| No |
Recommendation |
Convention/Treaty Body |
| CAT-14 |
14.The State party should align its penal legislation concerning minors in conflict with the law with the provisions and rules contained in international standards, and in particular with the Convention and should repeal all provisions that contravene the Convention |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-18 |
18.The Committee recommends that the State party disseminate to all authorities information on the absolute nature of the prohibition of torture and the commitment to uphold the prohibition of torture in practice, including during states of emergency. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-46(a) |
46.(a) Ensure that police and law-enforcement officers, investigators, judicial personnel, military officers, prison staff and personnel of other institutions where persons may be deprived of their liberty receive training and instructions on the provisions of the Convention, and in particular on the absolute prohibition of torture; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-46(b) |
46(b) Provide specific training to investigators on the use non-coercive methods of investigation and interrogation that comply with international standards, so that they avoid committing acts that may amount to torture; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-46(c) |
46(c) Communicate that breaches of the Convention will not be tolerated and that such breaches will be investigated and perpetrators prosecuted; and establish a system of vetting in relation to past abuses; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-46(d) |
46(d) Ensure that medical personnel, including psychiatrists, and other persons involved with the custody, interrogation or treatment of persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment and persons in psychiatric institutions receive mandatory training on the Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol); |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-46(e) |
46(e) Develop and implement a methodology to assess the effectiveness and impact of any such training. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-16 |
16.The State party should take measures to increase the resources and strengthen the capacity of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, in accordance with the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (the Paris Principles) and the Guidelines of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-38(a) |
38.(a) Provide additional financial resources to the National Human Rights Commission of the Maldives in order to enable it to carry out more visits and better fulfil its functions as National Preventive Mechanism, including the function of conducting unannounced visits to all places of deprivation of liberty and to meet in private with persons confined there; and make public the Commission’s reports to the authorities; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-8(c) |
8(c) Make public the reports of prior inquiries concerning acts amounting to violations of the Convention, including the full report of a commission established to investigate the mistreatment and killing of prisoners in Maafushi jail on 20 Sep 2003; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-10(a) |
10 (a) Ensure effective cooperation between police investigators and bodies charged with receiving complaints of torture, particularly the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives and the National Integrity Commission, for example by establishing an independent mechanism to assist in the investigation of allegations of torture and ill-treatment so that there is no hierarchical connection between the investigators and the alleged perpetrators; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-10(f) |
10(f) Provide information on the number of investigations of allegations of torture and ill-treatment undertaken by the authorities, and the outcome of all investigations, to the Committee in the State party’s next report. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-38(b) |
38(b) Ensure that all persons, including those in detention, have access to a complaints mechanism through which they can transmit confidential allegations of torture or ill-treatment that cannot be accessed by administrators of the place of deprivation of liberty in which they are held; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-40(a) |
40.(a) Ensure, in law and practice, that any statement resulting from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is not invoked as evidence in court, except against the persons who carried out those acts; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-40(b) |
40(b) Ensure that courts dismiss in practice all cases in which evidence was obtained as a result of coerced confessions; investigate and prosecute all such allegations of torture and ill-treatment; and provide redress to victims; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-40(c) |
40(c) Inform the Committee about all cases that were dismissed in court because evidence was obtained as a result of coerced confessions in its next report. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-30 |
30.The State party should ensure the full implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, and exercise due diligence, in particular by encouraging victims to file complaints; establishing a protection mechanism for victims, including by establishing shelters; investigating, prosecuting and punishing perpetrators of domestic violence; providing redress to victims as well as psychological rehabilitation and counselling; and conducting awareness-raising campaigns about the negative effects of domestic violence. It should also amend its legislation in order to remove discriminatory provisions governing evidentiary burdens in cases in which men are accused of rape. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-42(a) |
42.(a) Explicitly prohibit in law the corporal punishment of children in all settings, including in the home, alternative care settings, day care settings, school and penal institutions, through acts or omissions by State agents and others who engage the State’s responsibility under the Convention, as a sentence for crime or for disciplinary purposes; and ensure that it is not applied under sharia law; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-42(c) |
42(c) Conduct public awareness-raising campaigns about the harmful effects of corporal punishment; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-42(d) |
42(d) Promote positive non-violent forms of discipline as an alternative to corporal punishment. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-10(d) |
10(d) Take measures to strengthen the effectiveness of prosecutors and the Office of the Prosecutor General in ensuring accountability for torture and ill-treatment; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-10(e) |
10(e) Review the composition and mandate of the National Integrity Commission in order to ensure its independence; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-12 |
12.The State party should take effective measures to reform the judiciary and guarantee its independence and impartiality, including reviewing the composition and functioning of the Judicial Service Commission and ensuring that all judges have the necessary legal qualifications. The State party should take measures aimed at eliminating corruption in the judiciary and provide all judges with training on the Convention and its requirements. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-20 |
20.The State party should revise the Anti-Torture Act to ensure that it provides for punishments commensurate with the gravity of the offense of torture and does not condition punishments on the duration of the victim’s hospitalization, noting that some forms of torture may not inflict physical suffering at all. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-24 |
24.The State party should investigate promptly, thoroughly and impartially all deaths in custody and ensure that perpetrators are punished appropriately and that families of the deceased receive compensation. The State party should seek to ensure the possibility for independent forensic examinations to be undertaken into cases of death in custody, with a view to determining whether State officials are responsible, and ensure that courts in the State party accept the results of independent forensic examinations and autopsies as evidence in criminal and civil cases. The State party should ensure that all cases of death in custody are recorded and that all relevant data about the victim, circumstances of death, and resulting investigation is gathered and published and take necessary measures to prevent such deaths in police and prison establishments. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-26(a) |
26.a) Guarantee that all detained persons are afforded, in law and in practice, all fundamental legal safeguards from the very outset of their deprivation of liberty, including the right to be informed immediately of the charges against them; have prompt access to a lawyer or to free legal aid during all proceedings; are able to notify a relative or another person of their choice about their detention or arrest; the right to request and receive a medical examination from an independent doctor, including by a doctor of their choice upon request; and to have their deprivation of liberty recorded in registers at all stages; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-26(b) |
26.(b) Establish a central register of detention regarding all persons at all stages of their deprivation of liberty, including transfers to different facilities, inform the Committee on the type of information recorded and on specific measures taken to ensure accurate record-keeping as an important safeguard against incommunicado and arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-26(c) |
26(c) Monitor the compliance by all public officials with fundamental legal safeguards, including by endeavouring to undertake video monitoring of all places of deprivation of liberty and interrogation rooms |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-26(d) |
26(d) Ensure effective oversight of the provision of safeguards and take disciplinary measures against officials who fail to afford fundamental legal safeguards to persons deprived of their liberty in practice; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-26(e) |
26(e) Provide information on the number of complaints received regarding failure to respect fundamental legal safeguards and on the outcome of such complaints in the State party’s next report to the Committee. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-28(a) |
28.(a) Take all necessary measures to ensure that pre-trial detention is closely monitored so that it does not become a systematic and widespread practice, is not arbitrary prolonged and does not result in incommunicado detention; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-28(b) |
28(b) Ensure the possibility to appeal pre-trial detention decisions and for the legality of pre-trial detention to be reviewed by a court of law; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-28(c) |
28(c) Monitor the use of pre-trial detention; ensure that pre-trial detainees are held separately from convicted prisoners, that juveniles are not held with adults; and ensure that pre-trial detention is used as a measure of last resort; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-28(d) |
28(d) Promote alternatives to pre-trial detention, in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules). |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-36(b) |
36 (b) Urgently take all necessary measures to improve material conditions in all places of deprivation of liberty, including reducing overcrowding, in keeping with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules); and consider using alternatives to imprisonment in conformity with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules) in order to decrease the prison population; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-36(c) |
36(c) Ensure that prisoners receive adequate and timely medical care and medication; that they are provided with proper and sufficient food; and are not subjected to prolonged solitary confinement; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-36(d) |
36(d) Hire additional duly trained prison staff, including medical doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists and nurses; and ensure prompt referrals for specialist health care outside detention facilities; disclose documents regarding the medical well-being to persons deprived of their liberty and their families; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-36(e) |
36(e) Prevent prisoners from contracting infectious diseases during their imprisonment by introducing health screening of inmates upon admission to places of detention; separating healthy prisoners from those suffering from contagious diseases; and providing adequate treatment to infected persons and to persons with psychosocial disabilities, including an individual mental health regime. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-38(c) |
38(c) Grant access to independent organizations, including national and international civil society organizations to all facilities where persons are deprived of their liberty in the country. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-44(a) |
44(a) Comply with its obligation not to expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there is substantial evidence to believe the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-44(b) |
44(b) Ensure that decisions concerning expulsion or deportation are subjected to judicial review and are reviewed on an individual basis; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-44(c) |
44(c) Provide for the right of persons concerned to effective judicial remedy, including the possibility to appeal the decision, and ensure that the appeal has suspensive effect; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-44(d) |
44(d) Detain persons who may be subject to expulsion only as a measure of last resort; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-44(e) |
44(e) In its next report, provide the Committee with information on the number of persons who have been expelled, extradited or deported, and to which countries; on the number of cases where decisions to expel a person have been overturned or quashed by judicial authorities applying the principle of non-refoulement; and on other measures taken to ensure the application of the non-refoulement principle in practice. |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| CAT-10(b) |
10(b) Ensure that all persons under investigation for having committed acts of torture or ill-treatment are immediately suspended from their duties and remain so throughout the investigation, while ensuring that the principle of presumption of innocence is observed; |
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |