WRITTEN COMMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE CONCERNING SLOVAKIA (For the Consideration of the United Nations Committee Against Torture at the Pre-sessional Working Group of the 62nd Session 6 November to 6 December 2017)
WRITTEN COMMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE CONCERNING SLOVAKIA (For the Consideration of the United Nations Committee Against Torture at the Pre-sessional Working Group of the 62nd Session 6 November to 6 December 2017)

Author(s): Author Not Specified
Subject(s): International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Government/Political systems, Security and defense, Evaluation research, Studies in violence and power, Ethnic Minorities Studies
Published by: European Roma Rights Center
Keywords: Slovakia; Roma rights; human rights; police treatment; harassment; torture; government;
Summary/Abstract: The European Roma Rights Centre (hereinafter also referred to as the “ERRC”) hereby submits this report to the United Nations Committee against Torture (hereinafter also referred to as “Committee”) for the consideration for the List of Issues prior to reporting. The report focuses on the issues of police ill-treatment and harassment of Roma in Slovakia and the related ineffective investigation of allegations of police ill-treatment and harassment. In its 2015 Concluding observations (CAT/C/SVK/CO/3) , the Committee addressed the above-mentioned issues. The Committee expressed concerns about excessive use of force by law enforcement officials particularly against Roma and about the lack of independence of investigations into allegations of ill-treatment by police officers. It recommended that the State party, amongst others, carries out prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations into all allegations of excessive use of force, including torture and ill-treatment, by law enforcement officials and establish an independent monitoring and oversight mechanism that complies with the requirements of institutional independence in order to avoid conflict of interest in the investigation of complaints by peers. The ERRC believes that the Slovak government has taken no significant steps to address the above-mentioned issues. Therefore, the situation remains largely unchanged and the problems persist.

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