Committee against Torture

List of issues prior to submission of the third periodic report of Yemen *

The Committee against Torture, at its thirty-eighth session (A/62/44, paras. 23 and 24), established an optional procedure which consists in the preparation and adoption of a list of issues to be transmitted to the State party concerned prior to the submission of its periodic report. The replies of the State party to this list of issues will constitute its report under article 19 of the Convention.

Specific information on the implementation of articles 1 to 16 of the Convention, including with regard to the Committee’s previous recommendations

Article 2

1.In the light of the ongoing armed conflict (Security Council resolution 2216 (2015)) and of the Committee’s general comment No. 2 (2007) on the implementation of article 2 by States parties, please provide updated information on how the State party is enforcing the absolute character of the provisions contained in article 2 of the Convention, which states that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

2.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CAT/C/YEM/CO/2/Rev.1, para. 8), please provide updated information on:

(a)Any steps taken to amend article 26 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and, if it is still in force, precise information on how it is applied in practice;

(b)Whether the State party has announced a policy of eradication of torture and ill-treatment by State officials, in order to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment throughout the country.

3.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 9), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific measures to ensure that all detainees are afforded, in practice, all fundamental legal safeguards from the very outset of their detention, including the right to: prompt access to a lawyer and an independent medical examination by a doctor of their choice; notify a relative or another person of their choice; be informed of their rights at the time of detention and about the charges against them; and appear before a judge within a time limit in accordance with international standards. Please also provide updated information on any measures taken to establish an effective monitoring mechanism to ensure that all detainees enjoy those safeguards;

(b)The establishment of a central register in which all detainees, including minors, are recorded;

(c)The requirement to obtain written authorization from the body/entity that issued the detention order for persons in pretrial detention so that they can meet with their relatives and lawyers, and information on the conditions under which such authorization may be refused;

(d)The rules governing solitary confinement.

4.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 13), please provide information on:

(a)Specific steps taken to put an end to enforced disappearances in the State party;

(b)Steps taken to stop the alleged practice of mass arrest without a warrant and arbitrary detention without charges or judicial process;

(c)Whether the powers of the various security forces and agencies to arrest and detain are prescribed by relevant legislation, including the Criminal Procedure Law;

(d)Specific steps taken to reduce the number of security forces and agencies with the power to arrest and detain;

(e)Specific steps taken by the State party to reduce further the duration of detention prior to the bringing of charges;

(f)The results of any investigations into numerous reported cases of detention during the “Bani Hashish” events that took place in May 2008;

(g)Any steps taken to develop and implement alternatives to deprivation of liberty, including probation, mediation, community service or suspended sentences.

5.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 15), please provide information on specific measures taken by the State party to investigate promptly and impartially all allegations of involvement of members of law enforcement and security agencies, including tribal law enforcement bodies, in extrajudicial killings and other serious human rights violations in different parts of the country, in particular in the northern Sa’ada province and in the south. In that context, please provide information on:

(a)Any investigations, prosecutions, convictions and punishment of members of the law enforcement and State security forces, including armed assailants in civilian clothing, who reportedly used excessive and disproportionate, including deadly, force during the peaceful demonstrations that took place in 2011 in Sana’a, Aden and Ta’izz, using gunfire, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and anti-personnel landmines;

(b)Any investigations into reports of torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, forced disappearance and threats against civilians involved in the 2011 demonstrations, and in relation to unrest in the south and north of the country, as well as in the context of the fight against terrorism. Please also provide information on efforts to combat impunity, including for violations of the Convention committed in the past;

(c)Whether cases of killings, arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment perpetrated on the territory of the State party, including alleged violations of international humanitarian law by different means, have been duly investigated, and whether victims or families of victims are entitled to full redress, as required by the Convention;

(d)Whether Amnesty Law No. 1 of 2012 has been repealed so that the State party can comply with international human rights law prohibiting immunity for those responsible for serious human rights violations, in respect of which States are required to bring perpetrators to justice.

(e)Whether an independent commission of inquiry has been established to investigate the human rights violations that took place in 2011, as recommended during the universal periodic review, and on the current status of its proceedings. Please also provide updated information on the status of the Transitional Justice Act and the National Reconciliation Act.

6.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 17), please provide information on:

(a)The status of the laws on the judiciary that were to be amended in order to strengthen its independence and impartiality in conformity with international standards, notably the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary;

(b)Further steps taken to enhance the efficiency of the judiciary and ensure that it is free from interference, in law and in practice, especially from the executive branch;

(c)Steps taken to strengthen the role of judges and prosecutors in initiating the investigation and prosecution of cases of torture and ill-treatment and concerning the legality of detention, including by providing adequate training on the State party’s obligations under the Convention;

(d)The implementation and effectiveness of the national strategy for the modernization and development of the judiciary (2005–2015);

(e)Steps taken by the State party to dissolve the Specialized Criminal Court, which reportedly does not uphold international norms on the right to a fair trial;

(f)Steps taken to prevent further threats against the Minister for Human Rights and her family, including attempts at public shaming through the media, in connection with her attempts to pass important legislation such as laws relating to transitional justice and forced disappearances, and her attempts to obtain the release of unlawfully detained persons.

7.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 18), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific steps taken by the State party to modify legislation with a view to putting an end to certain cruel and inhuman sanctions (hadd penalties) such as flogging, beating, stoning and amputation of limbs, which have discriminatory effects on different groups of the population and are incompatible with the provisions of the Convention;

(b)Whether the corporal punishment of children in all settings has been prohibited by law, including by repealing the “right to discipline” in the Children’s Rights Act of 2002;

(c)Steps taken to end the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, including for fighting, carrying weapons and manning checkpoints, and to halt the extortion of 20,000 Yemeni rials from families who do not send their children to fight. Please also provide information on any progress in the finalization and implementation of an action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children, and on any steps taken to halt the use of school buildings for military purposes, such as firing positions, storage depots for weapons and barracks;

(d)Steps taken to halt, investigate, prosecute and punish the grave violations of children’s human rights that are taking place as a consequence of the armed conflict, including killing and maiming;

(e)Steps taken to collect data on, halt, investigate, prosecute and punish conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls, as well as men and boys.

8.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 21), please provide information on:

(a)Any revision of the State party’s policy with regard to the imposition of the death penalty, including consideration of a moratorium on its application;

(b)Measures taken to ensure that the death penalty is not imposed on children;

(c)Measures taken by the State party to ensure that its legislation provides for the possibility to seek a pardon or the commutation of death sentences, especially where there have been delays in their implementation;

(d)The number of people currently on death row, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnicity and offence;

(e)Specific steps taken to ensure that all persons on death row are afforded the protection provided by the Convention, are treated humanely and that their conditions of detention conform to international standards;

(f)The precise number of people executed in the full reporting period, including details of the offences involved, and whether any children have been sentenced to death and executed in this period;

(g)Any consideration by the State party regarding ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

9.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 29), please provide updated information on:

(a)The extent of violence and homicides committed against women by their husbands or male relatives, including detailed statistical data;

(b)Steps taken to repeal article 232 of the Penal Code to ensure that homicides committed against women by their husbands or male relatives are prosecuted and punished in the same way as any other murders;

(c)The number of complaints, prosecutions and sentences related to domestic violence and homicides committed against women;

(d)Any direct participation by the State party in rehabilitation and legal assistance programmes to prevent, combat and punish violence against women and children, including domestic violence;

(e)Any awareness-raising campaigns for officials such as judges, law officers, law enforcement officers and welfare workers who are in direct contact with victims of violence against women and children.

10.Please provide information on steps taken by the State party to penalize female genital mutilation, to bring those who perform female genital mutilation to justice and to punish them with penalties proportionate to the nature of the crime, and on any awareness-raising campaigns on such harmful practices.

11.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 31), please provide updated information on:

(a)Any amendments to the Personal Status Law that would enforce the strict prohibition of child marriage, and therefore, inter alia, bring down the very high maternal and child mortality rates. Please indicate whether article 23 of the Personal Status Law has been abolished;

(b)Any additional steps to ensure that child marriages and forced marriages have no legal effect and to prosecute anyone who violates the relevant provisions;

(c)Steps taken to further enforce the requirement to register all marriages, in order to monitor their legality;

(d)Any steps taken to prevent the forced marriage of very young girls to Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula fighters or to have girls given away as gifts to Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

12.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 25), please provide updated information on:

(a)The exact number of children in detention, disaggregated by sex, age and ethnicity;

(b)The current status of the amendment to the Juvenile Welfare Act that would raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility;

(c)Steps taken to reduce the number of children in detention and use deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort, for the shortest possible time and in appropriate conditions;

(d)Steps taken to introduce alternative measures to deprivation of liberty such as probation, community service or suspended sentences;

(e)Steps taken to ensure that persons below 18 years of age are not detained with adults;

(f)Steps taken to ensure that professionals working in the area of recovery and social reintegration of children are properly trained.

13.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 30), please provide updated information on:

(a)The current status of the bill on human trafficking;

(b)Measures taken to provide assistance to the victims of trafficking, and statistical data on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions relating to trafficking;

(c)Steps taken to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of trafficking, and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and punished with penalties appropriate to the nature of their crimes;

(d)Measures to provide protection for victims and ensure their access to medical, social, rehabilitative and legal services, including counselling, and to create the conditions for victims to exercise their right to make complaints;

(e)Steps taken to enhance cooperation, including bilateral agreements, with Saudi Arabia and any other countries, in order to combat trafficking in children and in migrants.

14.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 23), please provide updated information on:

(a)Any steps taken by the State party to establish a national human rights institution in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles);

(b)Complaints, including statistical data, received by the Human Rights Ministry and on any investigation, prosecution and criminal or administrative punishment of perpetrators of acts of torture that were reported to the Ministry.

Articles 1 and 4

15.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 7), please provide updated information on:

(a)Any progress made in incorporating the crime of torture into domestic law and in adopting a comprehensive definition of torture that covers all of the elements contained in article 1 of the Convention;

(b)Steps taken to abolish the statute of limitations concerning crimes involving torture in domestic legislation.

16.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 8), please provide information on whether the law provides for the prosecution and conviction of perpetrators of and accomplices to acts of torture, in accordance with the gravity of their acts, as required by article 4 of the Convention.

Article 3

17.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 22), please provide information on:

(a)Whether individuals under the State party’s jurisdiction are guaranteed fair treatment at all stages of proceedings, including a thorough examination of the merits of each individual case by competent authorities and an opportunity for effective, independent and impartial review of decisions on expulsion, return or extradition and the right of appeal against negative decisions;

(b)Steps taken by the State party, when determining the applicability of its non-refoulement obligations under article 3 of the Convention, to ensure that adequate judicial mechanisms for the review of decisions are in place and to ensure effective post-return monitoring arrangements.

18.Please provide specific information on the situation of migrants, including women and children, in Yemeni detention facilities. In addition, please provide information on any steps taken to prevent, investigate and prosecute the forcible detention of migrants by traffickers in isolated camps, mostly in the Haradh area, where they are reportedly subjected to systematic torture and ill-treatment, including rape, with the aim of extorting money from their families, with the alleged active collusion or absence of action by Yemeni officials of various ranks and positions.

Articles 5, 7 and 8

19.Please provide information on whether the State party has, for any reason, rejected requests for extradition by another State of an individual suspected of having committed an offence of torture, and has initiated prosecution proceedings as a result. If so, please provide information on the status and outcome of such proceedings.

Article 10

20.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 26), please provide updated information on:

(a)The further development and strengthening of educational programmes for law enforcement, security, military and prison officials in order to make them fully aware of the provisions of the Convention, including the absolute prohibition of torture;

(b)Any awareness-raising and training programmes specifically designed for members of the Political Security Department, the National Security Authority and the Ministry of the Interior;

(c)The development of specific training programmes for forensic doctors and medical personnel dealing with detained persons on how to detect and document physical and psychological signs and effects of torture and ill-treatment which includes the use of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol);

(d)The development of any methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational, training and awareness-raising programmes and their impact in reducing incidents of torture and ill-treatment.

Article 11

21.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 10), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific measures taken to establish a national system to systematically and effectively monitor and inspect all places of detention, and to follow up on the outcome of such monitoring;

(b)Steps taken to ensure that forensic doctors trained in detecting signs of torture are present during these visits;

(c)Any steps taken by the State party to halt the proliferation of places of detention, including political security, national security and military prisons, as well as private detention facilities, including improvised facilities in private houses, schools and sports stadiums, run by tribal leaders and opposition groups, and on specific steps taken to formally prohibit all detention facilities that do not come under State authority;

(d)Whether the Prosecutor-General (Department of Public Prosecutions) has access to detention centres of the Political Security Department, the National Security Authority, the Department of Anti-Terrorism and to military prisons and private detention facilities.

22.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 12), please provide updated information on:

(a)The exact number and location of places of detention in the State party, including those used by the Political Security Department and other security forces;

(b)The exact number of persons who are deprived of their liberty in the places cited above;

(c)Specific measures taken by the State party to abolish incommunicado detention and ensure that all persons held incommunicado are released or charged and tried in accordance with due process;

(d)The current situation of four nationals of Cameroon, Mouafo Ludo, Pengou Pierpe, Mechoup Baudelaire and Ouafo Zacharie, who have been detained incommunicado and without legal process in Sana’a since 1995;

(e)The current situation of Aissaoui Taha and Ben Ayed Mourad, citizens of France and Tunisia, who were arrested by the Political Security Organization in May 2014 and taken to a secret place of detention; and the current situation of Jamil Jamil al-Dabibi, who was arrested in June 2013 and has been detained in an unknown location since February 2014.

(f)The current situation of 32 persons detained in connection with the explosion at the presidential palace mosque in June 2011, five of whom were to be released pursuant to a presidential order issued in May 2013, and who informed the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that, while held in custody by the National Security authorities, they had been tortured;

(g)The current situation and location of 52 female prisoners from Amran Central Prison who were reportedly taken by trucks to Sa’ada on 2 June 2014 when armed Houthi forces stormed the prison.

23.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 24), please provide information on:

(a)Any measures taken by the State party to review the policies and procedures for the custody and treatment of detainees, including in order to ensure the separation of female detainees from males and enforce regulations calling for female inmates to be guarded by officers of the same gender;

(b)Specific steps taken to prevent incidents of sexual violence in detention, including sexual violence against female detainees;

(c)Steps taken to ensure prompt, effective and impartial investigation, prosecution and punishment of all instances of sexual abuse in custody; and statistical data on the investigation, prosecution and punishment of such cases, as well as data disaggregated by sex, age and ethnicity of victims of sexual abuse;

(d)Concrete measures taken to ensure that detainees who have allegedly been sexually victimized are able to report the abuse without being subjected to punitive measures by staff and retaliation by perpetrators;

(e)Measures to provide victims of sexual abuse in detention with access to confidential medical and mental health care, as well as with access to redress, including compensation and rehabilitation, as appropriate;

(f)Measures to provide female prisoners with access to adequate health facilities and with rehabilitation programmes to integrate them into the community after serving their sentences, in spite of the refusal of their guardians or family to receive them upon completion of their sentences because of their inability to comply with the payment of the “blood money” to which they have been convicted;

(g)Any steps taken by the State party to release women prisoners who have completed their sentences but whose guardians or families refuse to receive them and provide them with adequate shelter.

Articles 12 and 13

24.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 16), please provide information on:

(a)Specific measures taken to ensure prompt and effective investigation of all allegations of torture and ill-treatment allegedly committed by law enforcement, security, military and prison officials, ensure that they are held accountable and prosecuted and that those who are convicted are punished with appropriate sentences;

(b)Whether alleged suspects in prima facie cases of torture and ill-treatment are, as a rule, suspended or reassigned during the process of investigation;

(c)Whether such investigations have been carried out by an independent body that is not under the authority of the police or military;

(d)The number of complaints relating to acts of torture or ill-treatment allegedly committed by law enforcement, security, military and prison officials, including detailed statistical data disaggregated by sex, age and ethnicity of the individuals bringing the complaints, the results of all the proceedings, at both the penal and disciplinary level, their outcomes, and which authority undertook the investigation;

(e)Whether the death on 22 April 2012 of Mohammed Saleh Alkhaddma (age 22), who is reported to have died as a result of torture while in detention at the Oulfi police station in Sana’a, has been investigated, and if so, the outcome of the investigation.

25.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 20), please provide information on:

(a)Specific steps taken by the State party to ensure the protection of all persons, including human rights defenders and journalists, from intimidation or violence as a result of the exercise of their activities, including defence of human rights. Please also provide information on any steps taken to abolish the Specialized Press and Publications Court.

(b)Measures taken to ensure the prompt, impartial and effective investigation of all acts of intimidation or violence against such persons, including in the region of Sa’ada, and on the outcome of such investigations. Please also provide information on any investigations into the deaths of the journalists Jamal al-Sharabi (al- Masdar) and Hassan al-Wadhaf (Arabic Media Agency).

26.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 32), please provide information on measures taken to ensure that non-governmental organizations are not subjected to harassment. In this regard, please provide information on the situation of the members of the Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights.

27.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 33), please provide statistical data relevant to the monitoring of the implementation of the Convention at the national level, including data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, trafficking and domestic and sexual violence, as well as on the means of redress, including compensation and rehabilitation, provided to the victims.

Article 14

28.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 27), and in the light of paragraph 46 of the Committee’s general comment No. 3 (2012) on the implementation of article 14 by States parties, please provide information on redress and compensation measures ordered by the courts since the consideration of the last periodic report. This should include the number of requests for compensation that have been made, the number granted and the amounts ordered and actually provided in each case. Furthermore, please indicate the type of rehabilitation programmes provided to victims and whether they include medical and psychological assistance. Please also provide information on any ongoing reparation programmes, including for treatment of trauma and other forms of rehabilitation provided to victims of torture and ill-treatment, and on the allocation of any resources to ensure the effective functioning of such programmes.

Article 15

29.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 28), please provide information on:

(a)Steps taken to ensure that confessions obtained under torture or duress are inadmissible in court in all cases, in line with domestic legislation and the provisions of article 15 of the Convention;

(b)The number of cases in which the courts deemed confessions to be inadmissible as evidence on the grounds that they were obtained through torture; and the number of convictions reviewed that were based solely on confessions;

(c)The number of proceedings that were suspended pending investigation of claims that a confession has been obtained through torture; and whether officials were prosecuted and punished for extracting such confessions and, if so, how many.

Article 16

30.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 14), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific measures taken to end the practice of holding relatives of alleged criminals, including children and the elderly, as hostages, and steps taken to punish the perpetrators of this practice;

(b)The current situation of Mohammed al-Baadani who was abducted by a tribal chief in 2001 at the age of 14 and was reportedly placed in a State prison because of his father’s failure to pay back debts.

31.Please provide information on reports of the re-emergence of slavery in certain parts of the country, which affects socially vulnerable sectors of the population.

32.Please provide information on the situation of persons who have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict.

Other issues

33.Please provide updated information on the measures taken by the State party to respond to any threats of terrorism and please describe if, and how, these anti-terrorism measures have affected human rights safeguards in law and in practice. Please indicate how the State party has ensured that those measures comply with all its obligations under international law, especially the Convention, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 1624 (2005). Please provide updated information on the relevant training given to law enforcement officers, the number of persons convicted under anti-terrorism legislation and the legal safeguards and remedies available to persons subjected to anti-terrorist measures in law and in practice. Please indicate whether there have been complaints of non-observance of international standards and, if so, the outcome of these complaints.

General information on other measures and developments relating to the implementation of the Convention in the State party

34.Please provide detailed information on any other relevant legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures taken since the consideration of the previous report that implement the provisions of the Convention or the Committee’s recommendations. This may include institutional developments, plans or programmes, including resources allocated and statistical data, or any other information that the State party considers relevant.