 2007
Last and first name s : Gaer, Felice
Date and place of birth:16 June 1946, Englewood, New Jersey, USA
Working languages:English and Russian
Current position/function:
Member, Committee against Torture (Vice-Chair 2004–6, 2009–present; Rapporteur on follow-up), 2000–present
Director, Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, American Jewish Committee, 1993–present
Regents Professor, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 2010
Main Professional activities:
Developing programs for the promotion and protection of human rights, with particular attention to international and regional human rights institutions
Author of articles, chapters in books and reports on compliance with human rights standards, particularly efforts of international institutions in setting and reviewing those standards, e.g. United Nations, African Commission on Human Rights, etc.
Research and participation in programs to advance reform and functioning of UN human rights bodies. Has participated in Inter-Committee Meetings (ICM) including Malbun (2003, 2006), and specialized ICM meetings on follow-up (2009, 2010, 2011)
Educational background:
A.B., (Artium Baccalaureus) with honors, Wellesley College, 1968
M.A.. (Master of Arts), Columbia University, 1971
M.Phil., (Master of Philosophy), Columbia University, 1973
Other main activities in the field of human rights relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
Commissioner, United States Federal Commission on International Religious Freedom, 2001; Chair 2002–2003, 2006–2007
Chair, Steering Committee, National Coalition on the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1997–1999
Advisory Committee, Human Rights Watch/East and Central Asia, 1996–present
International Human Rights Council, the Carter Center, Emory University, 1994–2003
President, International Friends of the Chilean Human Rights Commission, 1985–1990
Committee on Human Rights, New York Academy of Sciences, 1982–1992
Board of Directors, Andrei Sakharov Foundation, 1993–present
Council on Foreign Relations, 1991–present
Advisory Panel on Housing Rights, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat II), New York, January 1996
Public member of United States delegations to World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, June 1993; Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, September 1995; Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, 1994–1999
List of most recent publications in this field:
“Women, international law and international institutions: The case of the United Nations,” in Women ’ s Studies International Forum, Vol. 32 (2009), pp. 60–66
“From Words to Reality: Implementing the Convention against Torture” – Strengthening the Prohibition against Torture. Human Rights Brief,Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, (Spring 2010 Special Edition), Vol. 17, pp. 15–19
“A Voice Not an Echo: Universal Periodic Review and the UN Treaty Body System,” Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 7:1 (2007), pp. 109–139
“Implementing International Human Rights Norms: United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies and Non-governmental Organizations.” In Henry F. Carey (ed.), Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Sept. 2003), pp. 339–357
“And Never the Twain Shall Meet? The Struggle to Establish Women’s Rights as International Human Rights,” introductory chapter to The International Human Rights of Women: Instruments of Change, American Bar Association, 1998, pp. 1–89
Last and first name s : Gallegos Chiriboga, Luis
Date and place of birth :13 December 1946, Quito, Ecuador
Working languages :Spanish, English and French
Current position/function:
President of G3 ICT (Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communications Technologies)
President of the World Fund for International Rehabilitation
Main professional activities:
Ambassador to the United States (2005 to April 2011)
Ambassador to Australia
Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations
ChairmanoftheAdHocCommitteeonaComprehensiveandIntegralInternationalConventiononProtectionandPromotionoftheRightsandDignityofPersonswithDisabilities(2002–2005)
Vice-President of the General Assembly (2003)
Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council (2005)
Vice-President of the UNICEF Executive Board (2004)
Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000–2002)
Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the Office of the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva (1997–2000)
Vice-President of the Commission on Human Rights (1998)
President of the Geneva Diplomatic Corps Network
Ambassador to El Salvador (1994–1997)
Coordinator of the Modernization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990–1994)
Head of Mission in Bulgaria (1985–1989)
Professor and academic
Educational background:
Bachelor of Political and Social Sciences
Doctor of Law
Qualification in Diplomacy from the Institute of Higher National Studies
Master of Arts, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University/Harvard
Other main activities in the field of human rights relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
Vice-President of the Commission on Human Rights (1998)
Member of the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court
ChairmanoftheAdHocCommitteeonaComprehensiveandIntegralInternationalConventiononProtectionandPromotionoftheRightsandDignityofPersonswithDisabilities(2003–2005)
List of most recent publications in this field:
2002–2007: Various articles on:
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Human rights monitoring
Disability and development
Accessibility for disabled people
Technology and disability
Last and first names : Gaye , Abdoulaye
Date and place of birth : 15 June 1948, Dakar, Senegal
Working languages :French
Current position/function :
Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Senegal
Main professional activities:
Opinions and conclusions concerning cases heard by the Supreme Court
Educational background:
Baccalaureate (subject cluster A4), 1970
Bachelor of Law from the University of Dakar Law School
Professional training at the Magistracy School in Dakar
Internship at the Créteil Regional Court (France)
Other main activities in the field of human rights relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
Member, Committee against Torture, October 2007–November 2011
Last and first nam es: Grossman, Claudio
Place and date of birth:Chile, November 26, 1947
Working languages:Spanish, English, French and Dutch
Current position/function:
Professor of International Law and Human Rights (1983–present) and Dean (1995–present) of American University Washington College of Law, Washington, DC
Member of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Human Rights of the University of Chile Law School, Santiago, Chile
Honorary Professor of the University of San Martin de Porres, Lima, Peru
Visiting Professor, University of Sergio Arboleda, Bogota, Colombia
Main professional activities:
Chair (2008–present) and member (2003–present) of the United Nations Committee against Torture
Board Member of the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, San Jose, Costa Rica (IIHD)
Member of the Governing Board of the International Association of Law Schools
Board of Advisors Member of the Revista Derecho y Humanidades of the University of Chile Law School
President of COLAM, 2003–2007, an institution made up of approximately 400 universities in the Western Hemisphere
Educational background:
Licenciado en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, summa cum laude, University of Chile Law School, Santiago, Chile, 1973
Lawyer, the Republic of Chile, 1973
The Hague Academy of International Law, Participation in the Center for Studies and Research, 1975
Certificate, International Institute of Human Rights (founded by Renee Cassin), 1977
Doctor of Law, School of Law, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1980
Other activities in the field of human rights relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
Current Chair and member of the Committee against Torture
President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Organization of American States (1996–1997; 2001)
Member of the IACHR (1994–2001)
Special Rapporteur on Women’s Rights, IACHR (1996–2000)
Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Populations, IACHR (2000–2001)
Participated in the decisions of hundreds of cases within the Inter-American System. Currently an active member in the dialogue with the States that have ratified the Convention against Torture. Presented to the UN General Assembly, for the first time since the creation of the Committee against Torture, its Annual Report for the last two years in his capacity as Chair of that Committee
List of most recent publications in the field:
“Strengthening the Prohibition against Torture: The Evolution of the UN Committee against Torture,” 17 HUMAN RIGHTS BRIEF, no. 4 (Spring 2010 Special Edition) at 1–2, 23–24, 35
“The Normative Value of the Istanbul Protocol” in Shedding Light on a Dark Practice: Using the Istanbul Protocol to Document Torture(International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims 2009)
“The Inter-American System and Its Evolution,” Inter-American and European Human Rights Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1–2, pp. 49–65 (2009)
El Futuro del Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos (The Future of the Inter-American System of Human Rights), in Protección Internacional de Derechos Humanos y Estado de Derecho: studia in honorem Nelson Mandela (Joaquín González Ibáñez ed., 2009)
Authored “Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948),” “Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACommHR),” “Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v Nicaragua Case,” and “Disappearances” for the online edition of The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (2008)
“The Velásquez Rodríguez Case: The Development of the Inter-American Human Rights System” in International Law Stories (Foundation Press 2007)
Suing the Sovereign from the Latin American Perspective, 35 GEO. WASH. INT’L L. REV. 653 (2003)
Last and first name: Tugushi, George
Date and place of birth:26 March 1977, Tbilisi, Georgia
Working languages:Georgian (Native), English (Fluent), Russian (Fluent)
Current position/function:
Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia, elected by the Parliament of Georgia for 5-year-term
Office of the Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia – since 17 September 2009
Main professional activities:
Member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Council of Europe (Since 2005)
Re-elected for the second term on 25 March 2009
Member of the Criminal Justice Reform Inter-Agency Coordinating Council, Tbilisi, Georgia (Since 2008)
Member of the Interagency Coordination Council working on the issues of the prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, established by the President of Georgia (Since 2007)
Trainer on the Law of international organizations and Human Rights Law, Training Centre of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, Tbilisi (Since 2006)
Project coordinator, Deputy Team Leader/Key Expert (2008–2009)
Human Dynamics KG, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and Greek Ombudsman’s joint project: Support to the Public Defender’s Office, funded by the European Commission
Human Rights Officer, OSCE Mission to Georgia (2004–2008)
Head of the International Relations Division, Office of the Public Defender of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia (2004)
NationalProjectLegalProfessional,United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Tbilisi, Georgia (2003)
Member of the Self-Governance Commission, OSGF – Open Society Foundation, Tbilisi, Georgia (2003 March)
Assistant Professor, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) Tbilisi, Georgia (2002)
Senior Legal Expert, Urban Institute/USAID, Tbilisi, Georgia (2000–2002)
Leading Specialist on Legal Issues, Parliament of Georgia (2000–2001)
National Expert, Project on the development of Trans-border Cooperation Policies in Georgia, TACIS, Tbilisi, Georgia (2000–2001)
Educational background:
Doctoral Candidate with a doctoral thesis on the “Status of the crime of torture in international law”, Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Law (2010–present)
LL.M. – International Human Rights Law, University of Lund, Faculty of Law, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Sweden (2003–2004)
MPA – Master in Public Administration, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Tbilisi, Georgia (2000–2001)
Diploma in International Law, Faculty of International Law and Relations Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia (1994–1999)
Other main activities in the field relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
Lecturer on the law of international organizations, Caucasus University, Caucasus School of Law (CSL), Tbilisi, Georgia (Since 2008)
Chairman of the Directors’ Board of the Association of Local Self-Government Independent Experts of Georgia (Since 2002)
Trainer in monitoring of the psychiatric hospitals and social care homes, Council of Europe, Program funded by the Danish Government, Promoting culture of human Rights (2009)
Trainer for the representatives of the Georgian media on human rights issues and the media, Office of the UN High Commissionaire on human rights (Tbilisi, 2008)
Trainer for the staff of the Public Defenders’ (Ombudsman) Office on international monitoring practices of the places for the deprivation of liberty, UNDP (Tbilisi, 2008)
Vice-President of the International Students Committee of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lund (2003)
List of most recent publications in the field:
Principle of Non-Refoulement – Rule of Customary International Law, Lund University Press 2004
Principle of Non-Refoulement in International human Rights Law, Tbilisi State University Journal of International Law 2008
Le CPT: Coopération et Confidentialité, Courrier de l’ACAT 296–297 Juin–Juillet 2009
Freedom of expression and issues related to the criminalization of Blasphemy, International Human Rights Standards and Georgia 2011
Last and first names: Zinkpe, Marie Gisèle
Date and place of birth:25 January 1956, Abomey, Benin
Working languages:French, English
Current position/function:
Judge, head of the Office for the Promotion and Dissemination of Human Rights, Human Rights Directorate, Ministry of Justice, Legislation and Human Rights
Focal point of the Women’s Justice and Emancipation Initiative (WJEI)
Main professional activities:
Head of the Office for the Promotion and Dissemination of Human Rights
Member of Benin’s delegations to sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, and for the presentation of periodic reports to ECOSOC (2008), the Committee against Torture (2007) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2006) and of Benin’s report to the Human Rights Council under the universal periodic review process
Supervision of the implementation of treaty bodies’ recommendations
President of the court of first instance of Ouidah (1997–2001)
Chief examining magistrate of the court of first instance of Porto-Novo (1995–1997)
First deputy public prosecutor of the court of first instance of Porto-Novo (1990–1995)
Juvenile court judge (1998)
Juvenile court judge (1988)
Internship as legal adviser at the administrative chamber of the Supreme Court (1986–1988)
Educational background:
1985: Diploma of completion of management training A, Benin National School of Administration, level II: judiciary specialization
1980: Master of Legal Science: specialization in business law and the legal profession
1996: Internship at the National School for the Judiciary in Paris and at the Marseille Regional Court
2003: Internship at Amnesty International (in Belgian French-language section)
Other main activities in the field of human rights relevant to the mandate of the Committee against Torture:
Coordinator of the committee monitoring the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture in Benin
Liaison officer of the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture
Member of the committee to review the draft code of criminal procedure
Member of the team overseeing training of juvenile justice workers in alternatives to imprisonment and to prosecution of children in conflict with the law
Member of the team to build the capacities of Beninese judicial workers responsible for implementing laws and for the promotion, protection and defence of women’s rights as contained in the international legal instruments to which Benin is a party
Participation in regional seminars on the implementation of the Optional Protocol in Africa
List of most recent publication s :
Reflections on pretrial release in Benin
Benin’s experience in the implementation of a mechanism to prevent torture (regional conference on the Optional Protocol, Cape Town, South Africa, April 2008)
Proposal for the establishment of a national observatory for the prevention of torture in Benin (regional conference on the Optional Protocol, Dakar, Senegal, April 2010)