The United Nations Committee Against Torture holds its 56th session in Geneva, Switzerland from 9 November to 9 December this year and has considered the periodic report of the People’s Republic of China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region) on the implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”) on 17 November. The part related to the Macao SAR is its second period report and has been included in the sixth periodic report of the People’s Republic of China.

The Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organisations in Switzerland, Wu Hailong, led the Chinese Delegation to attend the meeting, with members of the Macao SAR Delegation including Director Chu Lam Lam of the Law Reform and International Law Bureau, Director Liu Dexue of the Legal Affairs Bureau, Director Lee Kam Cheong of the Macao Prison, Adviser Zhu Lin of the Office of the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Adviser Adriano Marques Ho of the Office of the Secretary for Security, Deputy Director Vong Yim Mui of the Social Welfare Bureau and Senior Officer Wong Kio Chan of the Law Reform and International Law Bureau.

In fact, the Macao SAR Government has been paying great attention to the Convention since its application to the Macao SAR and has ensured its efficacious implementation in the Macao SAR through laws and different policy measures. At the meeting, Director Chu Lam Lam briefly introduced to the Committee the various laws and policy measures, including the amendment to the Organic Law of the Commission Against Corruption, the amendment to the legal system for legal aid for strengthening the protection of the right of individuals to resort to law, the consolidation of the fight against human trafficking through new laws and the signing of bilateral agreements, the drafting of the Domestic Violence Prevention Law for fighting and preventing domestic violence, and the abolition of the provision regarding the solitary confinement of minor offenders or prisoners in the form of an Order for strengthening the protection of children, which were adopted by the Macao SAR for the further implementation of the various provisions of the Convention since the consideration of the Macao SAR’s first implementation report by the United Nations Committee Against Torture in 2008.

During the consideration on 17 November, committee members raised questions about the provisions regarding torture in the Criminal Code, the use of electric shock devices on prisoners, solitary confinement of prisoners, the content of the draft Domestic Violence Prevention Law and so forth. The Macao SAR delegation will answer those questions raised by the committee members in the meeting held in the afternoon of 18 November (Geneva time).

For more information on the content of this consideration, please refer to the web page of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1002&Lang=en) or that of the Law Reform and International Law Bureau (http://www.dsrjdi.ccrj.gov.mo/cn/tratadoscn.asp).