Challenges remain in applying Convention Against Torture — NCHR

AMMAN — Jordan still faces challenges in fully applying the UN Convention Against Torture, the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) said Saturday. In a statement released on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, NCHR highlighted the importance of amending the Penal Code to label torture as a crime that remains on the offender’s record as an unspent conviction.

Under Paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Constitution, every person who is arrested must be treated in a way that preserves his/her human dignity and it is prohibited to torture him/her in any form. Moreover, any statement extracted through torture or under threat cannot be used in court.

The Jordan Society for Human Rights said in a statement that in 2013 only a third of 392 complaints of alleged torture were addressed in court, and in one case where bad treatment was proven to have taken place, the responsible officer was only referred to early retirement.