Iran's parliament adopted a revised anti-torture bill on Sunday banning the use of physical or psychological pressure to extract confessions from prisoners, IRNA news agency reported.
In the revised draft, "any physical or mental pressures against detainees in all stages of the legal process including interrogations, investigations, trial and the execution of the verdict are subject to law-based sanctions."
"Physical pressures, solitary confinement, keeping more than one person in solitary confinement, night interrogations, and any act that can be considered as exerting pressure on a prisoner, are examples of torture."
Officials who practice torture or do not report acts of torture will be subject to three to six months in jail and a one-year ban from public office. A second violation means six months to one year in jail and a three-year ban from public office.
A judge can only order solitary confinement in exceptional cases for seven to 10 days to protect the secrecy of an investigation, IRNA cited parliament member Hassan Soleimany as saying.
If a prisoner is kept in solitary confinement through a judge's error, the judge is to be brought to justice. The bill must currently be re-examined by the Guardians Council. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
