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I submit for your
consideration a draft decision which approves the
Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishments, which was
adopted by the General Assembly of the United
Nations during its XXXIX period of ordinary
sessions in 1984. On 23rd September, the Government
of Chile signed this text with
reservations.
The Convention, which is
the subject of this draft decision, constitutes an
important step in the process of the humanisation
of international law, a process that has gained
more significance since the founding of the United
Nations Organisation in 1945. At the same time,
this Convention is destined to become an adequate
mechanism of promoting a more effective enforcement
of the rights that are guaranteed in several
multilateral international
mechanisms.
From the point of view of
Chile's international position, the aspiration to
become a party to the Convention, reflects its
actual decision to recognise in practice the
existence of fundamental human rights. In this way,
it will be possible to disprove the accusations
which have been put forward systematically against
our country in international forums on human
rights.
When the Convention was
signed, it was considered necessary to make certain
reservations to some of its provisions, with the
primary purpose of not accepting the authority of
the Committee against Torture.
By the same token, the
Government of Chile stated a second reservation,
namely that it will not consider itself bound to
follow the envisaged procedure for the settlement
of the disputes which may arise in relation to the
interpretation or application of the Convention
between two or more State Parties.
In spite of this, at the
moment when the reservations were made, the
Government of Chile stated that it preserved the
right to formulate other declarations or
reservations at the moment of the ratification of
the Convention if this was considered necessary in
respect of its domestic law.
In view of the
above-mentioned reasons and considerations I ask
you to approve the following:
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