Vatican City, 2 May 2014 (VIS) – The
following is the full text of the informative note from Fr. Federico
Lombardi, S.J., for Vatican Radio:
The “Convention against torture and
other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishments” is one
of the important international Conventions implemented within the
ambit of the activities of the United Nations, and which has been
signed voluntarily by numerous member States of the international
community, the so-called “State Parties” to the Conventions.
To confirm the implementation of the
Conventions and the progress they have made, Committees of
independent experts have been instituted by the Conventions
themselves and therefore by the mandate of the “State Parties”.
These Committees have the task of examining the periodical reports
that the States Party are required to present regarding the
implementation of the Convention. During its sessions in Geneva, the
Committee meets with the delegations of the State Parties to discuss
their reports and the state of implementation of and enforcement of
the Convention, along with any questions that may arise in relation
to its interpretation. This is a normal procedure of open dialogue,
in which civil society may also play a role through the presentation
of comments or recommendations on the part of NGOs of various
orientations.
The Convention against torture (usually
abbreviated to CAT) dates from 1984. The Holy See became a signatory
in 2002, “on behalf of Vatican City State” and presented its
“initial” report in December 2012.
The United Nations Committee on the CAT
is composed of ten members and is holding its 52nd Session in the
Palais Wilson, Geneva from 28 April to 23 May, during which it will
examine the reports presented by eight countries: Uruguay, Thailand,
Sierra Leone, Guinea, Montenegro, Cyrus, Lithuania and the Holy See.
The meeting of the Committee with the Delegation of the Holy See will
take place on 5 and 6 May.
Firstly, on the morning of 5 May, there
will be a brief presentation of the report by the Delegation,
followed by comments from the Speakers chosen by the Committee. In
the afternoon of 6 May the Delegation will be able to answer the
questions posed on the previous day, and any other questions from
members of the Committee.
On 23 May the Committee will conclude
the session with a press conference, and will then publish its
“Concluding Observations”. The State Parties and therefore also
the Holy See will be able to issue a further formal written response.
To clarify the meaning of this event
and the nature of the dialogue that will take place, it is first
necessary to specify that, given the nature of this Convention (which
relates principally to matters regarding criminal legislation,
criminal procedure, the prison system, international relations in the
legal domain, etc.), the Holy See has signed the Convention on behalf
of Vatican City State (SVC), and so its legal responsibility for
implementation regards the territory and competences of Vatican City
State.
Naturally the Holy See also proposes
important teaching with regard to matters of torture and cruel and
inhuman treatment, which is of great importance for the diffusion of
the principles inspiring the Convention and for its implementation.
Indeed, it is true that the Report offers an extensive compilation of
references and citations from the Church’s teaching and a broad
review of the significant activity of Vatican media on this theme,
although this goes beyond the commitments assumed through adherence
to the Convention, inasmuch as this is limited to SCV territory.
Readers of the Report presented by the
Holy See in December 2012 (which is public) will immediately notice
that in various important points reference is made to the current
revision of the criminal legislation of Vatican City State. In the
meantime this review has been completed with the new laws promulgated
on 11 July 2013, which entered into force on 1 September of the same
year (Laws VIII and IX), and which effectively ensure that the
Vatican’s criminal and criminal procedure legislation is in
accordance with the Convention.
As was fully explained at the time (cf.
Press Office Communiqué, 11.7.2013; comment by Archbishop D.
Mamberti in the Osservatore Romano, 12.7.2013), the review was
broad-ranging and profound, and adapted Vatican legislation to the
requirements of the various international Conventions to which the
Holy See had adhered throughout the years: not only against torture,
but also against criminality in the fields of economics and finance,
against racial discrimination, and on the rights of the child.
The progress made in adapting to the
requirements of the Convention in the legislative domain was
therefore very significant.
At the same time, during the dialogue
with the State Parties, not infrequently the Committees pose
questions deriving from issues not strictly linked to the text of the
Convention, but rather connected to it indirectly or based on an
extensive interpretation. For instance, this occurred last January
during the dialogue with the Committee for the Convention on the
rights of the child. A contributory factor is often the pressure
exercised over the Committees and public opinion by NGOs with a
strong ideological character and orientation, to bring the issue of
the sexual abuse of minors into the discussion on torture, a matter
which relates instead to the Convention on the rights of the child.
The extent to which this is instrumental and forced is clear to any
unbiased observer.
It should also be noted that the
experts who form the Committees are mostly committed with great
determination and merit to the causes of the promotion of rights, and
therefore tend to broaden the spaces for and forms of defence.
However, this must necessarily be balanced with the correct rules for
legal interpretation, so that the debate, in a pluralistic,
multicultural and international world, may take place in a
constructive fashion, favouring the growth of consensus in the
international community for the effective protection of essential
values for the dignity of the person.
It is therefore to be hoped that a
serene and objective dialogue may take place, pertinent to the text
of the Conventions and their objectives. Otherwise, the Conventions
may be distorted and the Committees risk losing authority and being
reduced to tools of ideological pressure rather than a necessary
stimulus towards the desired progress in promoting respect for human
rights.
This is our sincere hope in view of the
forthcoming dialogue on 5 and 6 May in Geneva, and we once again
emphasise the Holy See’s strong commitment against any form of
torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or
punishment.
