The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its
resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984, by which it adopted and opened for
signature, ratification and accession the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and all its subsequent
relevant resolutions,
 
      Recalling its resolution 36/151 of 16 December 1981, in which it noted
with deep concern that acts of torture took place in various countries,
recognized the need to provide assistance to the victims in a purely
humanitarian spirit and established the United Nations Voluntary Fund for
Victims of Torture,
 
      Recalling the recommendation in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993, that
high priority should be given to providing the necessary resources for
assistance to victims of torture and effective remedies for their physical,
psychological and social rehabilitation, inter alia, by additional
contributions to the Fund,
 
      Noting with satisfaction the existence and rapid expansion of an
international network of centres for the rehabilitation of torture victims,
which plays an important role in providing assistance to victims of torture,
and the collaboration of the Fund with the centres,
 
      1.    Welcomes the report of the Committee against Torture, submitted in
accordance with the provision of article 24 of the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
 
      2.    Notes with appreciation that during the present reporting period,
eight States have become parties to the Convention, increasing the number of
States parties to one hundred;
 
      3.    Urges all States that have not yet done so to become parties to
the Convention as a matter of priority;
 
      4.    Invites all States ratifying or acceding to the Convention and
those States which are parties to the Convention and which have not yet done
so to consider joining the States parties that have already made the
declarations provided for in articles 21 and 22 of the Convention and to
consider the possibility of withdrawing their reservations to article 20;
 
      5.    Urges States parties to comply strictly with their obligations
under the Convention, including their obligation to submit reports in
accordance with article 19 of the Convention, in view of the high number of
reports not submitted;
 
      6.    Calls upon all Governments to cooperate with and assist the
Special Rapporteur on questions relating to torture in the performance of his
task and to supply all necessary information requested by him and to react
appropriately to his urgent appeals;
 
      7.    Approves the methods of work employed by the Special Rapporteur,
in particular as regards urgent appeals, reiterates his need to be able to
respond effectively to credible and reliable information that comes before
him, invites him to continue to seek the views and comments of all concerned,
including Member States, in the elaboration of his report, and expresses its
appreciation of the continuing discrete and independent way in which he
carries out his work;
 
      8.    Stresses the need for regular exchanges of views between the
Committee against Torture, the Special Rapporteur and other relevant United
Nations mechanisms and bodies, with a view to enhancing further their
effectiveness and cooperation on issues relating to torture, inter alia, by
improving their coordination;
 
      9.    Commends the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights/Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat for the support given
to States in the preparation of national reports to the Committee;
 
      10.   Urges States parties to take fully into account the conclusions
and recommendations made by the Committee after its consideration of their
reports; 
 
      11.   Urges all States parties to the Convention to notify the
Secretary- General of their acceptance of the amendments to articles 17 and 18
of the Convention as soon as possible;
 
     12.    Encourages the open-ended working group of the Commission on Human
Rights on the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention to
intensify its deliberations with a view to an early conclusion of its work;
 
      13.   Expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the Governments,
organizations and individuals that have already contributed to the United
Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture;
 
      14.   Appeals to all Governments, organizations and individuals in a
position to do so to respond favourably to requests for contributions to the
Fund, if possible on a regular basis and annually before the meeting of the
Board of Trustees of the Fund and if possible also with a substantial increase
in the level of contributions, so that consideration may be given to the
ever-increasing demand for assistance;
 
      15.   Requests the Secretary-General to transmit to all Governments the
appeals of the General Assembly for contributions to the Fund;
 
      16.   Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to include the
Fund on an annual basis among the programmes for which funds are pledged at
the United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities;
 
      17.   Expresses its appreciation to the Board of Trustees of the Fund
for the work it has accomplished;
 
      18.   Requests the Secretary-General to assist the Board of Trustees of
the Fund in its appeal for contributions and its efforts to make better known
the existence of the Fund and the financial means currently available to it,
as well as in its assessment of the global need for international funding of
rehabilitation services for torture victims and, in this effort, to make use
of all existing possibilities, including the preparation, production and
dissemination of information materials;
 
      19.   Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure the provision of
adequate staff and facilities for the bodies and mechanisms that combat
torture, corresponding to the strong support expressed by Member States for
combating torture;
 
      20.   Invites donor countries and recipient countries that so agree to
consider including in their bilateral programmes and projects relating to the
training of armed forces and police personnel, as well as health-care
personnel, matters relating to the protection of human rights and the
prevention of torture;
 
      21.   Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission on
Human Rights at its fifty-third session and to the General Assembly at its
fifty-third session a report on the status of the Convention as well as a
report on the operations of the Fund;
 
      22.   Decides to consider the reports of the Secretary-General and the
Committee against Torture at its fifty-third session under the sub-item
entitled "Implementation of human rights instruments".