Lithuania to be reviewed by UN Committee Against Torture

GENEVA – The UN Committee Against Torture is due to review Lithuania for the third time on 12 and 13 May in sessions that will be webcast live.

Lithuania is one of the 155 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and is required to undergo regular examinations of its record before the Committee of 10 independent experts.

The Committee will engage in a dialogue with the delegation from the Lithuanian government and also hear from NGOs. The public sessions will take place from 10:00 on 12 May and from 15:00 on 13 May and can be viewed here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.

Among the issues likely to be discussed are: length of pre-trial detention; establishing domestic violence as specific crime; tackling human trafficking; investigations into CIA secret prison and flights; steps to reduce violence in prisons; steps to prevent and combat ill-treatment of army conscripts; training for officials on treatment of women and child victims of violence; efforts to combat discrimination and ill-treatment of ethnic monitories, in particular Roma.

Lithuania’s third report is available at:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=890&Lang=en. The Committee will publish its concluding observations here on Friday 23 May:

A press conference is tentatively scheduled for Friday 23 May at 14:00 at Palais des Nations when the Committee will discuss its concluding observations on Lithuania and the other States being reviewed – Uruguay, Thailand, Sierra Leone, Holy See, Guinea, Montenegro and Cyprus.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:
Ravina Shamdasani: rshamdasani@ohchr.org / tel.: + 41 22 917 9169
or Cecile Pouilly: cpouilly@ohchr.org / tel.: + 41 22 917 9310.

To arrange an interview with a Committee member, please contact:
Joao Nataf: jnataf@ohchr.org / tel.: + 41 22 917 9102.

To learn more about the Committee Against Torture, please visit: http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cat/pages/catindex.aspx

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