Palestine cracks down on torture, seeks sentencing options
After joining international conventions and treaties, Palestinian authorities are developing new means of preventing torture, while Gaza Strip lawmakers are about to pass a law providing for alternatives to prison for lesser offenses.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestine is expected to pass a law establishing its national protocol for preventing torture at the beginning of 2019.
On Sept. 19, the Ministry of the Interior in Ramallah, the West Bank, met with several human rights and civil society organizations and the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) to discuss establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). Developing this mechanism is one of Palestine’s obligations after President Mahmoud Abbas signed in March the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT).
OPCAT specifies that participants will establish at least one body to visit and inspect prisons and other detention facilities to prevent "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (hereinafter referred to as the national preventive mechanism).”
The NPM will be deemed a national human rights body tasked with combating torture and promoting human rights and public freedom.
