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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 14614 | 14 September 2018
Strengthening international regulations against trade in goods used for torture and the death penalty
1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully
examined Recommendation
2123 (2018) on "Strengthening international regulations
against trade in goods used for torture and the death penalty",
which it has forwarded to the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT),
the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) and the European
Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) for information and any comments.
2. The Committee of Ministers reiterates its unwavering commitment
to the absolute prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment and to the abolition of the death penalty,
which constitute remarkable standard-setting achievements of the
Council of Europe. It emphasises that member States' compliance
with their commitments involves them taking effective measures to
prevent activities that might facilitate or contribute to application
of the death penalty, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment in other countries.
3. The question of the abolition of the death penalty is examined
every six months by the Committee of Ministers, and the member States
that are not yet Parties to Protocols no. 6 and no. 13 to the European Convention
on Human Rights are called upon, at that time, to ratify them. Similarly,
the Committee of Ministers firmly and systematically condemns every
execution carried out in Japan and the United States, which hold observer
status with the Council of Europe, and in Belarus. Moreover, in
April 2018, the Committee of Ministers instructed its Rapporteur
Group on Human Rights to examine the initial draft Resolution of
the General Assembly of the United Nations on a moratorium on the
use of the death penalty to be prepared in New York in 2018 by the
Inter-Regional Task Force on the death penalty (IRTF), with a view
to identifying issues which Council of Europe member States may
actively promote in the negotiation process. Accordingly, the Committee of
Ministers is resolutely committed to the worldwide abolition of
the death penalty.
4. The absolute prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading
punishment or treatment also remains a priority for the Council
of Europe, and the Committee of Ministers welcomes in this connection
the key role played by the European Court of Human Rights and the
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). It draws
the Assembly's attention to the conference organised in March 2018
by the Danish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers on preventing
torture and ill-treatment during the initial stages of police custody
and pre-trial detention. With regard to the Assembly's suggestion
that CPT reports be published (paragraph 10.6), the Committee of
Ministers reiterates its view that the publication of CPT reports
helps to prevent violations of the rights of persons deprived of
their liberty and it once again encourages the States Parties to
authorise publication of the reports concerning them. In this context,
it also encourages States which have not done so to request in advance
the automatic publication of future CPT visit reports and related government
responses.
5. Where regulating the trade in goods used for torture and the
death penalty is concerned, the Committee of Ministers is fully
aware of this issue, as demonstrated in paragraphs 24 and 27 of
the Appendix to its Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)3 on
human rights and business, which set out specific provisions aimed
at prohibiting enterprises domiciled within the jurisdiction of
member States to trade in such goods and informing those enterprises
of the potential impact of their operations on human rights.
6. The fact that certain goods used to carry out torture and
the death penalty can be produced or marketed in Council of Europe
member States and exhibited at trade shows or accessible on the
websites of European companies is undeniably a source of concern.
The Committee of Ministers recalls that the CPT has opposed on several
occasions the use of certain devices or equipment (e.g. electric
stun body belts; cage or net beds) or has urged the national authorities
to put an end to unacceptable practices such as the use of devices
on detained persons to block their vision or blindfolding them during
transportation or police interviews. The CPT has also made a series
of recommendations in order to mitigate the risks of misuse of other
devices or equipment referred to in the Assembly’s Recommendation.
7. The Council of Europe is aware of the need for information
to be shared between States on best practices for combating dealing
in goods used for torture and the death penalty. A digital platform
on human rights and business is being set up for that purpose and
should serve to:
0.1. raise awareness
of member States’ authorities about international and regional mechanisms
for the protection of human rights and about the reports of independent
organs of the civil society as regards the situation of the death
penalty, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
in third countries which they should take into account when examining
requests for authorisation of trade in relevant goods;
0.2. provide periodic reports on the States’ regulatory activities
in this area, including decisions given on requests for authorisation
of trade in specific goods and the specific reasons for those decisions.
8. In addition, the Committee of Ministers welcomes the creation,
in November 2017, of the Global Alliance to end trade in goods used
for capital punishment and torture. It is pleased to see that 41
Council of Europe member States have adopted the Alliance's political
declaration and invites the other member States to join them.
9. The Committee of Ministers agrees with the Assembly that strengthening
international regulations against trade in goods used for torture
and the death penalty would be a useful addition to efforts at European and
global levels to prohibit torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment and abolish the death penalty. It is convinced that,
in view of its pioneering role in these areas, the Council of Europe
should contribute, for example by providing member States with a
general framework and guidance for measures to take, with a view
to establishing and implementing an effective regulatory system.
Accordingly, the Committee of Ministers believes that it would be
expedient to have a study carried out by the Steering Committee
for Human Rights enabling it to gauge the feasibility of a legal
instrument in this sphere, taking account of existing work within
the framework of the Council of Europe and other international arenas,
as well as examples of good practices to be gathered via the new
digital platform on human rights and business. It agrees to come
back to this matter in the light of the findings of the feasibility
study.