Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Italy. Italy, CAT/ C/ITA/CO/5-6, 18 December 2017

In its Concluding Observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Italy, the Committee against Torture expressed concerned about the definition of torture contained in law No. 110 of 14 July 2017, which is considered incomplete and contrary to what is prescribed in the Convention. The definition does not contain suitable elements to identify the motivating factors and to qualify the author of the torture. Furthermore, the Committee pointed out the contrast of collective and forced returns with the principle of non-refoulement, and the violation of the prohibition of torture committed through the expulsion of foreign national to not safe States. Regarding detention, the Committee, on one hand, has taken into account the progress made by Italy following the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Torreggiani (2013) but, on the other hand, it is concerned about the conditions in which Italian prisons are subject, especially with regard to their overcrowding and to some arbitrary treatments occurred there.