The Vatican is bracing for its second grilling at the UN this year over the global priest sex abuse scandal, this time from the standpoint of torture and inhuman treatment.
A UN committee was to begin meeting yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland, to examine whether the Vatican’s record on child protection violates the UN Convention Against Torture, which it ratified in 2002.
The Vatican argues its responsibility for enforcing the UN treaty against torture applies only within the confines of the tiny Vatican City, which has fewer than 1,000 inhabitants in an area less than 0.5km in size, making it the smallest country in the world.
However, a UN committee that monitors a key treaty on children’s rights blasted the Holy See in January, accusing it of systematically placing its own interests over those of victims by enabling priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children through its own policies and code of silence, and that committee rejected a similar argument the Vatican made trying to limit its responsibility.
If a UN committee finds the abuse amounts to torture and inhuman treatment, that could open the floodgates to abuse lawsuits dating back decades because there are no statute of limitations on torture cases, said Katherine Gallagher, a human rights attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, a nonprofit legal group based in New York.
The group submitted reports on behalf of victims to both committees urging closer UN scrutiny of the church record on child abuse.
Gallagher said that rape legally can constitute a form of torture because of the elements of intimidation, coercion and exploitation of power, and that it is a “disingenuous argument” for the Vatican to assert its only responsibility for the anti-torture treaty lies within Vatican City.
When they signed the treaty, Vatican officials said they were only doing so on behalf of Vatican City, not the Holy See, which is the governing structure of the universal church.
Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio on Friday that “its legal responsibility for implementation regards the territory and competences of Vatican City State.”
He said the church hopes the UN committee reviewing the anti-torture treaty will avoid being “reduced to tools of ideological pressure, rather than a necessary stimulus towards the desired progress in promoting respect for human rights.”
However, the stakes could not be higher, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) president Barbara Blaine said.
She said hundreds of children are still being abused today, despite the Vatican’s recent “lofty words,” which do not amount to preventive action.
SNAP last year separately asked the International Criminal Court to investigate former Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity over clergy abuse. The court, based in The Hague, rejected the request.
“So much is at stake — the safety of children all across the globe,” she told reporters on Friday at the UN in Geneva. “We don’t know what will stop the Vatican officials. All we can do is to keep speaking out.”
Pope Francis has said he takes personal responsibility for the “evil” of clergy sex abuse, and he has sought forgiveness from victims and said the church must be even bolder in efforts to protect children.
On Saturday, members of the Pope’s sexual abuse advisory board said they will develop “clear and effective” protocols to hold bishops and other church authorities accountable if they fail to report suspected abuse or protect children from pedophile priests.
Francis announced the creation of the commission in December last year and named its members in March after coming under initial criticism for having ignored the sex abuse issue.
The UN committee, which is composed of independent experts, not other UN member states, will issue its final observations and recommendations on May 23.
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