Torture Committee Inquiry Follows Scathing Rebuke by Committee on Rights of the Child
press@ccrjustice.org
May 5, 2014, Geneva – Today, the Vatican was summoned to appear before the United Nations Committee Against Torture to report on its record in preventing, punishing and redressing torture, which necessarily included its record addressing widespread sexual violence within the Catholic Church. Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and their attorneys from the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) were in attendance. In April, CCR, representing SNAP, filed a report with the Committee documenting the long-term harms suffered by survivors of sexual violence by Catholic clergy, and filed a supplemental report thereafter focusing primarily on Latin America. This is the second time in four months that top Catholic officials have been called before the U.N. to account for the Vatican’s human rights record on addressing the ongoing worldwide crisis of sexual violence and cover-ups within the Catholic Church.
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.
press@ccrjustice.org
May 5, 2014, Geneva – Today, the Vatican was summoned to appear before the United Nations Committee Against Torture to report on its record in preventing, punishing and redressing torture, which necessarily included its record addressing widespread sexual violence within the Catholic Church. Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and their attorneys from the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) were in attendance. In April, CCR, representing SNAP, filed a report with the Committee documenting the long-term harms suffered by survivors of sexual violence by Catholic clergy, and filed a supplemental report thereafter focusing primarily on Latin America. This is the second time in four months that top Catholic officials have been called before the U.N. to account for the Vatican’s human rights record on addressing the ongoing worldwide crisis of sexual violence and cover-ups within the Catholic Church.
“Rape is torture under international law, and for the Vatican
to minimize the profound harm caused to so many and claim otherwise is
both wrong and cruel. When the Vatican voluntarily ratifies a treaty, it
must meet its obligations under that treaty,” said Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Attorney Katherine Gallagher.
“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 those days of impunity are clearly
numbered.”
The Vatican ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in June 2002. This
is the first time it has had its compliance with its treaty obligations
reviewed by the UN Committee Against Torture. The Vatican was summoned
before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 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 February 2014, the Committee on the Rights of
the Child expressed “grave concern that the Holy See has not
acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed…has adopted policies and
practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and
impunity for the perpetrators,” and that “[t]he Holy See has
consistently placed the preservation of the reputation of the Church and
the protection of the perpetrators above children’s best interests.”
Said SNAP President Barbara Blaine, “Not only is the UN
calling the Vatican to account, they are acknowledging the gravity of
the harms at stake—which amount to torture of the most vulnerable
individuals and cause deep, long-lasting harm. Pope Francis must humbly
acknowledge the breadth of the problem in the church and take concrete
steps to end the sexual violence and finally hold accountable not only
perpetrators but those who cover up the violence, knowingly shift
priests, and endanger more children.”
International human rights bodies have paid increasing attention to
the crisis of sexual violence in the Catholic Church following CCR’s
filing, in September 2011, of a case with the International Criminal Court
on behalf of SNAP against the former Pope and other high-level Vatican
officials for crimes against humanity. The hearing before the Committee
Against Torture will continue tomorrow.
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 12,000 members. 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.
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