CAT/C/JOR/CO/2
Overarching considerations regarding implementation
8.
Despite the Committee’s requests for specific statistical information in the list of
issues and the oral dialogue with the State party, the Committee regrets that such
information was not provided. The absence of comprehensive or disaggregated data on
complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and illtreatment by law enforcement, security, intelligence and prison personnel, or on
administrative detention, trafficking, ill-treatment of migrant workers and domestic and
sexual violence severely hampers the identification of many abuses requiring attention
(arts. 2, 12, 13 and 19).
The State party should compile statistical data relevant to the monitoring of the
implementation of the Convention at the national level, disaggregated by gender, age
and nationality, as well as information on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and
convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment, administrative detention, trafficking,
ill-treatment of migrant workers and domestic and sexual violence, and outcomes of
all such complaints and cases. The State party should, without delay, provide the
Committee with the above-mentioned detailed information, including on the number
of complaints of torture that have been submitted since 1995, the date of the
consideration of the previous State party’s report.
Definition and criminalization of torture
9.
While noting that a definition of torture has been included in article 208 of the Penal
Code, the Committee regrets that Chapter Two of the Jordanian Constitution which
provides for “Rights and Duties of Jordanians” does not contain a specific prohibition of
torture and other forms of ill-treatment or punishment. The Committee is also concerned
that article 208 refers to “any type of torture impermissible according to law” which implies
the existence of forms or instances of torture that are permitted by law. The Committee is
further concerned that torture is not treated as a serious crime but rather as a misdemeanour,
and is not subject to penalties appropriate to its gravity (between six months’ and three
years’ imprisonment). The Committee regrets the absence of a provision in the Penal Code
that would exclude the crime of torture from statutes of limitations and it is concerned that
statutes of limitations applicable to provisions of the Penal Code may prevent investigation,
prosecution and punishment of these grave crimes (arts. 1 and 4).
The State party should incorporate the prohibition of torture into the Constitution to
show a real and important recognition of torture as a serious crime and human rights
abuse and to fight impunity. By naming and defining the offence of torture in
accordance with articles 1 and 4 of the Convention and distinct from other crimes, the
Committee considers that States parties will directly advance the Convention’s
overarching aim of preventing torture, inter alia, by alerting everyone, including
perpetrators, victims, and the public, to the special gravity of the crime of torture and
by improving the deterrent effect of the prohibition itself. The State party should also
ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and convicted in accordance with the gravity
of the acts, as required by article 4 of the Convention. To this end, the State party
should amend its Penal Code to increase the penalties, as appropriate.
The State Party should further review its rules and provisions on the statute of
limitations and bring them fully in line with its obligations under the Convention so
that acts of torture, attempts to commit torture, and acts by any person which
constitute complicity or participation in torture, can be investigated, prosecuted and
punished without time limitations.
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