§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 9 December 1998,Official Report, column 210, what guidance has been given to state parties by the UN Committee on Torture on appropriate responses to its recommendations; what measures he will take to act upon its recommendations prior to the deadline for the fourth UK Periodic report in 2002; and what steps he has taken to secure the agreement of other Ministerial departments to respond to the recommendations of the UN Committee. [66084]
§ Mr. Boateng[holding answer 19 January 1999]: The United Nations Committee against Torture has issued no specific guidance to state parties. However, the United 68W Nations has published guidance on the reporting requirements of the six main human rights treaties in its "Manual on Human Rights Reporting". This requires a periodic report to contain information on any action taken as a result of conclusions and recommendations reached by the Committee.
The Government have taken note of the Committee against torture's recommendations made after the oral hearing on 16 November 1998. All interested Departments have been made aware of its recommendations, and will give them due consideration. The Government wrote to the Committee on 25 November about its third recommendation relating to section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. I am sending a copy of that letter to my hon. Friend and placing a copy in the Library. The United Kingdom's Fourth Periodic Report to the Committee will be prepared in consultation with all interested Departments, as has been the case with earlier reports.