Luxembourg, 10/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs Council adopted, during its meeting on Monday in Luxembourg, a declaration setting out EU policy on torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading types of treatment or punishment. Not unlike the guidelines on the death penalty of 1998, the guidelines on torture will provide the EU with an operational instrument for use in contacts with third countries as well as in multilateral fora that deal with human rights. The guidelines, around 12 pages in length, are based on an explicit list of 12 relevant international texts and an additional list in an annex. The declaration states that the EU heads of mission should include in their periodical reports an analysis of cases of torture and mistreatment, indicating the measures taken to fight such treatment, and should present a periodical analysis of the effects and results of the action taken by the EU.
Moreover, in its relations with third countries, the EU will be taking a number of measures to: 1) deal with torture through policy dialogue; 2) draw up public declarations committing third countries to take effective measures against torture and mistreatment and to request information on torture allegations; 3) to consider the fight against torture as a priority under bilateral and multi-lateral co-operation in support of human rights.
In that connection, the EU will urge third countries to take a series of measures, which were spelled out in the declaration, for the following purposes: 1) to ban and condemn torture and mistreatment; 2) to comply with international standards and procedures; 3) to adopt and implement guarantees and procedures regarding prisons; 4) to set out national legal safeguards; 5) to fight against impunity; 6) to protect vulnerable persons (women, children, refugees, asylum applicants and displaced persons); 7) to provide for internal procedures for complaints and information on torture and mistreatment; 8) to ensure compensation and the rehabilitation of victims; 9) to provide for a procedure for in situ visits 10) set up independent national institutions (mediators or a human rights commission); 11) guarantee effective training of military and judiciary staff; 12) support the work of medical professionals who study torture cases; 13) ensure that medico-legal autopsies are carried out by forensic doctors trained in line with internationally recognized standards and conduct an examination whenever detainees have serious bodily lesions.
The External Relations Commissioner, Chris Patten, welcomes the adoption of these declarations that, he said in Luxembourg on Monday, explain how the EU plans to fulfil its "absolute duty to work to see the prevalence of torture reduced around the world". The European Commission recalled that it has been financing since 1994 a number of prevention projects on torture and for the rehabilitation of victims, with a budget that has increased in recent years. In 2001, the Commission will fund rehabilitation centres for torture victims in the EU (EUR 6 million) and outside the EU (EUR 6 million).