BackCommemoration of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (June 26)
The institution held a conference on the implementation of the Istanbul Protocol, the first manual to document torture and its consequences.
Rafael Ribó refers to the principles for investigation of torture of Chapter III of the Protocol to claim access to the detention centre for migrants.
The Ombudsman of Catalonia, as the Catalan Authority for the Prevention of Torture (OPCAT), has imposed himself the goal of having the Istanbul Protocol implemented in all places of deprivation of liberty in Catalonia within six months. According to this manual, the Ombudsman will lead the development of actual protocols for each type of centre.
Some of the spaces he will be promoting suitable protocols for are: police stations, both local and national, penitentiary centres, juvenile justice centres, child protection centres and therapeutic communities or health centres.
The Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (known as the Istanbul Protocol) is the first set of international guidelines for investigating cases of alleged torture and for reporting such findings to the judiciary and any other investigative body. On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June), the Catalan Ombudsman organized a seminar focusing on the manual.
The event, held on June 25, was presented by the Ombudsman, Rafael Ribo, followed by Djordje Alempijevic member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which delivered the main speech.
The presentation of Alempijevic opened a discussion which involved James Antich, Chairperson of the Barcelona Bar Association; Antony Broggi, Chairman of the Bioethics Committee of Catalonia; Nancy Domingo, Representative of the Coordination Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Jaume Saura, Member of the Task Force of Catalan OPCAT and President of the Institute of Human Institute.
Regulation of the Catalan OPCAT and breaches of the Spanish Government
The Catalan Ombudsman has appealed to the principles of the legal investigation of torture of Chapter III of the Protocol of Istanbul to claim their powers as investigating authority. He also warned that obstacles set by the Central Administration to the Catalan Ombudsman aim to hinder its investigation of complaints of possible abuse of prisoners in the Detention Centres for Migrants in Barcelona entail a breach of the Protocol principles.
According to the Protocol, the Catalan Ombudsman, as one of the investigating authorities, has the power and obligation to obtain all necessary information for the investigation. However, the Catalan Ombudsman has seen repeatedly denied its access to the Barcelona Detention Centre for Migrants.
The Catalan Ombudsman Act gives to the institution, under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations and ratified by Spain, the Catalan Authority for the Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment the status of an independent body. Some of the functions of the Catalan Ombudsman as OPCAT are periodically visiting places where people are deprived of freedom and making recommendations to the competent authorities.
The Spanish Government has yet to inform the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment that the Catalan Ombudsman performs as the Catalan Authority for the Prevention of Torture. Such omission entails a breach of the Law 24/2009 of 23 December, on the Catalan Ombudsman.
The collaboration agreement between the Spanish Ombudsman (acting as National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Spain) and the Catalan Ombudsman (acting as Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Catalonia) is also pending.
Source: Ombudsman of Catalonia, Spain
