may be taken for the purpose of compelling a person to confess, to incriminate himself or herself, or to testify against any other person. (See Chapter 3.9.1.) The only exception is when such a statement is used in proceedings against the perpetrator, as evidence that the statement was taken. In addition, a range of safeguards has been developed to protect people under interrogation and it is important that arrested or detained persons are informed of their rights and safeguards.158 These include: • The right to have a lawyer present during questioning; • The right to an interpreter; • The right to remain silent and not incriminate oneself; • The identification of everyone present during questioning; • Full and accurate recording, preferably through audio and video, of all periods of questioning; • The right to a medical examination and medical services. Articles 11 and 16 of the Convention against Torture oblige states parties to “keep under systematic review interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices” with a view to preventing torture and other ill-treatment. The same requirement has been referred to by the Human Rights Committee as an effective means of preventing torture or other ill-treatment.159 An excuse sometimes offered for the use of torture during interrogation is that a country’s police force is poorly trained and lacking in resources. It is important that law enforcement agencies have the scientific and technical equipment necessary to investigate crimes effectively and lawfully. While the extent to which they are provided with these means is frequently dependent on the material resources available to governments, a lack of resources is not a justification or excuse for torture or other unprofessional and unlawful behaviour. Law enforcement officials should be trained and encouraged to operate as effectively as they can within the resources available to them without breaching legal, ethical or professional standards. In particular, law enforcement officials should be trained in the skills of interviewing victims, witnesses and those suspected of crime. In relation to suspects, these skills include the abilities to: • Gather all available evidence in a case before interviewing a suspect; • Plan an interview based on that evidence so that an effective interview can be conducted; • Treat an interview as a means of gathering more information or evidence rather than as a means of securing a confession; 158 See Articles 9 and 14 of the ICCPR; Principles 14, 17, 21, 23 and 24 of the Body of Principles; Guideline 9 of the Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa; Section N of the Principles on Fair Trial in Africa. 159 HRC General Comment 20, §11.
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Combating torture and other ill-treatment