The Holy See, Vatican City and the Convention against torture
(Vatican Radio) Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi, has issued
a statement in which he emphasised the Holy See’s “strong commitment against any form
of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment”.
The
statement comes ahead of a meeting between the Holy See and the United Nations Committee
on the Convention against torture, which is set to take place on 5-6 May.
Please
see below for Fr Lombardi’s full statement:
The “Convention against
torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishments” is one of
the important international Conventions implemented within the ambit of the activities
of the United Nations, and which has been signed voluntarily by numerous member States
of the international community, the so-called “State Parties” to the Conventions.
To
confirm the implementation of the Conventions and the progress they have made, Committees
of independent experts have been instituted by the Conventions themselves and therefore
by the mandate of the “State Parties”. These Committees have the task of examining
the periodical reports that the States Party are required to present regarding the
implementation of the Convention. During its sessions in Geneva, the Committee meets
with the delegations of the State Parties to discuss their reports and the state of
implementation of and enforcement of the Convention, along with any questions that
may arise in relation to its interpretation. This is a normal procedure of open dialogue,
in which civil society may also play a role through the presentation of comments or
recommendations on the part of NGOs of various orientations.
The Convention
against torture (usually abbreviated to CAT) dates from 1984. The Holy See became
a signatory in 2002, “on behalf of Vatican City State” and presented its “initial”
report in December 2012.
The United Nations Committee on the CAT is composed
of ten members and is holding its 52nd Session in the Palais Wilson, Geneva from 28
April to 23 May, during which it will examine the reports presented by eight countries:
Uruguay, Thailand, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Montenegro, Cyrus, Lithuania and the Holy
See. The meeting of the Committee with the Delegation of the Holy See will take place
on 5 and 6 May.
Firstly, on the morning of 5 May, there will be a brief presentation
of the report by the Delegation, followed by comments from the Speakers chosen by
the Committee. In the afternoon of 6 May the Delegation will be able to answer the
questions posed on the previous day, and any other questions from members of the Committee.
On
23 May the Committee will conclude the session with a press conference, and will then
publish its “Concluding Observations”. The State Parties and therefore also the Holy
See will be able to issue a further formal written response.
To clarify the
meaning of this event and the nature of the dialogue that will take place, it is first
necessary to specify that, given the nature of this Convention (which relates principally
to matters regarding criminal legislation, criminal procedure, the prison system,
international relations in the legal domain, etc.), the Holy See has signed the Convention
on behalf of Vatican City State (SVC), and so its legal responsibility for implementation
regards the territory and competences of Vatican City State.
Naturally the
Holy See also proposes important teaching with regard to matters of torture and cruel
and inhuman treatment, which is of great importance for the diffusion of the principles
inspiring the Convention and for its implementation. Indeed, it is true that the Report
offers an extensive compilation of references and citations from the Church’s teaching
and a broad review of the significant activity of Vatican media on this theme, although
this goes beyond the commitments assumed through adherence to the Convention, inasmuch
as this is limited to SCV territory.
Readers of the Report presented by the
Holy See in December 2012 (which is public) will immediately notice that in various
important points reference is made to the current revision of the criminal legislation
of Vatican City State. In the meantime this review has been completed with the new
laws promulgated on 11 July 2013, which entered into force on 1 September of the same
year (Laws VIII and IX), and which effectively ensure that the Vatican’s criminal
law and criminal procedure legislation is in accordance with the Convention.
As
was fully explained at the time (cf. Press Office Communiqué, 11.7.2013; comment by
Archbishop D. Mamberti in the Osservatore Romano, 12.7.2013), the review was broad-ranging
and profound, and adapted Vatican legislation to the requirements of the various international
Conventions to which the Holy See had adhered throughout the years: not only against
torture, but also against criminality in the fields of economics and finance, against
racial discrimination, and on the rights of the child.
The progress made in
adapting to the requirements of the Convention in the legislative domain was therefore
very significant.
At the same time, during the dialogue with the State Parties,
not infrequently the Committees pose questions deriving from issues not strictly linked
to the text of the Convention, but rather connected to it indirectly or based on an
extensive interpretation. For instance, this occurred last January during the dialogue
with the Committee for the Convention on the rights of the child. A contributory factor
is often the pressure exercised over the Committees and public opinion by NGOs with
a strong ideological character and orientation, to bring the issue of the sexual abuse
of minors into the discussion on torture, a matter which relates instead to the Convention
on the rights of the child. The extent to which this is instrumental and forced is
clear to any unbiased observer.
It should also be noted that the experts who
form the Committees are mostly committed with great determination and merit to the
causes of the promotion of rights, and therefore tend to broaden the spaces for and
forms of defence. However, this must necessarily be balanced with the correct rules
for legal interpretation, so that the debate, in a pluralistic, multicultural and
international world, may take place in a constructive fashion, favouring the growth
of consensus in the international community for the effective protection of essential
values for the dignity of the person.
It is therefore to be hoped that a serene
and objective dialogue may take place, pertinent to the text of the Conventions and
their objectives. Otherwise, the Conventions may be distorted and the Committees risk
losing authority and being reduced to tools of ideological pressure rather than a
necessary stimulus towards the desired progress in promoting respect for human rights.
This
is our sincere hope in view of the forthcoming dialogue on 5 and 6 May in Geneva,
and we once again emphasise the Holy See’s strong commitment against any form of torture
and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.