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UNITED NATIONS E Economic and Social Distr. Council GENERAL E/CN.4/2000/9 2 February 2000 Original: ENGLISH/ FRENCH/ SPANISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty-sixth session Item 11 (a) of the provisional agenda CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS INCLUDING QUESTIONS OF TORTURE AND DETENTION Report of the Special Rapporteur, Sir Nigel Rodley, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/32* CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Executive summary ................... 4 Introduction ...................... 1 - 2 5 I. MANDATE AND METHODS OF WORK ........... 3 5 II. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ....... 4 - 8 6 III. INFORMATION REVIEWED BY THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR WITH RESPECT TO VARIOUS COUNTRIES ........... 9 - 1205 7 Afghanistan ................... 11 - 12 8 Albania ..................... 13 8 Algeria ..................... 14 - 19 8 Angola ...................... 20 - 24 9 Argentina .................... 25 - 30 10 Australia .................... 31 - 36 11 Azerbaijan .................... 37 - 77 13 * Communications received from Governments between 15 December 1999 and 15 February 2000 regarding allegations transmitted by the Special Rapporteur in 1999 will be reflected in document E/CN.4/2000/CRP.2. GE.00-10567 E/CN.4/2000/9 page 2 CONTENTS (cont.) Paragraphs Page Bahrain ..................... 78 - 115 21 Bangladesh .................... 116 - 126 27 Belarus ..................... 127 - 133 29 Brazil ...................... 134 - 157 31 Bulgaria ..................... 158 36 Burundi ..................... 159 - 170 36 Cameroon ..................... 171 - 176 38 Chad ....................... 177 - 180 39 Chile ...................... 181 - 207 40 China ...................... 208 - 239 47 Colombia ..................... 240 - 296 54 Democratic Republic of the Congo ......... 297 - 315 63 Republic of the Congo .............. 316 - 332 66 Cuba ....................... 333 - 351 68 Djibouti ..................... 352 71 Ecuador ..................... 353 - 357 71 Egypt ...................... 358 - 400 72 Equatorial Guinea ................ 401 - 425 83 Eritrea ..................... 426 - 429 87 Ethiopia ..................... 430 - 441 87 France ...................... 442 - 452 90 Georgia ..................... 453 - 463 92 Germany ..................... 464 - 466 94 Guatemala .................... 467 - 474 95 Guinea-Bissau .................. 475 - 481 97 Haiti ...................... 482 - 485 98 India ...................... 486 - 527 98 Indonesia .................... 528 - 605 105 Iran (Islamic Republic of) ............ 606 - 610 119 Iraq ....................... 611 - 616 120 Israel ...................... 617 - 675 121 Japan ...................... 676 - 680 131 Jordan ...................... 681 - 682 134 Kazakhstan .................... 683 - 695 134 Kenya ...................... 696 - 697 136 Democratic People's Republic of Korea ...... 698 - 702 137 Republic of Korea ................ 703 - 710 138 Kyrgyzstan .................... 711 - 717 139 Lao People's Democratic Republic ......... 718 - 719 141 Lebanon ..................... 720 - 724 141 Malaysia ..................... 725 - 730 142 Mali ....................... 731 - 733 143 Mexico ...................... 734 - 782 144 Morocco ..................... 783 - 789 156 Myanmar ..................... 790 - 796 157 Namibia ..................... 797 159 Nepal ...................... 798 - 821 159 Niger ...................... 822 164 Pakistan ..................... 823 - 838 164 Peru ....................... 839 - 875 167 Philippines ................... 876 - 878 175 E/CN.4/2000/9 page 3 CONTENTS (cont.) Paragraphs Page Romania ..................... 879 176 Russian Federation ................ 880 - 907 176 Rwanda ...................... 908 - 910 181 Saudi Arabia ................... 911 182 Senegal ..................... 912 - 914 182 Spain ...................... 915 - 928 182 Sri Lanka .................... 929 - 974 186 Sudan ...................... 975 - 997 194 Switzerland ................... 998 - 999 199 Syrian Arab Republic ............... 1000 - 1002 200 Thailand ..................... 1003 201 Togo ....................... 1004 - 1019 201 Tunisia ..................... 1020 - 1037 204 Turkey ...................... 1038 - 1089 207 Uganda ...................... 1090 218 Ukraine ..................... 1091 - 1092 218 United States of America ............. 1093 - 1118 219 Uruguay ..................... 1119 223 Uzbekistan .................... 1020 - 1137 223 Venezuela .................... 1138 - 1172 226 Yemen ...................... 1173 - 1174 231 Yugoslavia (Federal Republic of) ......... 1175 - 1193 232 Zambia ...................... 1194 - 1198 235 Zimbabwe ..................... 1199 - 1201 237 Communication transmitted to the Palestinian Authority .................... 1202 - 1205 237 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......... 1206 - 1209 238 Annex Principles on the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 239 E/CN.4/2000/9 page 4 Executive summary The Special Rapporteur, Sir Nigel Rodley, submits his seventh report to the Commission. Chapter I deals with aspects of the mandate and methods of work. Chapter II summarizes his activities in 1999. Chapter III contains a summary of communications sent by the Special Rapporteur and replies from Governments, from 11 December 1998 to 15 December 1999. The Special Rapporteur transmitted information to or received responses from 77 countries. He sent more than 147 urgent appeals on behalf of more than 450 identified individuals. Observations by the Special Rapporteur on the situation with respect to allegations of torture in several countries are included. During the period under review the Special Rapporteur undertook four missions. The report on the visit to Romania (19-29 April) is contained in Addendum 3 to the present report; the report on the visit to Cameroon (12-20 May) in Addendum 2; and the report on the visit to Kenya (20-29 September) in Addendum 4. He also undertook a joint mission to East Timor with the Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution and on violence against women, its causes and consequences (see A/54/660, transmitted to the Commission in document E/CN.4/2000/115). Regarding country visits, the Government of China has invited the Special Rapporteur to visit that country. The Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office at Geneva gave an initial positive reaction to the Special Rapporteur's request sent in 1999 to visit his country. The Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil, pending a formal invitation from the Government, expressed his hope that a mission by the Special Rapporteur to Brazil would come to fruition. The Special Rapporteur's requests to visit India, Indonesia, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria have not resulted in invitations. No mandate-related issues have arisen during the year under review. The methods of work of the Special Rapporteur have been those followed previously, as approved most recently by the Commission in its resolution 1999/32, paragraph 21. In particular, he has continued to seek cooperation with holders of other Commission mandates to avoid duplication of activity in respect of country-specific initiatives. A significant development for the mandate was the invitation, contained in General Assembly resolution 53/139, paragraph 24, and Commission resolution 1999/32, paragraph 29, for the Special Rapporteur to present an interim report to the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly on overall trends and developments with regard to his mandate. In November 1999, he accordingly submitted a report (A/54/426) to the Third Committee of the General Assembly under agenda item 116 (a). Annexed to his main report are the Principles on the effective documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, from the Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, also known as the Istanbul Protocol. This manual is intended to provide international guidelines for the assessment of individuals who allege torture and ill- treatment, for the investigation of cases of alleged torture and for the E/CN.4/2000/9 page 5 reporting of such findings to judicial and investigative bodies. The Special Rapporteur is of the view that the manual will be an important tool for States in carrying out investigations concerning allegations of torture or ill- treatment. Introduction 1. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on torture, assigned since April 1993 to Sir Nigel Rodley (United Kingdom), was renewed for three more years by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1998/38. In conformity with this Resolution, the Special Rapporteur hereby submits his seventh report to the Commission. Chapter I deals with aspects of the mandate and methods of work. Chapter II summarizes his activities in 1999. Chapter III contains a summary of communications sent by the Special Rapporteur and replies from Governments, from 11 December 1998 to 15 December 1999. Chapter IV contains the Special Rapporteur's conclusions and recommendations. 2. In addition to the above-mentioned resolution, several other resolutions adopted or reaffirmed by the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-fifth session are also pertinent within the framework of the mandate and have been taken into consideration by the Special Rapporteur in examining and analysing the information brought to his attention. These resolutions are, in particular: