Despite Objections and Early Pressure from Vatican
Officials, Committee Takes on Church Policies and Practices That Enable
Widespread Sexual Violence by Clergy
Contact: press@ccrjustice.org
May 23, 2014, New York, Geneva – Today, the United Nations Committee Against Torture found that the widespread sexual violence within the Catholic church amounted to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment prohibited by theUnited Nations Convention Against Torture. The committee issued concluding observations following its questioning of Vatican representatives, earlier in May, regarding the Vatican’s record on preventing, punishing and redressing torture. That hearing was the second time in four months that top Catholic officials were called before the UN to account for the Vatican’s human rights record on addressing the ongoing worldwide crisis of sexual violence within the Catholic Church. Attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) submitted reports to both committees and attended both hearings in Geneva.
Said SNAP President Barbara Blaine, “For too long, the Vatican has been able to deny and deflect attention from its role in enabling, perpetuating, and covering-up these serious crimes around the globe. But the increasing attention international human rights bodies are paying to this crisis shows the Vatican’s days of impunity are numbered.”
In 2011, CCR filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court on behalf of SNAP against the former pope and other high-level Vatican officials for rape and sexual violence as forms of torture and as crimes against humanity.
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 18,000 members in 79 countries. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers, as well as those who suffered institutional abuse or those hurt by scout leaders, coaches and teachers. Visit www.snapnetwork.org.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
Contact: press@ccrjustice.org
May 23, 2014, New York, Geneva – Today, the United Nations Committee Against Torture found that the widespread sexual violence within the Catholic church amounted to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment prohibited by theUnited Nations Convention Against Torture. The committee issued concluding observations following its questioning of Vatican representatives, earlier in May, regarding the Vatican’s record on preventing, punishing and redressing torture. That hearing was the second time in four months that top Catholic officials were called before the UN to account for the Vatican’s human rights record on addressing the ongoing worldwide crisis of sexual violence within the Catholic Church. Attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) submitted reports to both committees and attended both hearings in Geneva.
“The committee called the widespread sexual violence within the Church what it is: torture,” said Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney Pam Spees.
“This is an important recognition of the gravity of these offenses that
have been minimized by the Church, places responsibility where it
belongs – with the hierarchy in the Church, not the victims – and could
help open new avenues for redress.”
“In advance of the Committee's questioning, Vatican officials
tried to pressure the Committee not to inquire about the widespread
sexual violence within the Church," Spees said. "We are glad to see that
the Committee clearly addressed the fact of the widespread sexual
violence as within its purview despite that pressure.”
The committee expressed serious concerns about the Vatican’s
failure to prevent and punish rape and sexual violence. The committee
further found that the Vatican’s obligations reach beyond the Vatican
City State to all those acting under the Church’s effective authority
and control; and expressed concern about the Vatican’s failures to meet
its obligations under the Convention to provide redress, including
financial compensation, rehabilitative support, and a guarantee that the
crimes will not be repeated. The committee expressed deep concerns
regarding church policies and practices such as moving priests, rather
than reporting them to civil authorities for investigation and
prosecution, failing to properly monitor known perpetrators, refusing to
cooperate with national authorities, and lack of accountability for
bishops and cardinals who have participated in cover-ups and enabled the
crimes.
Said SNAP President Barbara Blaine, “For too long, the Vatican has been able to deny and deflect attention from its role in enabling, perpetuating, and covering-up these serious crimes around the globe. But the increasing attention international human rights bodies are paying to this crisis shows the Vatican’s days of impunity are numbered.”
The Vatican ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in June 2002. The
hearing in May was the first time the Committee Against Torture
reviewed its compliance with the treaty. The UN Committee on the Rights
of the Child summoned the Vatican in January 2014 to report on its
compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which obliges
it to protect children from sexual violence and safeguard their
well-being and dignity. It was the first time the Holy See had been
called to account for its actions on these issues before an
international body.
In 2011, CCR filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court on behalf of SNAP against the former pope and other high-level Vatican officials for rape and sexual violence as forms of torture and as crimes against humanity.
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 18,000 members in 79 countries. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers, as well as those who suffered institutional abuse or those hurt by scout leaders, coaches and teachers. Visit www.snapnetwork.org.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
