March 10 – 12, 2013 – During the week of Monday, March 10, 2014, Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan E. Méndez, addressed the Twenty-Fifth Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), held a press conference, and participated in several side-events in Geneva, alongside UN colleges, State delegates, and partners from civil society organizations. During the HRC Session, the Special Rapporteur presented the report on his recent country visit to the Republic of Ghana, as well as his latest thematic report on the exclusionary rule and the use of torture-tainted evidence and information by executive actors and agencies within States. For more information about the Special Rapporteur’s activities at the UNHRC including video-links to his presentation and other media, please visit our page dedicated to the Human Rights Council Session.
Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Category Archives: Exclusionary Rule
Experts Consider the Use of Torture-Tainted Information
November 21, 2013 – The Special Rapporteur participated in an expert meeting held by the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) that considered the legal standards and practical challenges surrounding the use of torture tainted evidence by executive agencies and their international partners, particularly after 2001 and in view of the ongoing “War on Terror” . According to the APT, “despite the clear absolute and non-derogable prohibition against torture, and the clear obligation on judicial actors to prohibit the use of torture-tainted evidence, there is still some uncertainty over whether and how the use of torture-tainted information by executive agencies is regulated in international law, and what practical limits should be applied to reduce the risks of torture by overseas agencies.” During the meeting, the Special Rapporteur and other distinguished experts considered the potential gap created in the absolute prohibition on torture created by the collection, use, and sharing of information obtained by torture, and possible ways to redress this situation. Read more about the meeting on the APT’s website.
