Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told KOSOVO / KOSOVA As Seen, As Told PART III : The violation of human rights in Kosovo (Chapter 6) Contents Previous Next TORTURE AND ILL - TREATMENT Freedom from torture as an inalienable and non-derogable right The right to freedom from torture and ill-treatment is safeguarded by numerous international human rights treaties based on a well-established international consensus that such violations of human dignity 1 shall not be permitted under any circumstances. According to the Yugoslav Federal Constitution (and in line with international standards) this right cannot be derogated even during the state of war (although in the Constitution of Serbia, the effect of the absence of a list of non-derogable rights is that every right 2 can be derogated during times of war). The prohibition on physical abuse is also laid out in the 3 Yugoslav legislation on the use of force by law enforcement officers, as well as by criminal law and criminal procedure law. Yugoslav federal criminal law explicitly prohibits the inflicting of physical 4 5 injuries and harm by officials and the extraction of statements or confessions by force. The decree on 6 changes to criminal procedure during the state of war contains a wide range of extensive powers for the executive organs, which are hardly in compliance with international human rights standards, yet even 7 they do not alter the strict prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. In an internal armed conflict, certain provisions of international humanitarian law also apply which place binding obligations on all parties to the conflict to prevent and prohibit torture and ill-treatment. Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions specifically prohibits torture, cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment and the taking of hostages. Protocol II additional to the four Geneva Conventions, 8 applicable in particular kinds of internal armed conflict, reiterates these prohibitions and adds rape and indecent assault to the list of prohibited "outrages upon personal dignity", as well as providing additional protection for civilians against the dangers arising from military operations. Nevertheless, the OSCE-KVM has received a disturbingly high number of reports from victims of Serbian police abuse, which have been sufficiently documented by medical reports and first hand eyewitness statements. At times the use of torture has even been admitted by the officers themselves, who considered their actions justified by a kind of supra-constitutional necessity, particularly following the start of the NATO air campaign. http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch6.htm (1 of 12)12/5/2003 11:51:07 AM