7.
Article 7 expressly prohibits medical or scientific experimentation
without the free consent o£ the person concerned. The Committee notes that
the reports of States parties generally contain little information on this
point. More attention should be given to the need and means to ensure
observance of this provision. The Committee also observes that special
protection in regard to such experiments is necessary in the case of persons
not capable of giving valid consent, and in particular those under any form of
detention or imprisonment. Such persons should not be subjected to any
medical or scientific experimentation that may be detrimental to their health.
8.
The Committee notes that it is not sufficient for the implementation of
article 7 to prohibit such treatment or punishment or to make it a crime.
States parties should inform the Committee of the legislative, administrative,
judicial and other measures they take to prevent and punish acts of torture
and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in any territory under their
jurisdiction.
9.
In the view of the Committee, States parties must not expose individuals
to the danger of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment upon return to another country by way of their extradition,
expulsion or refoulement. States parties should indicate in their reports
what measures they have adopted to that end.
10. The Committee should be informed how States parties disseminate, to the
population at large, relevant information concerning the ban oa torture and
the treatment prohibited by article 7, Enforcement personnel, medical
personnel, police officers and any other persons involved in the custody or
treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or
imprisonment must receive appropriate instruction and training. States
parties should inform the Committee of the instruction and training given and
the way in which the prohibition of article 7 forms an integral part of the
operational rules and ethical standards to be followed by such persons.
11. In addition to describing steps to provide the general protection against
acts prohibited under article 7 to which anyone is entitled, the State party
should provide detailed information on safeguards for the special protection
of particularly vulnerable persons. It should be noted that keeping 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 arrest, detention or imprisonment, is an effective means of preventing
cases of torture and ill-treatment. To guarantee the effective protection of
detained persons, provisions should be made for detainees to be held in places
officially recognized as places of detention and for their names and places of
detention, as well as for the names of persons responsible for their
detention, to be kept in registers readily available and accessible to those
concerned, including relatives and friends. To the same effect, the time and
place of all interrogations should be recorded, together with the names of all
those present and this information should also be available for purposes of
judicial or administrative proceedings. Provisions should also be made
against incommunicado detention. In that connection, States parties should
ensure that any places of detention be free from any equipment liable to be
used for inflicting torture or ill-treatment. The protection of the detainee
also requires that prompt and regular access be given to doctors and lawyers
anct, under appropriate supervision when the investigation so requires, to
family members.
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