CAT/C/39/2 page 13 “I - constraining a person by using violence or serious threat which results in physical or mental suffering; with the purpose of obtaining information, a declaration or confession from the victim or third person; to provoke criminal action or omission; due to racial or religious discrimination; “II - submitting a person under one’s responsibility, power or authority to intensive physical or mental suffering, by his/her use of violence or serious threat, as a way of enforcing personal punishment or as a preventive measure.” 34. The Torture Law is applicable to the whole territory of Brazil. The crime of torture is not a federal crime (see paragraph 182). Accordingly, each state is responsible for the application of the Torture Law and the enforcement of judicial sentences pursuant to the Law. 35. With respect to criminal offences committed by military police officers, article 9 of the Military Criminal Procedure Code (Decree-Law No. 1002 of 21 October 1969) provides that military crimes are crimes subject to the Military Penal Code, even if they may have the same definition in civil penal law, when they are committed by military police or with military police weapons against a civilian. Law 9,299 of 7 August 1996, modified this provision by adding that crimes falling under this article, when wilfully perpetrated against the life of a civilian, would be subject to the jurisdiction of the common criminal courts. Hence, murder of a civilian by a military police officer would fall under the jurisdiction of the common criminal courts. However, bodily harm, torture and manslaughter committed by the military police against civilians remain under the jurisdiction of military courts. 36. Since the enactment of Constitutional amendment 45/2004, crimes committed by military police against civilians (excluding those crimes that are already under the responsibility of the common courts) fall under the jurisdiction of the Juiz Auditor, a civilian career judge within a military court. However, the Juiz Auditor would be the competent judicial authority only during the first instance of the proceedings. The appeal process is different in each state, where an appeal can return either to the military courts or go to the common courts, according to the size of their respective military police corps. F. Legal safeguards and guarantees of criminal suspects and detainees 37. Domestic law affords comprehensive protection of the rights of criminal suspects and detainees. As described above, the Torture Law introduced the specific offence of torture into the Brazilian criminal system. In addition, there are a number of legal provisions which provide safeguards to all persons from acts of torture or ill-treatment at the time of arrest, pre-trial detention and during the detention period. Inter alia, no one shall be arrested unless in flagrante delicto or under the authority of a written and justified order of a competent judicial authority.4 4 Ibid., article 5 (LXI).

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