United Nations
CAT/C/GC/3
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
13 December 2012
Original: English
Committee against Torture
General comment No. 3 (2012)
Implementation of article 14 by States parties
1. This general comment explains and clarifies to States parties the content and scope
of the obligations under article 14 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Each State party is required to “ensure in
its legal system that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable
right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as
possible.” The Committee considers that article 14 is applicable to all victims of torture and
acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (hereafter “ill-treatment”)
without discrimination of any kind, in line with the Committee’s general comment No. 2.
2. The Committee considers that the term “redress” in article 14 encompasses the
concepts of “effective remedy” and “reparation”. The comprehensive reparative concept
therefore entails restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of
non-repetition and refers to the full scope of measures required to redress violations under
the Convention.
3. Victims are persons who have individually or collectively suffered harm, including
physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of
their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that constitute violations of the
Convention. A person should be considered a victim regardless of whether the perpetrator
of the violation is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted, and regardless of any
familial or other relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The term “victim” also
includes affected immediate family or dependants of the victim as well as persons who
have suffered harm in intervening to assist victims or to prevent victimization. The term
“survivors” may, in some cases, be preferred by persons who have suffered harm. The
Committee uses the legal term “victims” without prejudice to other terms which may be
preferable in specific contexts.
4. The Committee emphasizes the importance of victim participation in the redress
process, and that the restoration of the dignity of the victim is the ultimate objective in the
provision of redress.
5. The obligations of States parties to provide redress under article 14 are two-fold:
procedural and substantive. To satisfy their procedural obligations, States parties shall enact
legislation and establish complaints mechanisms, investigation bodies and institutions,
including independent judicial bodies, capable of determining the right to and awarding
redress for a victim of torture and ill-treatment, and ensure that such mechanisms and
bodies are effective and accessible to all victims. At the substantive level, States parties
shall ensure that victims of torture or ill-treatment obtain full and effective redress and
reparation, including compensation and the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.
Substantive obligations: the scope of the right to redress
6. As stated in paragraph 2 above, redress includes the following five forms of
reparation: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-
repetition. The Committee recognizes the elements of full redress under international law
and practice as outlined in the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy
and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and
Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law (Basic Principles and Guidelines).1
Reparation must be adequate, effective and comprehensive. States parties are reminded that
in the determination of redress and reparative measures provided or awarded to a victim of
torture or ill-treatment, the specificities and circumstances of each case must be taken into
consideration and redress should be tailored to the particular needs of the victim and be
proportionate to the gravity of the violations committed against them. The Committee
emphasizes that the provision of reparation has an inherent preventive and deterrent effect
in relation to future violations.
1 United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims
of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law, General Assembly resolution 60/147.
7. Where State authorities or others acting in their official capacity have committed,
know or have reasonable grounds to believe that acts of torture or ill-treatment have been
committed by non-State officials or private actors and failed to exercise due diligence to
prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish such non-State officials or private actors in
accordance with the Convention, the State bears responsibility for providing redress for the
victims (general comment No. 2).
Restitution
8. Restitution is a form of redress designed to re-establish the victim’s situation before
the violation of the Convention was committed, taking into consideration the specificities of
each case. The preventive obligations under the Convention require States parties to ensure
that a victim receiving such restitution is not placed in a position where he or she is at risk
of repetition of torture or ill-treatment. In certain cases, the victim may consider that
restitution is not possible due to the nature of the violation; however the State shall provide
the victim with full access to redress. For restitution to be effective, efforts should be made
to address any structural causes of the violation, including any kind of discrimination
related to, for example, gender, sexual orientation, disability, political or other opinion,
ethnicity, age and religion, and all other grounds of discrimination.
Compensation
9. The Committee emphasizes that monetary compensation alone may not be sufficient
redress for a victim of torture and ill-treatment. The Committee affirms that the provision of
monetary compensation only is inadequate for a State party to comply with its obligations
under article 14.
10. The right to prompt, fair and adequate compensation for torture or ill-treatment
under article 14 is multi-layered and compensation awarded to a victim should be sufficient
to compensate for any economically assessable damage resulting from torture or ill-
treatment, whether pecuniary or non-pecuniary. This may include: reimbursement of
medical expenses paid and provision of funds to cover future medical or rehabilitative
services needed by the victim to ensure as full rehabilitation as possible; pecuniary and
non-pecuniary damage resulting from the physical and mental harm caused; loss of
earnings and earning potential due to disabilities caused by the torture or ill-treatment; and
lost opportunities such as employment and education. In addition, adequate compensation
awarded by States parties to a victim of torture or ill-treatment should provide for legal or
specialist assistance, and other costs associated with bringing a claim for redress.
Rehabilitation
11. The Committee affirms that the provision of means for as full rehabilitation as
possible for anyone who has suffered harm as a result of a violation of the Convention
should be holistic and include medical and psychological care as well as legal and social
services. Rehabilitation, for the purposes of this general comment, refers to the restoration
of function or the acquisition of new skills required as a result of the changed circumstances
of a victim in the aftermath of torture or ill-treatment. It seeks to enable the maximum
possible self-sufficiency and function for the individual concerned, and may involve
adjustments to the person’s physical and social environment. Rehabilitation for victims
should aim to restore, as far as possible, their independence, physical, mental, social and
vocational ability; and full inclusion and participation in society.
12. The Committee emphasizes that the obligation of States parties to provide the means
for “as full rehabilitation as possible” refers to the need to restore and repair the harm
suffered by a victim whose life situation, including dignity, health and self-sufficiency may
never be fully recovered as a result of the pervasive effect of torture. The obligation does
not relate to the available resources of States parties and may not be postponed.
13. In order to fulfil its obligations to provide a victim of torture or ill-treatment with the
means for as full rehabilitation as possible, each State party should adopt a long-term,
integrated approach and ensure that specialist services for victims of torture or ill-treatment
are available, appropriate and readily accessible. These should include: a procedure for the
assessment and evaluation of individuals’ therapeutic and other needs, based on, inter alia,
the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (The Istanbul Protocol); and may include
a wide range of inter-disciplinary measures, such as medical, physical and psychological
rehabilitative services; re-integrative and social services; community and family-oriented
assistance and services; vocational training; education etc. A holistic approach to
rehabilitation which also takes into consideration the strength and resilience of the victim is
of utmost importance. Furthermore, victims may be at risk of re-traumatization and have a
valid fear of acts which remind them of the torture or ill-treatment they have endured.
Consequently, a high priority should be placed on the need to create a context of confidence
and trust in which assistance can be provided. Confidential services should be provided as
required.
14. The requirement in the Convention to provide these forms of rehabilitative services
does not extinguish the need to provide medical and psychosocial services for victims in the
direct aftermath of torture, nor does such initial care represent the fulfilment of the
obligation to provide the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.
15. States parties shall ensure that effective rehabilitation services and programmes are
established in the State, taking into account a victim’s culture, personality, history and
background and are accessible to all victims without discrimination and regardless of a
victim’s identity or status within a marginalized or vulnerable group, as illustrated in
paragraph 32, including asylum seekers and refugees. States parties’ legislation should
establish concrete mechanisms and programmes for providing rehabilitation to victims of
torture or ill-treatment. Torture victims should be provided access to rehabilitation
programmes as soon as possible following an assessment by qualified independent medical
professionals. Access to rehabilitation programmes should not depend on the victim
pursuing judicial remedies. The obligation in article 14 to provide for the means for as full
rehabilitation as possible can be fulfilled through the direct provision of rehabilitative
services by the State, or through the funding of private medical, legal and other facilities,
including those administered by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in which case
the State shall ensure that no reprisals or intimidation are directed at them. The victim’s
participation in the selection of the service provider is essential. Services should be
available in relevant languages. States parties are encouraged to establish systems for
assessing the effective implementation of rehabilitation programmes and services, including
by using appropriate indicators and benchmarks.
Satisfaction and the right to truth
16. Satisfaction should include, by way of and in addition to the obligations of
investigation and criminal prosecution under articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, any or
all of the following remedies: effective measures aimed at the cessation of continuing
violations; verification of the facts and full and public disclosure of the truth to the extent
that such disclosure does not cause further harm or threaten the safety and interests of the
victim, the victim’s relatives, witnesses, or persons who have intervened to assist the victim
or prevent the occurrence of further violations; the search for the whereabouts of the
disappeared, for the identities of the children abducted, and for the bodies of those killed,
and assistance in the recovery, identification, and reburial of victims’ bodies in accordance
with the expressed or presumed wish of the victims or affected families; an official
declaration or judicial decision restoring the dignity, the reputation and the rights of the
victim and of persons closely connected with the victim; judicial and administrative
sanctions against persons liable for the violations; public apologies, including
acknowledgement of the facts and acceptance of responsibility; commemorations and
tributes to the victims.
17. A State’s failure to investigate, criminally prosecute, or to allow civil proceedings
related to allegations of acts of torture in a prompt manner, may constitute a de facto denial
of redress and thus constitute a violation of the State’s obligations under article 14.
Guarantees of non-repetition
18. Articles 1 to 16 of the Convention constitute specific preventive measures that the
States parties deemed essential to prevent torture and ill-treatment. To guarantee non-
repetition of torture or ill-treatment, States parties should undertake measures to combat
impunity for violations of the Convention. Such measures include issuing effective, clear
instructions to public officials on the provisions of the Convention, especially the absolute
prohibition of torture. Other measures should include any or all of the following: civilian
oversight of military and security forces; ensuring that all judicial proceedings abide by
international standards of due process, fairness and impartiality; strengthening the
independence of the judiciary; protecting human rights defenders and legal, health and
other professionals who assist torture victims; establishing systems for regular and
independent monitoring of all places of detention; providing, on a priority and continued
basis, training for law enforcement officials as well as military and security forces on
human rights law that includes the specific needs of marginalized and vulnerable
populations and specific training on the Istanbul Protocol for health and legal professionals
and law enforcement officials; promoting the observance of international standards and
codes of conduct by public servants, including law enforcement, correctional, medical,
psychological, social service and military personnel; reviewing and reforming laws
contributing to or allowing torture and ill-treatment; ensuring compliance with article 3 of
the Convention prohibiting refoulement; ensuring the availability of temporary services for
individuals or groups of individuals, such as shelters for victims of gender-related or other
torture or ill-treatment. The Committee notes that by taking measures such as those listed
herein, States parties may also be fulfilling their obligations to prevent acts of torture under
article 2 of the Convention. Additionally, guarantees of non-repetition offer important
potential for the transformation of social relations that may be the underlying causes of
violence and may include, but are not limited to, amending relevant laws, fighting
impunity, and taking effective preventative and deterrent measures.
Procedural obligations: implementation of the right to redress
Legislation
19. Under article 2 of the Convention, States parties shall enact “effective legislative,
administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its
jurisdiction.” As clarified by the Committee in its general comment No. 2, “States parties
must make the offence of torture punishable as an offence under its criminal law, in
accordance, at a minimum, with the elements of torture as defined in article 1 of the
Convention, and the requirements of article 4.” The failure of States parties to enact
legislation that clearly incorporates their obligations under the Convention and criminalizes
torture and ill-treatment, and the resulting absences of torture and ill-treatment as criminal
offences, obstructs the victim’s capacity to access and enjoy his or her rights guaranteed
under article 14.
20. To give effect to article 14, States parties shall enact legislation specifically
providing a victim of torture and ill-treatment with an effective remedy and the right to
obtain adequate and appropriate redress, including compensation and as full rehabilitation
as possible. Such legislation must allow for individuals to exercise this right and ensure
their access to a judicial remedy. While collective reparation and administrative reparation
programmes may be acceptable as a form of redress, such programmes may not render
ineffective the individual right to a remedy and to obtain redress.
21. States parties should ensure that their domestic laws provide that a victim who has
suffered violence or trauma should benefit from adequate care and protection to avoid his
or her re-traumatization in the course of legal and administrative procedures designed to
provide justice and reparation.
22. Under the Convention, States parties are required to prosecute or extradite alleged
perpetrators of torture when they are found in any territory under its jurisdiction, and to
adopt the necessary legislation to make this possible. The Committee considers that the
application of article 14 is not limited to victims who were harmed in the territory of the
State party or by or against nationals of the State party. The Committee has commended the
efforts of States parties for providing civil remedies for victims who were subjected to
torture or ill-treatment outside their territory. This is particularly important when a victim is
unable to exercise the rights guaranteed under article 14 in the territory where the violation
took place. Indeed, article 14 requires States parties to ensure that all victims of torture and
ill-treatment are able to access remedy and obtain redress.
Effective mechanisms for complaints and investigations
23. The Committee has, in its concluding observations, identified other State obligations
that shall be met in order to ensure that the article 14 rights of a victim are fully respected.
In this regard, the Committee underscores the important relationship between States parties’
fulfilment of their obligations under article 12 and 13, and their obligation under article 14.
According to article 12, States parties shall undertake prompt, effective and impartial
investigations, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been
committed in any territory under its jurisdiction as the result of its actions or omissions and,
as set out in article 13 and affirmed by the Committee in its general comment No. 2, ensure
that impartial and effective complaints mechanisms are established. Full redress cannot be
obtained if the obligations under articles 12 and 13 are not guaranteed. Complaints
mechanisms shall be made known and accessible to the public, including to persons
deprived of their liberty, whether in detention, psychiatric facilities, or elsewhere, via, for
example, telephone hotlines or confidential complaints boxes in detention facilities, and to
persons belonging to vulnerable or marginalized groups, including those who may have
limited communication abilities.
24. At the procedural level, States parties shall ensure the existence of institutions
competent to render enforceable final decisions through a procedure established by law to
enable victims of torture or ill-treatment to secure redress, including adequate
compensation and rehabilitation.
25. Securing the victim’s right to redress requires that a State party’s competent
authorities promptly, effectively and impartially investigate and examine the case of any
individual who alleges that she or he has been subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Such an
investigation should include as a standard measure an independent physical and
psychological forensic examination as provided for in the Istanbul Protocol. Undue delays
in initiating or concluding legal investigations into complaints of torture or ill-treatment
compromise victims’ rights under article 14 to obtain redress, including fair and adequate
compensation and the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.
26. Notwithstanding the evidentiary benefits to victims afforded by a criminal
investigation, a civil proceeding and the victim’s claim for reparation should not be
dependent on the conclusion of a criminal proceeding. The Committee considers that
compensation should not be unduly delayed until criminal liability has been established.
Civil liability should be available independently of criminal proceedings and the necessary
legislation and institutions for such purpose should be in place. If criminal proceedings are
required by domestic legislation to take place before civil compensation can be sought, then
the absence of or undue delay in those criminal proceedings constitutes a failure on the part
of the State party to fulfil its obligations under the Convention. Disciplinary action alone
shall not be regarded as an effective remedy within the meaning of article 14.
27. Under article 14, a State party shall ensure that victims of any act of torture or ill-
treatment under its jurisdiction obtain redress. States parties have an obligation to take all
necessary and effective measures to ensure that all victims of such acts obtain redress. This
obligation includes an obligation for State parties to promptly initiate a process to ensure
that victims obtain redress, even in the absence of a complaint, when there are reasonable
grounds to believe that torture or ill-treatment has taken place.
28. The Committee strongly encourages States parties to recognize the Committee’s
competence to consider individual complaints under article 22 to allow victims to submit
communications and seek the views of the Committee. The Committee furthermore
encourages States parties to ratify or accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention
against Torture in order to strengthen preventive measures against torture and ill-treatment.
Access to mechanisms for obtaining redress
29. The Committee highlights the importance of the State party affirmatively ensuring
that victims and their families are adequately informed of their right to pursue redress. In
this regard, the procedures for seeking reparation should be transparent. The State party
should moreover provide assistance and support to minimize the hardship to complainants
and their representatives. Civil proceedings, or other proceedings, should not impose a
financial burden upon victims that would prevent or discourage them from seeking redress.
Where existing civil proceedings are unable to provide adequate redress to victims, the
Committee recommends implementing mechanisms that are readily accessible to victims of
torture and ill-treatment, including the establishment of a national fund to provide redress
for victims of torture. Special measures should be adopted to ensure access by persons
belonging to groups which have been marginalized or made vulnerable.
30. Judicial remedies must always be available to victims, irrespective of what other
remedies may be available, and should enable victim participation. States parties should
provide adequate legal aid to those victims of torture or ill-treatment lacking the necessary
resources to bring complaints and to make claims for redress. States parties shall also make
readily available to the victims all evidence concerning acts of torture or ill-treatment upon
the request of victims, their legal counsel, or a judge. A State party’s failure to provide
evidence and information, such as records of medical evaluations or treatment, can unduly
impair victims’ ability to lodge complaints and to seek redress, compensation and
rehabilitation.
31. The State party should also take measures to prevent interference with victims’
privacy and to protect victims, their families and witnesses and others who have intervened
on their behalf against intimidation and retaliation at all times before, during and after
judicial, administrative or other proceedings that affect the interests of victims. Failure to
provide protection stands in the way of victims filing complaints and thereby violates the
right to seek and obtain redress and remedy.
32. The principle of non-discrimination is a basic and general principle in the protection
of human rights and fundamental to the interpretation and application of the Convention.
States parties shall ensure that access to justice and to mechanisms for seeking and
obtaining redress are readily available and that positive measures ensure that redress is
equally accessible to all persons regardless of race, colour, ethnicity, age, religious belief or
affiliation, political or other opinion, national or social origin, gender, sexual orientation,
gender identity, mental or other disability, health status, economic or indigenous status,
reason for which the person is detained, including persons accused of political offences or
terrorist acts, asylum-seekers, refugees or others under international protection, or any other
status or adverse distinction, and including those marginalized or made vulnerable on bases
such as those above. Culturally sensitive collective reparation measures shall be available
for groups with shared identity, such as minority groups, indigenous groups, and others.
The Committee notes that collective measures do not exclude the individual right to
redress.
33. Judicial and non-judicial proceedings shall apply gender-sensitive procedures which
avoid re-victimization and stigmatization of victims of torture or ill-treatment. With respect
to sexual or gender-based violence and access to due process and an impartial judiciary, the
Committee emphasizes that in any proceedings, civil or criminal, to determine the victim’s
right to redress, including compensation, rules of evidence and procedure in relation to
gender-based violence must afford equal weight to the testimony of women and girls, as
should be the case for all other victims, and prevent the introduction of discriminatory
evidence and harassment of victims and witnesses. The Committee considers that
complaints mechanisms and investigations require specific positive measures which take
into account gender aspects in order to ensure that victims of abuses such as sexual violence
and abuse, rape, marital rape, domestic violence, female genital mutilation and trafficking
are able to come forward and seek and obtain redress.
34. To avoid re-victimization and stigmatization of victims of torture or ill-treatment,
the protections outlined in the preceding paragraph equally apply to any person
marginalized or made vulnerable on the basis of identities and groups such as those
examples listed under the principle of non-discrimination in paragraph 32. In judicial and
non-judicial proceedings sensitivity must be exercised toward any such person.
Accordingly, the Committee notes that judicial personnel must receive specific training on
the various impacts of torture and ill-treatment, including those on victims from
marginalized and vulnerable groups, and on how to exercise sensitivity towards victims of
torture and ill-treatment, including in the form of sexual or gender-based discrimination, in
order to prevent re-victimization and stigmatization.
35. The Committee considers the training of relevant police, prison staff, medical
personnel, judicial personnel and immigration personnel, including training on the Istanbul
Protocol, to be fundamental to ensuring effective investigations. Furthermore, officials and
personnel involved in efforts to obtain redress should receive methodological training in
order to prevent re-traumatization of victims of torture or ill-treatment. This training should
include, for health and medical personnel, the need to inform victims of gender-based and
sexual violence and all other forms of discrimination of the availability of emergency
medical procedures, both physical and psychological. The Committee also urges States
parties to establish human rights offices within police forces, and units of officers
specifically trained to handle cases of gender-based and sexual violence, including sexual
violence perpetrated against men and boys, and violence against children and ethnic,
religious, national or other minorities and other marginalized or vulnerable groups.
36. The Committee furthermore underlines the importance of appropriate procedures
being made available to address the needs of children, taking into account the best interests
of the child and the child’s right to express his or her views freely in all matters affecting
him or her, including judicial and administrative proceedings, and of the views of the child
being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. States parties
should ensure the availability of child-sensitive measures for reparation which foster the
health and dignity of the child.
Obstacles to the right to redress
37. A crucial component of the right to redress is the clear acknowledgement by the
State party concerned that the reparative measures provided or awarded to a victim are for
violations of the Convention, by action or omission. The Committee is therefore of the view
that a State party may not implement development measures or provide humanitarian
assistance as a substitute for redress for victims of torture or ill-treatment. The failure of a
State party to provide the individual victim of torture with redress may not be justified by
invoking a State’s level of development. The Committee recalls that subsequent
governments as well as successor States still have the obligation to guarantee access to the
right of redress.
38. States parties to the Convention have an obligation to ensure that the right to redress
is effective. Specific obstacles that impede the enjoyment of the right to redress and prevent
effective implementation of article 14 include, but are not limited to: inadequate national
legislation, discrimination with regard to accessing complaints and investigation
mechanisms and procedures for remedy and redress; inadequate measures for securing the
custody of alleged perpetrators, State secrecy laws, evidential burdens and procedural
requirements that interfere with the determination of the right to redress; statutes of
limitations, amnesties and immunities; the failure to provide sufficient legal aid and
protection measures for victims and witnesses; as well as the associated stigma, and the
physical, psychological and other related effects of torture and ill-treatment. In addition, the
failure of a State party to execute judgements providing reparative measures for a victim of
torture, handed down by national, international or regional courts, constitutes a significant
impediment to the right to redress. States parties should develop coordinated mechanisms
to enable victims to execute judgements across State lines, including recognizing the
validity of court orders from other States parties and assisting in locating the assets of
perpetrators.
39. With regard to the obligations in article 14, States parties shall ensure both de jure
and de facto access to timely and effective redress mechanisms for members of groups
marginalized and/or made vulnerable, avoid measures that impede the ability of members
of such groups to seek and obtain redress, and address formal or informal obstacles that
they may face in obtaining redress. These may include, for example, inadequate judicial or
other procedures for quantifying damages which may have a negative disparate impact on
such individuals in accessing or keeping money. As the Committee has emphasized in its
general comment No. 2, “gender is a key factor. Being female intersects with other
identifying characteristics or status of the person…to determine the ways that women and
girls are subject to or at risk of torture or ill-treatment”. States parties shall ensure due
attention to gender in providing all the elements cited above in the process of ensuring that
everybody, in particular members of groups made vulnerable, including lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, must be treated fairly and equally and obtain fair
and adequate compensation, rehabilitation and other reparative measures which respond to
their specific needs.
40. On account of the continuous nature of the effects of torture, statutes of limitations
should not be applicable as these deprive victims of the redress, compensation, and
rehabilitation due to them. For many victims, passage of time does not attenuate the harm
and in some cases the harm may increase as a result of post-traumatic stress that requires
medical, psychological and social support, which is often inaccessible to those who have
not received redress. States parties shall ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment,
regardless of when the violation occurred or whether it was carried out by or with the
acquiescence of a former regime, are able to access their rights to remedy and to obtain
redress.
41. The Committee has consistently held that amnesties for the crime of torture are
incompatible with the obligations of States parties under the Convention, including under
article 14. As was pointed out in general comment No. 2, “amnesties or other impediments
which preclude or indicate unwillingness to provide prompt and fair prosecution and
punishment of perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment violate the principle of non-
derogability.” The Committee considers that amnesties for torture and ill-treatment pose
impermissible obstacles to a victim in his or her efforts to obtain redress and contribute to a
climate of impunity. The Committee therefore calls on States parties to remove any
amnesties for torture or ill-treatment.
42. Similarly, granting immunity, in violation of international law, to any State or its
agents or to non-State actors for torture or ill-treatment, is in direct conflict with the
obligation of providing redress to victims. When impunity is allowed by law or exists de
facto, it bars victims from seeking full redress as it allows the violators to go unpunished
and denies victims full assurance of their rights under article 14. The Committee affirms
that under no circumstances may arguments of national security be used to deny redress for
victims.
43. The Committee considers reservations which seek to limit the application of article
14 to be incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention. States parties are
therefore encouraged to consider withdrawing any reservations to article 14 that limit its
application so as to ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment have access to redress
and remedy.
United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture
44. Voluntary contributions to international funds for victims of torture play an
important role in providing assistance to them. The Committee highlights the important
work done by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, which provides
humanitarian assistance to victims of torture. The Committee highlights also the possibility
for States parties to make voluntary contributions to this fund, irrespective of the national
measures taken or contributions made.
Monitoring and reporting
45. States parties shall establish a system to oversee, monitor, evaluate, and report on
their provision of redress measures and necessary rehabilitation services to victims of
torture or ill-treatment. Accordingly, States parties should include in their reports to the
Committee data disaggregated by age, gender, nationality, and other key factors regarding
redress measures afforded to victims of torture or ill-treatment, in order to meet their
obligation as recalled in general comment No. 2 to provide continual evaluation of their
efforts to provide redress to victims.
46. On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to
provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties’ reports.
Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be
provided on the following:
(a) The number of victims of torture or ill-treatment who have sought
compensation through legal, administrative and other means and the nature of the violations
alleged; the number of victims who have been awarded compensation; and in what amounts;
(b) The measures taken to assist victims in the direct aftermath of torture;
(c) The rehabilitation facilities available to victims of torture or ill-treatment
and the accessibility thereof, as well as the budget allocation for rehabilitation programmes
and the number of victims who have received rehabilitative services appropriate to their
needs;
(d) The methods available for assessing the effectiveness of rehabilitation
programmes and services, including the application of appropriate indicators and
benchmarks, and the result of such assessment;
(e) The measures taken to ensure satisfaction and guarantees of non-
repetition;
(f) The domestic legislation which provides victims of torture or ill-treatment
with the right to remedy and redress, and relevant implementation measures taken by the
State party. Where such legislation is lacking, reports should include information on the
measures taken by the State party to adopt and implement such legislation.
(g) The measures taken to ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment are
able to exercise and enjoy their rights under article 14.
(h) The complaints mechanisms available for victims of torture or ill-
treatment, including how such mechanisms are made known and accessible to all victims.
States parties should also include data disaggregated by age, gender, nationality, location
and alleged violation, on the number of complaints received through such mechanisms.
(i) The measures taken by States parties to ensure that all allegations of
torture and ill-treatment are effectively investigated.
(j) The legislation and policy measures designed to positively identify
victims of torture in order to provide them with redress.
(k) The available avenues for a victim of torture or ill-treatment to obtain
redress, including all criminal, civil, administrative and non-judicial procedures, such as
administrative reparation programmes, as well as information on the number of victims who
have accessed such mechanisms, how many obtained redress and reparative measures, and
in what forms and/or amounts.
(l) The legal aid and witness protection available to victims of torture or ill-
treatment as well as witnesses and others who have intervened on behalf of victims,
including how such protection is made known and how it is made available in practice; the
number of victims who have been granted legal aid; the number of persons who have been
protected by State witness protection; and the State party’s evaluation of the effectiveness of
such protection.
(m) The steps taken to implement judgements by national, regional or
international courts, including the amount of time lapsed from the date of the judgement and
the actual provision of compensation or other forms of redress. States parties should also
include disaggregated data on the number of victims designated to receive reparative
measures in court judgements and the number who actually received redress, and for what
violations.
(n) The safeguards available for the special protection of members of
marginalized or vulnerable groups, including women and children seeking to exercise their
rights guaranteed under article 14 of the Convention.
(o) Any such other matters that the Committee may require.
CAT/C/GC/3
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
13 December 2012
Original: English
Committee against Torture
General comment No. 3 (2012)
Implementation of article 14 by States parties
1. This general comment explains and clarifies to States parties the content and scope
of the obligations under article 14 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Each State party is required to “ensure in
its legal system that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable
right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as
possible.” The Committee considers that article 14 is applicable to all victims of torture and
acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (hereafter “ill-treatment”)
without discrimination of any kind, in line with the Committee’s general comment No. 2.
2. The Committee considers that the term “redress” in article 14 encompasses the
concepts of “effective remedy” and “reparation”. The comprehensive reparative concept
therefore entails restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of
non-repetition and refers to the full scope of measures required to redress violations under
the Convention.
3. Victims are persons who have individually or collectively suffered harm, including
physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of
their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that constitute violations of the
Convention. A person should be considered a victim regardless of whether the perpetrator
of the violation is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted, and regardless of any
familial or other relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The term “victim” also
includes affected immediate family or dependants of the victim as well as persons who
have suffered harm in intervening to assist victims or to prevent victimization. The term
“survivors” may, in some cases, be preferred by persons who have suffered harm. The
Committee uses the legal term “victims” without prejudice to other terms which may be
preferable in specific contexts.
4. The Committee emphasizes the importance of victim participation in the redress
process, and that the restoration of the dignity of the victim is the ultimate objective in the
provision of redress.
5. The obligations of States parties to provide redress under article 14 are two-fold:
procedural and substantive. To satisfy their procedural obligations, States parties shall enact
legislation and establish complaints mechanisms, investigation bodies and institutions,
including independent judicial bodies, capable of determining the right to and awarding
redress for a victim of torture and ill-treatment, and ensure that such mechanisms and
bodies are effective and accessible to all victims. At the substantive level, States parties
shall ensure that victims of torture or ill-treatment obtain full and effective redress and
reparation, including compensation and the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.
Substantive obligations: the scope of the right to redress
6. As stated in paragraph 2 above, redress includes the following five forms of
reparation: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-
repetition. The Committee recognizes the elements of full redress under international law
and practice as outlined in the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy
and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and
Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law (Basic Principles and Guidelines).1
Reparation must be adequate, effective and comprehensive. States parties are reminded that
in the determination of redress and reparative measures provided or awarded to a victim of
torture or ill-treatment, the specificities and circumstances of each case must be taken into
consideration and redress should be tailored to the particular needs of the victim and be
proportionate to the gravity of the violations committed against them. The Committee
emphasizes that the provision of reparation has an inherent preventive and deterrent effect
in relation to future violations.
1 United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims
of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law, General Assembly resolution 60/147.
7. Where State authorities or others acting in their official capacity have committed,
know or have reasonable grounds to believe that acts of torture or ill-treatment have been
committed by non-State officials or private actors and failed to exercise due diligence to
prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish such non-State officials or private actors in
accordance with the Convention, the State bears responsibility for providing redress for the
victims (general comment No. 2).
Restitution
8. Restitution is a form of redress designed to re-establish the victim’s situation before
the violation of the Convention was committed, taking into consideration the specificities of
each case. The preventive obligations under the Convention require States parties to ensure
that a victim receiving such restitution is not placed in a position where he or she is at risk
of repetition of torture or ill-treatment. In certain cases, the victim may consider that
restitution is not possible due to the nature of the violation; however the State shall provide
the victim with full access to redress. For restitution to be effective, efforts should be made
to address any structural causes of the violation, including any kind of discrimination
related to, for example, gender, sexual orientation, disability, political or other opinion,
ethnicity, age and religion, and all other grounds of discrimination.
Compensation
9. The Committee emphasizes that monetary compensation alone may not be sufficient
redress for a victim of torture and ill-treatment. The Committee affirms that the provision of
monetary compensation only is inadequate for a State party to comply with its obligations
under article 14.
10. The right to prompt, fair and adequate compensation for torture or ill-treatment
under article 14 is multi-layered and compensation awarded to a victim should be sufficient
to compensate for any economically assessable damage resulting from torture or ill-
treatment, whether pecuniary or non-pecuniary. This may include: reimbursement of
medical expenses paid and provision of funds to cover future medical or rehabilitative
services needed by the victim to ensure as full rehabilitation as possible; pecuniary and
non-pecuniary damage resulting from the physical and mental harm caused; loss of
earnings and earning potential due to disabilities caused by the torture or ill-treatment; and
lost opportunities such as employment and education. In addition, adequate compensation
awarded by States parties to a victim of torture or ill-treatment should provide for legal or
specialist assistance, and other costs associated with bringing a claim for redress.
Rehabilitation
11. The Committee affirms that the provision of means for as full rehabilitation as
possible for anyone who has suffered harm as a result of a violation of the Convention
should be holistic and include medical and psychological care as well as legal and social
services. Rehabilitation, for the purposes of this general comment, refers to the restoration
of function or the acquisition of new skills required as a result of the changed circumstances
of a victim in the aftermath of torture or ill-treatment. It seeks to enable the maximum
possible self-sufficiency and function for the individual concerned, and may involve
adjustments to the person’s physical and social environment. Rehabilitation for victims
should aim to restore, as far as possible, their independence, physical, mental, social and
vocational ability; and full inclusion and participation in society.
12. The Committee emphasizes that the obligation of States parties to provide the means
for “as full rehabilitation as possible” refers to the need to restore and repair the harm
suffered by a victim whose life situation, including dignity, health and self-sufficiency may
never be fully recovered as a result of the pervasive effect of torture. The obligation does
not relate to the available resources of States parties and may not be postponed.
13. In order to fulfil its obligations to provide a victim of torture or ill-treatment with the
means for as full rehabilitation as possible, each State party should adopt a long-term,
integrated approach and ensure that specialist services for victims of torture or ill-treatment
are available, appropriate and readily accessible. These should include: a procedure for the
assessment and evaluation of individuals’ therapeutic and other needs, based on, inter alia,
the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (The Istanbul Protocol); and may include
a wide range of inter-disciplinary measures, such as medical, physical and psychological
rehabilitative services; re-integrative and social services; community and family-oriented
assistance and services; vocational training; education etc. A holistic approach to
rehabilitation which also takes into consideration the strength and resilience of the victim is
of utmost importance. Furthermore, victims may be at risk of re-traumatization and have a
valid fear of acts which remind them of the torture or ill-treatment they have endured.
Consequently, a high priority should be placed on the need to create a context of confidence
and trust in which assistance can be provided. Confidential services should be provided as
required.
14. The requirement in the Convention to provide these forms of rehabilitative services
does not extinguish the need to provide medical and psychosocial services for victims in the
direct aftermath of torture, nor does such initial care represent the fulfilment of the
obligation to provide the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.
15. States parties shall ensure that effective rehabilitation services and programmes are
established in the State, taking into account a victim’s culture, personality, history and
background and are accessible to all victims without discrimination and regardless of a
victim’s identity or status within a marginalized or vulnerable group, as illustrated in
paragraph 32, including asylum seekers and refugees. States parties’ legislation should
establish concrete mechanisms and programmes for providing rehabilitation to victims of
torture or ill-treatment. Torture victims should be provided access to rehabilitation
programmes as soon as possible following an assessment by qualified independent medical
professionals. Access to rehabilitation programmes should not depend on the victim
pursuing judicial remedies. The obligation in article 14 to provide for the means for as full
rehabilitation as possible can be fulfilled through the direct provision of rehabilitative
services by the State, or through the funding of private medical, legal and other facilities,
including those administered by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in which case
the State shall ensure that no reprisals or intimidation are directed at them. The victim’s
participation in the selection of the service provider is essential. Services should be
available in relevant languages. States parties are encouraged to establish systems for
assessing the effective implementation of rehabilitation programmes and services, including
by using appropriate indicators and benchmarks.
Satisfaction and the right to truth
16. Satisfaction should include, by way of and in addition to the obligations of
investigation and criminal prosecution under articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, any or
all of the following remedies: effective measures aimed at the cessation of continuing
violations; verification of the facts and full and public disclosure of the truth to the extent
that such disclosure does not cause further harm or threaten the safety and interests of the
victim, the victim’s relatives, witnesses, or persons who have intervened to assist the victim
or prevent the occurrence of further violations; the search for the whereabouts of the
disappeared, for the identities of the children abducted, and for the bodies of those killed,
and assistance in the recovery, identification, and reburial of victims’ bodies in accordance
with the expressed or presumed wish of the victims or affected families; an official
declaration or judicial decision restoring the dignity, the reputation and the rights of the
victim and of persons closely connected with the victim; judicial and administrative
sanctions against persons liable for the violations; public apologies, including
acknowledgement of the facts and acceptance of responsibility; commemorations and
tributes to the victims.
17. A State’s failure to investigate, criminally prosecute, or to allow civil proceedings
related to allegations of acts of torture in a prompt manner, may constitute a de facto denial
of redress and thus constitute a violation of the State’s obligations under article 14.
Guarantees of non-repetition
18. Articles 1 to 16 of the Convention constitute specific preventive measures that the
States parties deemed essential to prevent torture and ill-treatment. To guarantee non-
repetition of torture or ill-treatment, States parties should undertake measures to combat
impunity for violations of the Convention. Such measures include issuing effective, clear
instructions to public officials on the provisions of the Convention, especially the absolute
prohibition of torture. Other measures should include any or all of the following: civilian
oversight of military and security forces; ensuring that all judicial proceedings abide by
international standards of due process, fairness and impartiality; strengthening the
independence of the judiciary; protecting human rights defenders and legal, health and
other professionals who assist torture victims; establishing systems for regular and
independent monitoring of all places of detention; providing, on a priority and continued
basis, training for law enforcement officials as well as military and security forces on
human rights law that includes the specific needs of marginalized and vulnerable
populations and specific training on the Istanbul Protocol for health and legal professionals
and law enforcement officials; promoting the observance of international standards and
codes of conduct by public servants, including law enforcement, correctional, medical,
psychological, social service and military personnel; reviewing and reforming laws
contributing to or allowing torture and ill-treatment; ensuring compliance with article 3 of
the Convention prohibiting refoulement; ensuring the availability of temporary services for
individuals or groups of individuals, such as shelters for victims of gender-related or other
torture or ill-treatment. The Committee notes that by taking measures such as those listed
herein, States parties may also be fulfilling their obligations to prevent acts of torture under
article 2 of the Convention. Additionally, guarantees of non-repetition offer important
potential for the transformation of social relations that may be the underlying causes of
violence and may include, but are not limited to, amending relevant laws, fighting
impunity, and taking effective preventative and deterrent measures.
Procedural obligations: implementation of the right to redress
Legislation
19. Under article 2 of the Convention, States parties shall enact “effective legislative,
administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its
jurisdiction.” As clarified by the Committee in its general comment No. 2, “States parties
must make the offence of torture punishable as an offence under its criminal law, in
accordance, at a minimum, with the elements of torture as defined in article 1 of the
Convention, and the requirements of article 4.” The failure of States parties to enact
legislation that clearly incorporates their obligations under the Convention and criminalizes
torture and ill-treatment, and the resulting absences of torture and ill-treatment as criminal
offences, obstructs the victim’s capacity to access and enjoy his or her rights guaranteed
under article 14.
20. To give effect to article 14, States parties shall enact legislation specifically
providing a victim of torture and ill-treatment with an effective remedy and the right to
obtain adequate and appropriate redress, including compensation and as full rehabilitation
as possible. Such legislation must allow for individuals to exercise this right and ensure
their access to a judicial remedy. While collective reparation and administrative reparation
programmes may be acceptable as a form of redress, such programmes may not render
ineffective the individual right to a remedy and to obtain redress.
21. States parties should ensure that their domestic laws provide that a victim who has
suffered violence or trauma should benefit from adequate care and protection to avoid his
or her re-traumatization in the course of legal and administrative procedures designed to
provide justice and reparation.
22. Under the Convention, States parties are required to prosecute or extradite alleged
perpetrators of torture when they are found in any territory under its jurisdiction, and to
adopt the necessary legislation to make this possible. The Committee considers that the
application of article 14 is not limited to victims who were harmed in the territory of the
State party or by or against nationals of the State party. The Committee has commended the
efforts of States parties for providing civil remedies for victims who were subjected to
torture or ill-treatment outside their territory. This is particularly important when a victim is
unable to exercise the rights guaranteed under article 14 in the territory where the violation
took place. Indeed, article 14 requires States parties to ensure that all victims of torture and
ill-treatment are able to access remedy and obtain redress.
Effective mechanisms for complaints and investigations
23. The Committee has, in its concluding observations, identified other State obligations
that shall be met in order to ensure that the article 14 rights of a victim are fully respected.
In this regard, the Committee underscores the important relationship between States parties’
fulfilment of their obligations under article 12 and 13, and their obligation under article 14.
According to article 12, States parties shall undertake prompt, effective and impartial
investigations, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been
committed in any territory under its jurisdiction as the result of its actions or omissions and,
as set out in article 13 and affirmed by the Committee in its general comment No. 2, ensure
that impartial and effective complaints mechanisms are established. Full redress cannot be
obtained if the obligations under articles 12 and 13 are not guaranteed. Complaints
mechanisms shall be made known and accessible to the public, including to persons
deprived of their liberty, whether in detention, psychiatric facilities, or elsewhere, via, for
example, telephone hotlines or confidential complaints boxes in detention facilities, and to
persons belonging to vulnerable or marginalized groups, including those who may have
limited communication abilities.
24. At the procedural level, States parties shall ensure the existence of institutions
competent to render enforceable final decisions through a procedure established by law to
enable victims of torture or ill-treatment to secure redress, including adequate
compensation and rehabilitation.
25. Securing the victim’s right to redress requires that a State party’s competent
authorities promptly, effectively and impartially investigate and examine the case of any
individual who alleges that she or he has been subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Such an
investigation should include as a standard measure an independent physical and
psychological forensic examination as provided for in the Istanbul Protocol. Undue delays
in initiating or concluding legal investigations into complaints of torture or ill-treatment
compromise victims’ rights under article 14 to obtain redress, including fair and adequate
compensation and the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.
26. Notwithstanding the evidentiary benefits to victims afforded by a criminal
investigation, a civil proceeding and the victim’s claim for reparation should not be
dependent on the conclusion of a criminal proceeding. The Committee considers that
compensation should not be unduly delayed until criminal liability has been established.
Civil liability should be available independently of criminal proceedings and the necessary
legislation and institutions for such purpose should be in place. If criminal proceedings are
required by domestic legislation to take place before civil compensation can be sought, then
the absence of or undue delay in those criminal proceedings constitutes a failure on the part
of the State party to fulfil its obligations under the Convention. Disciplinary action alone
shall not be regarded as an effective remedy within the meaning of article 14.
27. Under article 14, a State party shall ensure that victims of any act of torture or ill-
treatment under its jurisdiction obtain redress. States parties have an obligation to take all
necessary and effective measures to ensure that all victims of such acts obtain redress. This
obligation includes an obligation for State parties to promptly initiate a process to ensure
that victims obtain redress, even in the absence of a complaint, when there are reasonable
grounds to believe that torture or ill-treatment has taken place.
28. The Committee strongly encourages States parties to recognize the Committee’s
competence to consider individual complaints under article 22 to allow victims to submit
communications and seek the views of the Committee. The Committee furthermore
encourages States parties to ratify or accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention
against Torture in order to strengthen preventive measures against torture and ill-treatment.
Access to mechanisms for obtaining redress
29. The Committee highlights the importance of the State party affirmatively ensuring
that victims and their families are adequately informed of their right to pursue redress. In
this regard, the procedures for seeking reparation should be transparent. The State party
should moreover provide assistance and support to minimize the hardship to complainants
and their representatives. Civil proceedings, or other proceedings, should not impose a
financial burden upon victims that would prevent or discourage them from seeking redress.
Where existing civil proceedings are unable to provide adequate redress to victims, the
Committee recommends implementing mechanisms that are readily accessible to victims of
torture and ill-treatment, including the establishment of a national fund to provide redress
for victims of torture. Special measures should be adopted to ensure access by persons
belonging to groups which have been marginalized or made vulnerable.
30. Judicial remedies must always be available to victims, irrespective of what other
remedies may be available, and should enable victim participation. States parties should
provide adequate legal aid to those victims of torture or ill-treatment lacking the necessary
resources to bring complaints and to make claims for redress. States parties shall also make
readily available to the victims all evidence concerning acts of torture or ill-treatment upon
the request of victims, their legal counsel, or a judge. A State party’s failure to provide
evidence and information, such as records of medical evaluations or treatment, can unduly
impair victims’ ability to lodge complaints and to seek redress, compensation and
rehabilitation.
31. The State party should also take measures to prevent interference with victims’
privacy and to protect victims, their families and witnesses and others who have intervened
on their behalf against intimidation and retaliation at all times before, during and after
judicial, administrative or other proceedings that affect the interests of victims. Failure to
provide protection stands in the way of victims filing complaints and thereby violates the
right to seek and obtain redress and remedy.
32. The principle of non-discrimination is a basic and general principle in the protection
of human rights and fundamental to the interpretation and application of the Convention.
States parties shall ensure that access to justice and to mechanisms for seeking and
obtaining redress are readily available and that positive measures ensure that redress is
equally accessible to all persons regardless of race, colour, ethnicity, age, religious belief or
affiliation, political or other opinion, national or social origin, gender, sexual orientation,
gender identity, mental or other disability, health status, economic or indigenous status,
reason for which the person is detained, including persons accused of political offences or
terrorist acts, asylum-seekers, refugees or others under international protection, or any other
status or adverse distinction, and including those marginalized or made vulnerable on bases
such as those above. Culturally sensitive collective reparation measures shall be available
for groups with shared identity, such as minority groups, indigenous groups, and others.
The Committee notes that collective measures do not exclude the individual right to
redress.
33. Judicial and non-judicial proceedings shall apply gender-sensitive procedures which
avoid re-victimization and stigmatization of victims of torture or ill-treatment. With respect
to sexual or gender-based violence and access to due process and an impartial judiciary, the
Committee emphasizes that in any proceedings, civil or criminal, to determine the victim’s
right to redress, including compensation, rules of evidence and procedure in relation to
gender-based violence must afford equal weight to the testimony of women and girls, as
should be the case for all other victims, and prevent the introduction of discriminatory
evidence and harassment of victims and witnesses. The Committee considers that
complaints mechanisms and investigations require specific positive measures which take
into account gender aspects in order to ensure that victims of abuses such as sexual violence
and abuse, rape, marital rape, domestic violence, female genital mutilation and trafficking
are able to come forward and seek and obtain redress.
34. To avoid re-victimization and stigmatization of victims of torture or ill-treatment,
the protections outlined in the preceding paragraph equally apply to any person
marginalized or made vulnerable on the basis of identities and groups such as those
examples listed under the principle of non-discrimination in paragraph 32. In judicial and
non-judicial proceedings sensitivity must be exercised toward any such person.
Accordingly, the Committee notes that judicial personnel must receive specific training on
the various impacts of torture and ill-treatment, including those on victims from
marginalized and vulnerable groups, and on how to exercise sensitivity towards victims of
torture and ill-treatment, including in the form of sexual or gender-based discrimination, in
order to prevent re-victimization and stigmatization.
35. The Committee considers the training of relevant police, prison staff, medical
personnel, judicial personnel and immigration personnel, including training on the Istanbul
Protocol, to be fundamental to ensuring effective investigations. Furthermore, officials and
personnel involved in efforts to obtain redress should receive methodological training in
order to prevent re-traumatization of victims of torture or ill-treatment. This training should
include, for health and medical personnel, the need to inform victims of gender-based and
sexual violence and all other forms of discrimination of the availability of emergency
medical procedures, both physical and psychological. The Committee also urges States
parties to establish human rights offices within police forces, and units of officers
specifically trained to handle cases of gender-based and sexual violence, including sexual
violence perpetrated against men and boys, and violence against children and ethnic,
religious, national or other minorities and other marginalized or vulnerable groups.
36. The Committee furthermore underlines the importance of appropriate procedures
being made available to address the needs of children, taking into account the best interests
of the child and the child’s right to express his or her views freely in all matters affecting
him or her, including judicial and administrative proceedings, and of the views of the child
being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. States parties
should ensure the availability of child-sensitive measures for reparation which foster the
health and dignity of the child.
Obstacles to the right to redress
37. A crucial component of the right to redress is the clear acknowledgement by the
State party concerned that the reparative measures provided or awarded to a victim are for
violations of the Convention, by action or omission. The Committee is therefore of the view
that a State party may not implement development measures or provide humanitarian
assistance as a substitute for redress for victims of torture or ill-treatment. The failure of a
State party to provide the individual victim of torture with redress may not be justified by
invoking a State’s level of development. The Committee recalls that subsequent
governments as well as successor States still have the obligation to guarantee access to the
right of redress.
38. States parties to the Convention have an obligation to ensure that the right to redress
is effective. Specific obstacles that impede the enjoyment of the right to redress and prevent
effective implementation of article 14 include, but are not limited to: inadequate national
legislation, discrimination with regard to accessing complaints and investigation
mechanisms and procedures for remedy and redress; inadequate measures for securing the
custody of alleged perpetrators, State secrecy laws, evidential burdens and procedural
requirements that interfere with the determination of the right to redress; statutes of
limitations, amnesties and immunities; the failure to provide sufficient legal aid and
protection measures for victims and witnesses; as well as the associated stigma, and the
physical, psychological and other related effects of torture and ill-treatment. In addition, the
failure of a State party to execute judgements providing reparative measures for a victim of
torture, handed down by national, international or regional courts, constitutes a significant
impediment to the right to redress. States parties should develop coordinated mechanisms
to enable victims to execute judgements across State lines, including recognizing the
validity of court orders from other States parties and assisting in locating the assets of
perpetrators.
39. With regard to the obligations in article 14, States parties shall ensure both de jure
and de facto access to timely and effective redress mechanisms for members of groups
marginalized and/or made vulnerable, avoid measures that impede the ability of members
of such groups to seek and obtain redress, and address formal or informal obstacles that
they may face in obtaining redress. These may include, for example, inadequate judicial or
other procedures for quantifying damages which may have a negative disparate impact on
such individuals in accessing or keeping money. As the Committee has emphasized in its
general comment No. 2, “gender is a key factor. Being female intersects with other
identifying characteristics or status of the person…to determine the ways that women and
girls are subject to or at risk of torture or ill-treatment”. States parties shall ensure due
attention to gender in providing all the elements cited above in the process of ensuring that
everybody, in particular members of groups made vulnerable, including lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, must be treated fairly and equally and obtain fair
and adequate compensation, rehabilitation and other reparative measures which respond to
their specific needs.
40. On account of the continuous nature of the effects of torture, statutes of limitations
should not be applicable as these deprive victims of the redress, compensation, and
rehabilitation due to them. For many victims, passage of time does not attenuate the harm
and in some cases the harm may increase as a result of post-traumatic stress that requires
medical, psychological and social support, which is often inaccessible to those who have
not received redress. States parties shall ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment,
regardless of when the violation occurred or whether it was carried out by or with the
acquiescence of a former regime, are able to access their rights to remedy and to obtain
redress.
41. The Committee has consistently held that amnesties for the crime of torture are
incompatible with the obligations of States parties under the Convention, including under
article 14. As was pointed out in general comment No. 2, “amnesties or other impediments
which preclude or indicate unwillingness to provide prompt and fair prosecution and
punishment of perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment violate the principle of non-
derogability.” The Committee considers that amnesties for torture and ill-treatment pose
impermissible obstacles to a victim in his or her efforts to obtain redress and contribute to a
climate of impunity. The Committee therefore calls on States parties to remove any
amnesties for torture or ill-treatment.
42. Similarly, granting immunity, in violation of international law, to any State or its
agents or to non-State actors for torture or ill-treatment, is in direct conflict with the
obligation of providing redress to victims. When impunity is allowed by law or exists de
facto, it bars victims from seeking full redress as it allows the violators to go unpunished
and denies victims full assurance of their rights under article 14. The Committee affirms
that under no circumstances may arguments of national security be used to deny redress for
victims.
43. The Committee considers reservations which seek to limit the application of article
14 to be incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention. States parties are
therefore encouraged to consider withdrawing any reservations to article 14 that limit its
application so as to ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment have access to redress
and remedy.
United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture
44. Voluntary contributions to international funds for victims of torture play an
important role in providing assistance to them. The Committee highlights the important
work done by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, which provides
humanitarian assistance to victims of torture. The Committee highlights also the possibility
for States parties to make voluntary contributions to this fund, irrespective of the national
measures taken or contributions made.
Monitoring and reporting
45. States parties shall establish a system to oversee, monitor, evaluate, and report on
their provision of redress measures and necessary rehabilitation services to victims of
torture or ill-treatment. Accordingly, States parties should include in their reports to the
Committee data disaggregated by age, gender, nationality, and other key factors regarding
redress measures afforded to victims of torture or ill-treatment, in order to meet their
obligation as recalled in general comment No. 2 to provide continual evaluation of their
efforts to provide redress to victims.
46. On the implementation of article 14, the Committee has observed the need to
provide adequate information on the implementation of article 14 in States parties’ reports.
Therefore, the Committee wishes to underscore that specific information should be
provided on the following:
(a) The number of victims of torture or ill-treatment who have sought
compensation through legal, administrative and other means and the nature of the violations
alleged; the number of victims who have been awarded compensation; and in what amounts;
(b) The measures taken to assist victims in the direct aftermath of torture;
(c) The rehabilitation facilities available to victims of torture or ill-treatment
and the accessibility thereof, as well as the budget allocation for rehabilitation programmes
and the number of victims who have received rehabilitative services appropriate to their
needs;
(d) The methods available for assessing the effectiveness of rehabilitation
programmes and services, including the application of appropriate indicators and
benchmarks, and the result of such assessment;
(e) The measures taken to ensure satisfaction and guarantees of non-
repetition;
(f) The domestic legislation which provides victims of torture or ill-treatment
with the right to remedy and redress, and relevant implementation measures taken by the
State party. Where such legislation is lacking, reports should include information on the
measures taken by the State party to adopt and implement such legislation.
(g) The measures taken to ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment are
able to exercise and enjoy their rights under article 14.
(h) The complaints mechanisms available for victims of torture or ill-
treatment, including how such mechanisms are made known and accessible to all victims.
States parties should also include data disaggregated by age, gender, nationality, location
and alleged violation, on the number of complaints received through such mechanisms.
(i) The measures taken by States parties to ensure that all allegations of
torture and ill-treatment are effectively investigated.
(j) The legislation and policy measures designed to positively identify
victims of torture in order to provide them with redress.
(k) The available avenues for a victim of torture or ill-treatment to obtain
redress, including all criminal, civil, administrative and non-judicial procedures, such as
administrative reparation programmes, as well as information on the number of victims who
have accessed such mechanisms, how many obtained redress and reparative measures, and
in what forms and/or amounts.
(l) The legal aid and witness protection available to victims of torture or ill-
treatment as well as witnesses and others who have intervened on behalf of victims,
including how such protection is made known and how it is made available in practice; the
number of victims who have been granted legal aid; the number of persons who have been
protected by State witness protection; and the State party’s evaluation of the effectiveness of
such protection.
(m) The steps taken to implement judgements by national, regional or
international courts, including the amount of time lapsed from the date of the judgement and
the actual provision of compensation or other forms of redress. States parties should also
include disaggregated data on the number of victims designated to receive reparative
measures in court judgements and the number who actually received redress, and for what
violations.
(n) The safeguards available for the special protection of members of
marginalized or vulnerable groups, including women and children seeking to exercise their
rights guaranteed under article 14 of the Convention.
(o) Any such other matters that the Committee may require.
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