To confirm the implementation of the Conventions and the progress they
have made, Committees of independent experts have been instituted by the
Conventions themselves and therefore by the mandate of the "State
Parties". These Committees have the task of examining the periodical
reports that the States Party are required to present regarding the
implementation of the Convention. During its sessions in Geneva, the
Committee meets with the delegations of the State Parties to discuss their
reports and the state of implementation of and enforcement of the
Convention, along with any questions that may arise in relation to its
interpretation. This is a normal procedure of open dialogue, in which civil
society may also play a role through the presentation of comments or
recommendations on the part of NGOs of various orientations.
 The Convention against torture (usually abbreviated to CAT) dates from
1984. The Holy See became a signatory in 2002, "on behalf of Vatican
City State" and presented its "initial" report in December
2012.
 The United Nations Committee on the CAT is composed of ten members and is
holding its 52nd Session in the Palais Wilson, Geneva from 28 April to 23
May, during which it will examine the reports presented by eight countries:
Uruguay, Thailand, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Montenegro, Cyrus, Lithuania and
the Holy See. The meeting of the Committee with the Delegation of the Holy
See will take place on 5 and 6 May.
 Firstly, on the morning of 5 May, there will be a brief presentation of
the report by the Delegation, followed by comments from the Speakers chosen
by the Committee. In the afternoon of 6 May the Delegation will be able to
answer the questions posed on the previous day, and any other questions
from members of the Committee.
 On 23 May the Committee will conclude the session with a press conference,
and will then publish its "Concluding Observations". The State
Parties and therefore also the Holy See will be able to issue a further
formal written response.
 To clarify the meaning of this event and the nature of the dialogue that
will take place, it is first necessary to specify that, given the nature of
this Convention (which relates principally to matters regarding criminal
legislation, criminal procedure, the prison system, international relations
in the legal domain, etc.), the Holy See has signed the Convention on
behalf of Vatican City State (SVC), and so its legal responsibility for
implementation regards the territory and competences of Vatican City State.
 Naturally the Holy See also proposes important teaching with regard to
matters of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment, which is of great
importance for the diffusion of the principles inspiring the Convention and
for its implementation. Indeed, it is true that the Report offers an
extensive compilation of references and citations from the Church's
teaching and a broad review of the significant activity of Vatican media on
this theme, although this goes beyond the commitments assumed through
adherence to the Convention, inasmuch as this is limited to SCV territory.
 Readers of the Report presented by the Holy See in December 2012 (which is
public) will immediately notice that in various important points reference
is made to the current revision of the criminal legislation of Vatican City
State. In the meantime this review has been completed with the new laws
promulgated on 11 July 2013, which entered into force on 1 September of the
same year (Laws VIII and IX), and which effectively ensure that the
Vatican's criminal and criminal procedure legislation is in accordance with
the Convention.
 As was fully explained at the time (cf. Press Office Communiqué,
11.7.2013; comment by Archbishop D. Mamberti in the Osservatore Romano,
12.7.2013), the review was broad-ranging and profound, and adapted Vatican
legislation to the requirements of the various international Conventions to
which the Holy See had adhered throughout the years: not only against
torture, but also against criminality in the fields of economics and
finance, against racial discrimination, and on the rights of the child.
 The progress made in adapting to the requirements of the Convention in the
legislative domain was therefore very significant.
 At the same time, during the dialogue with the State Parties, not
infrequently the Committees pose questions deriving from issues not
strictly linked to the text of the Convention, but rather connected to it
indirectly or based on an extensive interpretation. For instance, this
occurred last January during the dialogue with the Committee for the
Convention on the rights of the child. A contributory factor is often the
pressure exercised over the Committees and public opinion by NGOs with a
strong ideological character and orientation, to bring the issue of the
sexual abuse of minors into the discussion on torture, a matter which
relates instead to the Convention on the rights of the child. The extent to
which this is instrumental and forced is clear to any unbiased observer.
 It should also be noted that the experts who form the Committees are
mostly committed with great determination and merit to the causes of the
promotion of rights, and therefore tend to broaden the spaces for and forms
of defence. However, this must necessarily be balanced with the correct
rules for legal interpretation, so that the debate, in a pluralistic,
multicultural and international world, may take place in a constructive
fashion, favouring the growth of consensus in the international community
for the effective protection of essential values for the dignity of the
person.
 It is therefore to be hoped that a serene and objective dialogue may take
place, pertinent to the text of the Conventions and their objectives.
Otherwise, the Conventions may be distorted and the Committees risk losing
authority and being reduced to tools of ideological pressure rather than a
necessary stimulus towards the desired progress in promoting respect for
human rights.
 This is our sincere hope in view of the forthcoming dialogue on 5 and 6
May in Geneva, and we once again emphasise the Holy See's strong commitment
against any form of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading
treatment or punishment.

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 AUDIENCES
 Vatican City, 2 May 2014 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in audience:
 - Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, apostolic nuncio in Lebanon.
 - A delegation from the Islamic Centre of the Argentine Republic.

___________________________________________________________

 OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
 Vatican City, 2 May 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Professor
Guzman M. Carriquiry Lecour, as secretary vice-president of the Pontifical
Commission for Latin America. Professor Carriquiry was previously secretary
of the same Pontifical Commission.

___________________________________________________________

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