(d) The special court system within the security services – above all, police and intelligence courts – be abolished, and their jurisdiction be transferred to the ordinary independent public prosecutors and criminal courts The special court system did not work effectively. The presumption of innocence was illusory, primacy was placed on obtaining confessions, public officials essentially demonstrated no sense of duty, and assumed no responsibility to investigate human rights violations against suspected criminals, and the system of internal special courts served only to shield security officials from justice. e) An effective and independent complaints system for torture and abuse leading to criminal investigations be established Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), guarantees every prisoner the right to complain to prison authorities, who have to forward the complaint to the Public Prosecutor. When allegations of torture against a member of the police were made, the Department of Public Prosecutions had to register it in an investigation report and refer the person to a forensic doctor. Within the PSD a Complaints and Human Rights Office received complaints against its personnel. A human rights directorate within the Ministry of Interior was mandated to follow up on general human rights issues and complaints. The PSD established a radio station through which all complaints were directly aired and appropriate solutions sought; and installed complaints boxes in various prisons under the direct supervision of the PSD’s Office of Complaints and Human Rights. The Ministry of Justice created a complaints mechanism and allocated qualified personnel to handle complaints, which enabled the Prosecutor General to monitor the situation in prisons. The Ministry created a registry for complaints in the Attorney-General’s Office. Non-governmental sources: Prisoners can complain to the Ministry of Interior’s PSD through Legal Affairs prosecutors who are present all the time in seven prisons: Muwaqqar, Qafqafa, Swaqa, Jweideh men, Jweideh women, al-‘Aqaba and Birain. The prison-based prosecutors work closely with officials in the Complaints and Human Rights Office of the PSD, who visit the prisons every two weeks and empty the sealed complaints boxes. 87 In February 2008, the NCHR was allowed to open an office inside Swaqa prison to receive complaints from prisoners on a weekly basis. However, the NCHR was not allowed access to Swaqa prison during disturbances which occurred in the prison in April 2008. The PSD has reportedly stopped cooperating with the NCHR following its critical reporting of A/HRC/13/39/Add.6 The NCHR was tasked with addressing human rights issues through a monitoring mechanism and the examination of complaints related to government institutions. Non-governmental sources: No steps have been taken in this regard.

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