VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service
Vatican City, 5 May 2014 (VIS) – Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, head of the the Holy See delegation before the United Nations in Geneva, presented his initial periodical report to the Committee on the Convention against Torture (CAT), which is currently holding its 52nd session.
In his comprehensive report, the prelate remarks that “the Holy See acceded to the Convention against Torture (CAT) on 22 June 2002. It did so with the very clear and direct intention that this Convention applied to Vatican City State (VCS). In its capacity as the sovereign of Vatican City State, the Holy See provided an important ‘Interpretative Declaration’ that shows its approach to the CAT”.
“In the first place, the Interpretative Declaration lauds the Convention as a worthy instrument for the defence against acts of torture when it says: ‘The Holy See considers the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment a valid and suitable instrument for fighting against acts that constitute a serious offence against the dignity of the human person’. In this sense indeed, the Holy See wished to express the harmony of its own principles and vision of the human person with those ideals and practices set forth in the Convention against Torture”.
“The Interpretative Declaration insists that ‘The Holy See, in becoming a party to the Convention on behalf of the Vatican City State, undertakes to apply it insofar as it is compatible, in practice, with the peculiar nature of that State’. As such, in regard to the application of the Convention and any examination, questions or criticisms, or implementation thereof, the Holy See intends to focus exclusively on Vatican City State, respecting the international sovereignty of this State and the legitimate and specific authority of the Convention and of the Committee competent to examine State reports”.
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