RES/31/31 Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: safeguards to prevent torture during police custody and pretrial detention



Human Rights Council Thirty-first session

Agenda item 3

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2016

31/31. Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment: safeguards to prevent torture during police

custody and pretrial detention

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling all resolutions on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

or punishment adopted by the General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights and

the Human Rights Council,

Recognizing that law enforcement officials play a vital role in the protection of the

right to life, liberty and security, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and reaffirmed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

Recognizing also the role of law enforcement officials in serving the community and

protecting all persons against acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment, consistent with the important role of their profession, and that, in

the performance of their duty, law enforcement officials are obligated to respect and protect

the human rights of all persons,

Recalling the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-

custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules)1 and the adoption of the

United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson

Mandela Rules),2

Recalling also that accused juvenile persons shall be separated from adults and

brought as speedily as possible for adjudication,

Recalling further article 11 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,

Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, according to which each State party shall

keep under systematic review interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices, as

well as arrangements for the custody and treatment of persons subjected to any form of

1 General Assembly resolution 65/229, annex.

2 General Assembly resolution 70/175, annex.

United Nations A/HRC/RES/31/31

General Assembly

arrest, detention or imprisonment in any territory under its jurisdiction, with a view to

preventing any cases of torture,

Mindful of existing principles, guidelines and standards relevant to interrogation,

including the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the

United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons under Any Form of

Detention or Imprisonment, and also mindful of the Luanda Guidelines on the Conditions

of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa, adopted by the African

Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Principles and Best Practices on the

Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, adopted by the Inter-American

Commission on Human Rights, and the revised standards for law enforcement agencies,

issued by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment,

1. Emphasizes that States must take persistent, determined and effective

measures to prevent and combat all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment, stresses that all acts of torture must be made offences under

domestic criminal law punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave

nature, and calls upon States to prohibit under domestic law acts constituting cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

2. Urges all States that have not yet become a party to the Convention against

Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to do so, and to

give early consideration to signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol thereto as a matter of

priority;

3. Welcomes the Convention against Torture Initiative, launched in March 2014

on the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention, to achieve the universal

ratification and improved implementation of the Convention by 2024, and related regional

initiatives on the prevention and eradication of torture;

4. Urges States to adopt, implement and comply fully with legal and procedural

safeguards against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,

and to ensure that the judiciary, and where relevant the prosecution, can effectively ensure

compliance with such safeguards;

5. Stresses that effective legal and procedural safeguards for the prevention of

torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment include ensuring

that any individual arrested or detained on a criminal charge is brought promptly before a

judge or other independent judicial officer, and permitting prompt and regular medical care

and legal counsel at any stage of detention and visits by family members;

6. Also stresses the obligation of States to ensure that anyone who is arrested is

informed at the time of arrest of the reasons for the arrest, and is promptly informed of any

charges against him or her in accessible forms of communication, including in a language

that he or she understands, and be provided with information about and an explanation of

his or her rights;

7. Calls upon States in the context of criminal proceedings to ensure access to

lawyers from the outset of custody and during all interrogations and judicial proceedings,

and timely access of lawyers to appropriate information to enable them to provide effective

legal assistance to their clients;

8. Encourages States to ensure that a proper and consented medical examination

by a medical practitioner is available to persons in police custody and pretrial detention as

promptly as possible after their admission to the place of detention, and to ensure that the

results of every examination and relevant statements by the detainee and the medical

practitioner’s conclusions are duly recorded and made available to the detainee in

accordance with relevant rules of domestic law;

9. Also encourages States to ensure the compilation and maintenance of up-to-

date official registers and/or records of persons in police custody or pretrial detention,

which, as a minimum, contain information about (a) the reasons for the arrest; (b) the time

of the arrest and the taking of the arrested person to a place of custody, as well as that of his

or her first appearance before a judicial or other authority; (c) the identity of the law

enforcement officials concerned; (d) precise information concerning the place of custody;

and to communicate such records to the detained person or his or her counsel, as prescribed

by law;

10. Stresses the importance of developing corroborating methods of crime

investigation to eliminate or reduce sole reliance on confessions for the purpose of securing

convictions, and the importance of seeking corroborative evidence through all available

modern, scientific methods of crime investigation, including through appropriate

investment in equipment, skilled human resources and international cooperation on

capacity-building;

11. Also stresses the importance of keeping under systematic review

interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices, and of developing domestic

guidelines on how to conduct interrogations with a view to preventing any cases of torture

and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

12. Urges States, during reviews of domestic interrogation rules, instructions,

methods and practices to ensure that they observe their international obligations, that

safeguards against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

are in place, and that during such reviews they are mindful of the particular importance of

safeguards, to ensure that:

(a) The physical environment and conditions during interrogation are humane;

(b) The length of interrogation sessions are in accordance with obligations under

international human rights law, including the prohibition of torture and other cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

(c) Interrogated persons are not subjected to coercive methods of interrogation

that impair their capacity of decision or their judgement, or forces them to confess,

incriminate themselves or testify against any other person;

(d) All persons during police custody and pretrial detention subjected to

interrogation are afforded the right to the presence and assistance of a lawyer and, if

necessary, the presence and services of a properly qualified interpreter during interrogation

sessions;

(e) Records of interrogation sessions during police custody and pretrial

detention, including their duration and the intervals between sessions, and the identity of

the law enforcement official who conduct the interrogations and other persons present are

kept accurately, and that such records are stored safely;

(f) Rules are in place to obligate law enforcement officials to report instances of

torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to their superior

authorities, with appropriate sanctions for non-reporting, and, where necessary, that

independent organs are vested with reviewing or remedial power;

(g) Consideration is given at all times to the personal circumstances of the

interrogated person;

13. Stresses that States must ensure that no statement that is established to have

been made as a result of torture is invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a

person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made, urges States to extend

that prohibition to statements made as a result of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment, and recognizes that adequate corroboration of statements, including

confessions, used as evidence in any proceedings constitutes one safeguard for the

prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

14. Calls upon States to include education and information regarding the absolute

prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the

training of law enforcement personnel, which may include training on, inter alia, the use of

force and all available modern scientific methods for crime investigation and the critical

importance of reporting instances of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

or punishment to superior authorities;

15. Emphasizes that it is important, for the ability of law enforcement officials to

play their role in safeguarding the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, that States ensure the proper functioning of

the criminal justice system, particularly by taking effective measures for combating

corruption, establishing proper legal aid programmes and providing adequate selection,

training and remuneration of law enforcement officials;

16. Stresses that inspections of places of police custody and pretrial detention by

an independent authority contribute to the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment, and that, to be fully effective, such visits should be

regular and able to be made unannounced, and the authority should be empowered to

examine all issues related to the treatment of persons in police custody and pretrial

detention and to interview detained persons in full confidentiality, subject to reasonable

conditions to ensure security and good order in such places;

17. Emphasizes that States are obligated to ensure that any person who alleges to

have been subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment in any territory under its jurisdiction has the right to complain to the competent

authorities, and that steps are taken to ensure that the complainant and witnesses are

protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of his or her complaint

or any evidence given;

18. Stresses that an independent, competent domestic authority must promptly,

effectively and impartially investigate all allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment, and wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that

such an act has been committed, and that those who encourage, instigate, order, tolerate,

acquiesce in, consent to or perpetrate such acts must be held responsible, brought to justice

and punished in a manner commensurate with the severity of the offence, including

officials in charge of any place of detention or other place where persons are deprived of

their liberty where the prohibited act is found to have been committed;

19. Invites the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment and other relevant special procedures, within their

respective mandates, to take the present resolution into account in their future work;

20. Takes note of the latest report3 of the Special Rapporteur;

21. Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human

Rights to convene, in 2017, an intersessional, full-day open-ended seminar, with

3 A/HRC/31/57.

interpretation in the six official languages of the United Nations, with the objective of

exchanging national experiences and practices on the implementation of effective

safeguards to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment during police custody and pretrial detention;

22. Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a summary

report of the above-mentioned seminar, and to submit the report to the Human Rights

Council at its thirty-seventh session.

64th meeting

24 March 2016

[Adopted without a vote.]