Committee Against Torture

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The new CAT president calls for measures against torture

In one of his first public appearances he expressed his support for the UN Rapporteur Theo Van Boven following his visit to the Spanish state

Fernando Mariño Menéndez, a Law Professor in Public International Law at the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid and the Vice-president of the Federation of Associations for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights, was appointed president of the UN Committee Against Torture -CAT- on May 3. In one of his first public appearances as the president of the highest international organisation for the prevention of torture, he expressed his support for the UN Rapporteur, Theo Van Boven, following his visit to the Spanish state in October last year, whose presentation during the session of the UN Human Rights Commission in March this year was followed by a bitter controversy due to the Spanish authorities’ belligerent attitude.

Precisely the Spanish Federation of Associations for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights, an NGO of which the new CAT president is a member, denounced the Spanish authorities’ reaction questioning the credibility of the Rapporteur’s report and denying the events he listed in his report, considering “his recommendations for the prevention of torture and ill treatment to be positive”.

In an interview, Mariño Menéndez underlined the importance of introducing practical and efficient measures to safeguard detainees, such as limiting incommunicado detention, recording interrogation and access to strict medical control conducted by a doctor chosen by the detainee. He also talked of the need for “humanitarian criteria to prevail during incarceration, in terms of the distance between the jails and the prisoner’s families” in reference to the penitentiary policy being applied to Basque prisoners.

Mariño Menéndez was already a CAT member when the November 2001 session, in which the situation of torture in the Spanish state was assessed, took place. Similar recommendations were made in this session. In that case the Spanish expert was unable to actively participate in the session because the regulations prevent experts from taking part in the assessment of their own country.

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