COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE HEARS RESPONSE OF SLOVENIA

The Committee against Torture this afternoon heard the response of Slovenia to questions raised by Committee Experts on the fourth periodic report of that country on how it is implementing the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Responding to a series of questions raised by the Committee members on Tuesday, 10 May, the delegation, which was led by Bostjan Skrlec, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Slovenia, said that under the International Protection Act, accelerated procedures for asylum candidates were the same as for regular asylum candidates and persons could file an appeal against the Court within five days. The number of accelerated procedures had decreased from 2009 to 2010. Slovenia’s geography meant it was still a transit country for asylum seekers. In 2010 there were 246 applications for asylum, 120 applicants left before the end of the procedure and 23 or 18 per cent were granted asylum, which was consistent with European figures.

The court backlog was due to an increase in new cases owing to the economic crisis and the Government was working to improve the situation. Between 1998 and 2010 the number of solved cases per annum rose by 62 cases while the average time of solving a case dropped from 14 months to 6 months from 1998 to 2009. Land registered cases accounted for 40 per cent of the cases in backlog in 2004. In 2001, the courts required 18 months to solve a land registration case while today it took less than two months. The delegation said the problem of overcrowding in prisons had improved. There were 1,300 people in prison with 17 per cent more inmates than the official capacity allowed, however the capacity standards were high, 9m2 for single cells. The Government’s strategy was to find new alternatives to imprisonment and to improve and expand living quarters in existing premises. The criteria for weekend prisons applied to convicts sentenced to up to 36 months, unless for criminal offences against sexual integrity, who were regularly employed or in an education programme. Reintegration of weekend prisoners into society was higher than with normal prisoners.

The Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Slovenia, Fernando Marino Menendez, said he was encouraged by the delegation’s comprehensive responses to the Committee’s questions and asked if there was a distinction between national and non-national Roma reflected in the law?

Xuexian Wang, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report, said there was much to be learned from the Slovenian experience, especially regarding weekend prisoners and asked if victims of human trafficking were compensated.

Other Committee Experts raised follow-up questions on overcrowding in specific detention facilities and if there examples of non-nationals coming to Slovenia to make complaints of torture that occurred in their country of origin?

The Slovenian delegation included representatives from the Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, the Prison Administration, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health.

When the Committee reconvenes on Thursday, 12 May at 10 a.m., it will meet with non-governmental organizations.

Response by Slovenia

The delegation of Slovenia, led by BOSTJAN SKRLEC, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Slovenia, said that there was no difference in the meaning of the wording in the penal code between violating equal status versus discrimination. Since 2008 the crime of torture was introduced into the criminal code and so there were no civil or criminal law claims for torture but there were civil law complaints against the Slovenian police for crimes and in 2009 there were 46 civil law complaints against actions of the police and 3 were resolved by courts in favour of defendants and 3 were resolved not in the favor of defendants. Article 26 of the Constitution covered the general liability of the State against all civil claims.

Since 2009 the Ministry of the Interior had issued decisions regarding erased people and the National Assembly of Slovenia had adopted the Act on Erased to deal with those former Yugoslavian citizens which went into effect in 2010. The Act instituted a new three year period for applying for a permanent residence; these permits could also be applied for if one resided outside of Slovenia in certain circumstances. The Government realized the importance of informing the erased and general public on the Erased Act and prepared a general brochure, a website and training for those officials with responsibility for the Erased Act. If the request for the applicant of protection was rejected then those people became aliens and would be treated under the Aliens Act. This act also included the principle of non-refoulement and prohibited the return of an alien if their life was in danger or they would be exposed to torture and therefore would allow permission for the alien to stay in Slovenia until the conditions in his home country no longer existed. Under the International Protection Act accelerated procedures for asylum candidates were the same as for regular asylum candidates and persons could file an appeal against the Court within five days. The statistics showed that the number of accelerated procedures had decreased, only 23 per cent in 2009 were decided in regular procedure and in 2010, 43 per cent. Legal aid was provided free of charge to an alien and Slovenia had several forms of special care for alien children including special facilities for unaccompanied minors, disabled persons and those with special needs. The application for asylum was received in the form of an interview and the collection of country of origin data, there were 42 cases approved in accelerated asylum and 36 for regular asylum and the average duration was 150 days for the accelerated and for the regular procedure 570 days. Asylum applications could be made at the border. There was a project with non-governmental organizations to work with trafficking applicants to identify and protect them. Slovenia’s geography meant it was still a transit country for asylum seekers. In 2009 there were 202 applications for asylum and 96 of these left before the end of the procedure. Slovenia had three major projects to help recognize asylum seekers including one that focused on gender based violence.

Concerning the court backlog problem, the delegation said that the number of new cases had risen by 20 per cent in one year only which was attributed to the economic crisis. Between 1998 and 2010 the number of solved cases per annum rose by 62 cases and the average time of solving a case dropped from 14 to 6 months from 1998 to 2009. Land registered cases accounted for 40 per cent of the cases in backlog in 2004. In 2001 the courts required 18 months to solve a land registration case while today took less than two months.

CLAUDIO GROSSMAN, Chairperson of the Committee against Torture, raising questions with regard to erased people, asked how many petitions for permanent residency were presented, how many were granted and how many were rejected. What was the number of denials in accelerated and normal procedures? Of the 1 million law cases out of a population of 2 million was there any disaggregation on these figures?

In response, the delegation said that for the erased people in 2011, the issuance of residency permits was 155 applications of which 26 residence permits were issued, 79 were pending and 50 procedures were rejected or stopped. Many of the 1 million cases were civil enforcement cases and land register cases and litigation made up less than one third.

Each arrest was reported immediately by the relevant police unit by radio. The detention period started from the moment of the arrest and was recorded on a form which was processed in special dossiers. Detention always took place in specific facilities and under the supervision of a police officer. In 2011 special regulations were published about detention which was placed on the internet for all police. As a rule the arresting officer would not question the detainee. The person subject to police procedure had the right to consult with an attorney and the police were obligated to inform the detainee of this right and allow two hours for the arrival of the attorney. Police officers were given three hours of training per year from the Ombudsman on human rights issues. A statement given before the police was not considered as evidence in a court of law unless it was recorded and given in the presence of a defense lawyer. In 2006 Slovenia adopted the Witness Protection Act to provide protection during the pretrial and trial procedures. Additional protection of victims was carried out by specialized departments. The Roma people did not face discrimination from the police, officers were trained in Roma language programmes and there were between 70 and 90 officers who could speak Roma.

The problem of overcrowding in prisons had been improving, said the delegation. There were 1,300 people in prison with 17 per cent more inmates than the official capacity allowed, however the capacity standards were high, 9m2 for single cells. The Government’s strategy was to find new alternatives to imprisonment and to improve and expand living quarters in existing premises. New premises were being built to resolve overcrowding. The time inmates could spend outside the cell was expanded, sports were included and weekly telephone calls were increased. Alternative methods to prison included changes to the legislation in 2008 for replacing a prison sentence of up to two years with community service. Weekend prisons criteria applied to convicts sentenced for up to 36 months, unless for criminal offences against sexual integrity, and those who were regularly employed or in an education programme. Reintegration of weekend prisoners into society was higher than with normal prisoners. A staff training course for all prison officers was obligatory and included facts on prison suicide, risk factors, how to use screening tools, detecting change in inmate behavior and risk intervention. Additional benefits were provided to suicidal inmates along with treatment. Good communication and respectable treatment by staff was critical. There was 1 psychological staff per 15 inmates. Since 2008 all inmates had the same rights and access to public health as citizens with public health insurance.

There was a general forbidding of corporal punishment going through the legislative process, the delegation said. From the constitutional viewpoint it was not possible to collect ethnic data and the legal system could not tolerate personality profiles. However research by non-governmental organizations in Slovenia could not confirm existence of discrimination of Roma by law enforcement forces. The Human Rights Ombudsman had had no cases of discrimination by Roma since it was established in 1994.

The provisions in the Family Code prohibited corporal punishment of children by parents or child care workers. Slovenia prepared the resolution on the prevention of family violence along with a two-year action plan. Regarding elderly victims of violence, in 2010 there were 290 elderly victims of domestic violence and social work centres provided assistance in these cases. There was a new free telephone line for elderly victims of crime.

A special protection measure was an emergency measure taken to enable the medical treatment of a person in order to eliminate or control the dangerous behavior of a person when the threat could not be prevented by another, less intrusive measure. Special protection measures could only be provided by a physician and there was special training for these measures according to clinical guidelines. Every year nurses must pass a test to ensure they met standards. The Government had no information on forced sterilization of Roma women in Slovenia.

Questions by Experts

FERNANDO MARINO MENENDEZ, Committee Expert Serving as Rapporteur for the Report, asked about the ethnic distinction between native and non-native Roma, and was the distinction between national and non-national Roma reflected in the law?

XUEXIAN WANG, Committee Expert Serving as Co-Rapporteur for the Report, said he was pleased with the dialogue and asked if victims of human trafficking were compensated? He said that there was much to be learned from the Slovenian experience, especially regarding weekend prisoners.

An Expert asked for more information on overcrowding in places of detention in five specific facilities.

CLAUDIO GROSSMAN, Chairperson of the Committee, asked if the delegation could provide the source of the non-governmental organization regarding data collected on the Roma.

A Committee Expert asked what type of compensation was awarded by the Court and what type of health measures had been included? Was there an example of non-nationals coming to Slovenia to make complaints of torture in their country of origin?

Response by Slovenia

The delegation said there was no issue of statelessness in the Roma community in Slovenia.

The institution of the Ombudsman provided monitoring and there was current discussion about if a centre of human rights should be established within the Ombudsman institution. Five representatives of non-governmental organizations would participate in the future to discuss draft reports concerning human rights.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CAT11/006E