Committee against Torture Closes Seventy-Fourth Session after Adopting Concluding Observations on State of Palestine – Press Release

29 July 2022

The Committee against Torture this morning closed its seventy-fourth session after adopting its concluding observations on the reports of Botswana, Nicaragua, State of Palestine, and the United Arab Emirates.

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On the State of Palestine, the Committee noted that torture was explicitly prohibited under Article 13.1 of the Palestinian Basic Law, and that a comprehensive definition of torture was included on the National Commission against Torture. However, the Committee expressed concern that torture was considered a misdemeanour, and urged the State party to ensure that acts of torture were punishable by appropriate penalties. The Committee also expressed concern that persons in custody, including in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, were subjected to torture or ill-treatment, and that the mechanisms established by the State party to receive and investigate complaints of this nature, failed to protect complainants and witnesses. The Committee recommended that the State party immediately undertake investigations into complaints through an independent mechanism and punish offenders with appropriate penalties.

The Committee further expressed concern about allegations of excessive use of force in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It recommended that the State party ensure that investigations were undertaken into all allegations, that perpetrators were prosecuted, and that victims or their families received full redress. In addition, the Committee expressed concern regarding the continuous use of administrative detention by the State party under the Jordanian Crimes Prevention Act of 1954 in the West Bank. It was also concerned that administrative detention was used against women and girls who were victims of violence. The Committee recommended that the State party amend or repeal the Jordanian Crimes Prevention Act of 1954 to abolish the practice of “protective custody” in cases of gender-based violence and ensure that all detainees were afforded all fundamental procedural safeguards. It also recommended that the State party develop and implement alternatives to administrative detention.

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