RIGHT AGAINST TORTURE - INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL,

INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (CAT)

C. IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTIVITY

Part II (Articles 1724) governs reporting and monitoring of the Convention and the steps taken by the
parties to implement it. It establishes the Committee against Torture (Article 17), and empowers it to
investigate allegations of systematic torture (Article 20). It also establishes an optional
dispute-resolution mechanism between parties (Article 21) and allows parties to recognize the
competence of the Committee to hear complaints from individuals about violations of the Convention
by a party (Article 22).

Article 17 - Establishes the Committee against Torture

1. There shall be established a Committee against Torture (hereinafter referred to as the Committee)
which shall carry out the functions hereinafter provided.

The Committee shall consist of ten experts of high moral standing and recognized competence in
the field of human rights, who shall serve in their personal capacity.

The experts shall be elected by the States Parties, consideration being given to equitable
geographical distribution and to the usefulness of the participation of some persons having legal
experience.

Article 20 - Empowers it to investigate allegations of systematic torture

1. If the Committee receives reliable information which appears to it to contain well-founded

indications that torture is being systematically practiced in the territory of a State Party, the
Committee shall invite that State Party to co-operate in the examination of the information and to
this end to submit observations with regard to the information concerned.

Article 21 - Establishes an optional dispute-resolution mechanism between parties

1. A State Party to this Convention may at any time declare under this article that it recognizes the
competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications to the effect that a State
Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under this Convention No
communication shall be dealt with by the Committee under this article if it concerns a State Party
which has not made such a declaration.

Article 22 - Allows the parties to recognize the competence of the Committee to hear complaints
from individuals about violations of the Convention by a party
1. A State Party to this Convention may at any time declare under this article that it recognizes the
competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of
individuals subject to its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a violation by a State Party of the
provisions of the Convention. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a
State Party which has not made such a declaration.

2. The Committee shall consider inadmissible any communication under this article which is
anonymous or which it considers to be an abuse of the right of submission of such communications or
to be incompatible with the provisions of this Convention.

Part III (Articles 2533) governs ratification, entry into force, and amendment of the Convention. It
also includes an optional arbitration mechanism for disputes between parties (Article 30).

Article 30

1. Any dispute between two or more States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of
this Convention which cannot be settled through negotiation shall, at the request of one of them, be
submitted to arbitration. If within six months from the date of the request for arbitration the Parties
are unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those Parties may refer the
dispute to the International Court of Justice by request in conformity with the Statute of the Court.

2. Each State may, at the time of signature or ratification of this Convention or accession thereto,
declare that it does not consider itself bound by paragraph I of this article. The other States Parties
shall not be bound by paragraph I of this article with respect to any State Party having made such a
reservation.

3. Any State Party having made a reservation in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article may at any
time withdraw this reservation by notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

PHILIPPINES

As a signatory to the Convention against torture, the Philippines has the obligation to comply with
Article 4 which states that Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offenses under its
criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which
constitutes complicity or participation in torture. Each State Party shall make these offenses
punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.

RA 9745 - THE ANTI-TORTURE ACT OF 2009 (November 10, 2009)

Features:
1. The crime of torture is an independent and separate crime. It cannot be absorbed or complexed
with another crime; nor does double jeopardy apply where the act is also punished and prosecuted as
another crime;

2. When felonies classified as Crimes Against Persons or Crimes Against Personal Liberty and Security
under the Revised Penal Code are committed with the use of torture, the penalty for such crimes shall
be imposed in its maximum;

3. No amnesty shall be extended to perpetrators of torture;

4. Applications for writs of habeas corpus, amparo, and habeas data in behalf of a victim of torture
shall be disposed of speedily and shall be implemented immediately;

5. Superior officers, whether immediate or otherwise, may be held liable as principals for the crime of
torture on the basis of Command Responsibility;

6. Only public officials or employees may be held liable as accessories.

D. DECIDED CASES:

The CAT Committee has found the following acts to constitute torture:

1. DRAGAN DIMITRIJEVIC VS SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

The CAT Committee has found the following acts to constitute torture:

> The victim was handcuffed to a radiator then kicked and punched by several police officers, who
also racially insulted him. He was also struck with a big metal bar. He was later unfastened from the
radiator and handcuffed to a bicycle, after which the punching and beatings continued with
nightsticks and the metal bar. The beatings were so bad they caused the victim to bleed from his ears.
The detention and beatings lasted for five and a half hours.

2. DIMITROV VS SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

> The victim was repeatedly beaten with a baseball bat and steel cable, and kicked and punched all
over his body. He lost consciousness on several occasions. The ill-treatment lasted, with only a few
breaks, for 13 hours, leaving him with numerous injuries on his buttocks and left shoulder. As a result,
he spent the next ten days being nursed in bed.

3. DANILO DIMITRIJEVIC VS SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

> The victim was stripped to his underwear, and handcuffed to a metal bar, whilst being beaten with a
police club for approximately one hour, and spending the next three days in the same room, being
denied food, water, medical treatment, and access to the lavatory.

The CAT Committee has also specified in Concluding Observations that the following treatment
constitutes torture:

4. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON ISRAEL (1997)

> A combination of the following: restraining in painful positions, hooding, sounding of loud music
for prolonged periods, prolonged sleep deprivation, threats including death threats, using cold air to
chill, and violent shaking.
5. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON YUGOSLAVIA (1999)

> Beating by fists and wooden or metallic clubs, mainly on the head, the kidney area and on the
soles of the feet, resulting in mutilations and even death in some cases.

6. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON THE CZECH REPUBLIC (2004)

> Uninformed and involuntary sterilization of Roma women