The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) will evaluate the Argentine state’s compliance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, for the first time since 2004. The dialogue between Committee experts and Argentine representatives will take place in Geneva on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
CELS submitted an alternative report to the Committee that analyzes the situation of people deprived of their liberty in Argentina. It is centered on the problems of overcrowding, inhuman detention conditions, systematic and widespread practices of torture, the judicial response to cases of torture and ill-treatment, delays in implementing the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, the excessive use of pre-trial detention, and shortcomings in the production of data. The report’s executive summary is available in English and Spanish.
We also alerted the CAT to our concerns regarding the police brutality and torture suffered by young people in poor neighborhoods, torture and ill-treatment in centers for the hospitalization of people with psychosocial disabilities, and political stances that weaken the process of memory, truth and justice for the crimes against humanity committed during the last dictatorship.
In addition, we contributed to two reports produced with other organizations, on the rights of migrants and on abortion.
The live broadcast of the CAT evaluation can be watched at the link to the “60th Session Committee Against Torture,” on the right-hand column of this page: http://webtv.un.org/live/. The dialogue will be divided into two segments: Wednesday from 10 AM to 1 PM, Geneva time (5 to 8 AM in Argentina) and Thursday from 3 to 6 PM in Geneva (10 AM to 1 PM in Argentina).