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.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    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.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially quoting the   
   source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)