Bahrain Legislature makes illegal torture criminal – WTF?

Legislation okayed to criminalise torture in Bahrain
by Suad Hamada – 15 January 2012 – Khaleej Times

The cabinet has approved two key laws to implement its zero-tolerance policy towards torture as part of its commitment to fully implementing the BICI recommendations.

The first amendment to the Penal Code aims to protect persons who claim to be tortured or other forms of inhumane treatment and the second ensures these complaints are swiftly investigated and prosecuted by the attorney-general rather than police.

These amendments come on top of previous legislation, approved by the cabinet in October last year that brings the law into full compliance with international human rights standards. Under these amendments to the Penal Code, the crime of torture is no longer limited to acts of inflicting severe pain used to extract a confession, as was earlier the case, but rather criminalises all acts of torture. Further, the amendments provided that there is no time-limit to investigating and prosecuting persons for torture. Finally, the amendments ensure that the crime of torture attracts severe penalties commensurate with the gravity of the offence. …source