Committee against Torture

Fifty-eighth session

Summary record of the first part (public)* of the 1432nd meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 25 July 2016, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Mr. Modvig

Contents

Opening of the session

Adoption of the agenda

The first part (public) of the meeting was called to order at 10 a.m.

Opening of the session

The Chair declared open the fifty-eighth session of the Committee against Torture.

Mr. Walker (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)) said that since the Committee’s previous session, the special court in Senegal had, in an historic event, convicted the former President of Chad, Hissène Habré, for crimes against humanity, summary execution, torture and rape. The verdict sent a clear message that no one was above the law. Victims had played a key role in the verdict by filing complaints in a number of countries and before the Committee and by tirelessly campaigning to raise awareness among the public, the media, politicians and the international community. The Committee had also been actively engaged in the case, asserting the principle of universal jurisdiction, concluding in an individual complaint that Senegal had violated the Convention by failing to prosecute or extradite Mr. Habré and undertaking a follow-up mission to Senegal in 2009. The hope was that the verdict would inspire others to pursue justice and combat impunity.

The twenty-eighth meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies had taken place in New York from 30 May to 3 June and had included meetings with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. The Chairs had adopted key recommendations, namely to inform the General Assembly of overdue State party reports, with a request for the introduction of an agenda item on that topic; to ensure that all treaty bodies adopted and implemented the San José Guidelines; to closely follow the accountability framework for State implementation of the commitments made in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and to consider a common approach to engagement with national human rights institutions.

Adoption of the agenda (CAT/C/58/1)

The provisional agenda was adopted.

The first part (public) of the meeting rose at 10.10 a.m.