Ending the trade in “tools of torture”: Five key principles

Illustration image depicting acts of torture committed in Police custody. Anyone arrested on suspicion of criminal activity in the Philippines risks being tortured or ill-treated in police custody. Many victims are children and almost all are from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. Methods of torture include systematic beatings, electric shocks, water-boarding, asphyxiation, hitting with truncheons or similar objects and being threatened at gunpoint. Although the Philippines is bound by international and domestic law to prevent and investigate acts of torture and other ill-treatment, such practices are rife during arrests and interrogations in many police stations. The severely understaffed police force, assisted by auxiliaries, is predisposed to taking “shortcuts” during arrests and investigations. A lack of forensic and investigative capacity and reliance on testimonial evidence, underlies the use of torture and other ill-treatment to extract “confessions”, regardless of evidence or the truth of the matter. No perpetrator has ever been convicted of torture in court

Every year in countries around the world, law enforcement officials subject detainees to torture and other forms of ill-treatment using a variety of equipment and techniques. Some equipment – such … Continue reading Ending the trade in “tools of torture”: Five key principles

Amnesty International Ireland