UN anti-torture watchdog spotlights Vatican’s record

GENEVA
Yahoo! News

By Jonathan Fowler

Geneva (AFP) – A UN anti-torture watchdog on Monday began a two-day grilling of the Vatican over its efforts to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.

The hearing is the Vatican’s first since 2002, when it signed up to an international convention banning torture as well as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Victim support groups insist that the rape and molestation of children by the clergy and lay personnel falls under the terms of the convention.

They are hoping that the Vatican will face similarly-scathing criticism as it did in January when it came before a UN children’s rights watchdog.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.