Interactive dialogue with Juan E. Mendez, Special Rapporteur on torture
The national Human Rights Council (CNDH) took floor at the a clustered interactive dialogue with Juan E. Mendez, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, held on the 8th of March 2016, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Represented by Secretary General Mohamed Essabbar, the Council explained in its statement that the Government of Morocco had ensured that torture prevention was integrated into the Council’s structure and work. The government promised to designate the institution as a national prevention mechanism.
The Council also welcomed the efforts that the government has made to train law enforcement officer in partnership with the CNDH. 600 officers have so far been concerned directly with this new policy.
To ensure efficiency and staffer’s training, the Council established a human rights training institute that will provide training opportunities to the different stakeholders, including the members and staffers of the new prevention and protection mechanisms that the government has promised to entrust the Council with.
The Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment was transmitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the 5th of January 2016.
In addition to the activities relating to his mandate as a Special Rapporteur on torture, Mr. Mendez’s report highlights the “gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, including torture and ill-treatment of women and girls in health-care settings, trafficking in women and girls, rape and sexual violence, domestic violence, harmful practices, and access to justice and reparations.
In assessing the level of pain and suffering experienced by victims of gender-based violence, States, the report concludes, “must examine the totality of the circumstances, including the victim’s social status; extant discriminatory legal, normative and institutional frameworks that reinforce gender stereotypes and exacerbate harm; and the long-term impact on victims’ physical and psychological well-being, enjoyment of other human rights and their ability to pursue life goals.
The report calls on States to provide comprehensive reparations, including monetary compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. These reparations must be accompanied by “diverse measures and reforms designed to combat inequality and legal, structural and socioeconomic conditions that perpetuate gender-based discrimination”, the report said.
The report calls upon States to “repeal all laws that support the discriminatory and patriarchal oppression of women, inter alia laws that exclude marital rape from the crime of rape or grant pardon to rapists who marry their victims”.
The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is a United Nations independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. His/her mandate comprises three main activities: 1) transmitting urgent appeals to States with regard to individuals reported to be at risk of torture, as well as communications on past alleged cases of torture; 2) undertaking fact-finding country visits; and 3) submitting annual reports on activities, the mandate and methods of work to the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly.
Juan Mendez was appointed as UN special rapporteur on the 1st of November 2010.