Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/CostaRica.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Costa Rica. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper
resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Costa Rica U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/costa-rica/
[accessed 8 July
2021] PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Physical
Conditions: Overcrowding was a problem. As of July the prison population
exceeded the designed capacity of prisons by 27 percent, according to
official statistics. Although the Ministry of Justice made efforts to expand
prison capacity and improve conditions in accordance with international
standards, a majority of prisons, as well as the comprehensive care units,
remained overcrowded, with the population in pretrial detention experiencing
the most overcrowding. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/costa-rica/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 11 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE
OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? Violence in Costa
Rica has increased in recent years and in 2017 the country documented over
600 murders, or a rate of 12.1 murders per 100,000 people, a record high. The
Pacific coast serves as a drug transshipment route and the government has
reported that most homicides are related to organized crime and drug
trafficking. There are reports of occasional police abuse, including violence
and degrading treatment—confirmed cases are investigated and prosecuted. Overcrowding, poor
sanitation, insufficient access to healthcare, and violence remain serious
problems in Costa Rica’s prisons. Recurrent abuse by prison police has not
been thoroughly investigated due to victims’ reluctance to file formal complaints. Costa Rica signs
anti-torture law Zach Dyer, The Tico
Times, 19 February 2014 www.ticotimes.net/2014/02/19/costa-rica-signs-anti-torture-law [accessed 24 Feb 2014] President Laura
Chinchilla signed a bill into law Tuesday establishing a mechanism to
implement the United Nations’ Optional Protocol to the Convention against
Torture. The protocol
establishes an independent national body to prevent torture, cruel punishment
and other degrading treatment of prisoners and other people deprived of
liberty. The unit, under the
administration of the Ombudsman’s Office, will periodically examine the
treatment of detainees and make recommendations to authorities on how to improve
their conditions and treatment. The group also will make observations on
current legislation and play an active role in its adaption to their
recommendations. The mechanism will
operate with “absolute independence and without interference by State authorities,”
according to a statement from Casa Presidencial. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/CRI/CO/2
(2008) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/costarica2008.html [accessed 25
February 2013] Pretrial detention 5. The Committee
endorses the concerns expressed by the Human Rights Committee
(CCPR/C/CRI/CO/5) regarding the duration of pretrial detention and the
legally authorized regime of incommunicado detention. It also
expresses its concern at the high number of persons held in pretrial
detention owing to a general increase in violence in the country, as the
State party has acknowledged (art. 2). The State party
should take prompt steps to restrict the use of pretrial detention, as well
as its duration, using alternative methods whenever possible when the accused
does not represent a danger to society. Complaints,
investigations and proper convictions 12. The Committee
notes with satisfaction the cases where the Convention has been directly
applied by domestic courts. However, the Committee notes that only one complaint
of torture has been registered and that no convictions have been handed down
for torture since the new law entered into force. The Committee notes with concern that some
possible cases of torture have been investigated as abuses of authority
despite their gravity. It also notes
with concern reports that victims and witnesses are not provided with
adequate protection (arts. 2, 11 and 13). The State party
should ensure that legislation on torture is effectively applied and that all
those involved, especially police officers and prison staff, border guards,
medical personnel and judicial personnel, receive proper training in the new
legislation. Detainees should also be
given information on the Convention and domestic legislation and on the rules
and guidelines for police officers and prison personnel relating to torture. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For current
articles:: Search Amnesty
International Website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=costa-rica+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 25 December
2018] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61722.htm [accessed 22 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61722.htm [accessed 3 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – Although the law
prohibits such practices, some members of the security forces committed abuses.
Any statement obtained through violence is invalid, and the government
investigated, prosecuted, and punished agents responsible for confirmed cases
of abuse. In August the
Criminal Court of the First Judicial Circuit of the Atlantic Zone found four
police officers guilty of abuse of authority for beating a suspect who
resisted arrest for public disturbance. Each officer received a three-year
suspended sentence. All four defendants appealed the judgment, and the
appeals were pending at year's end. In May a former
police officer stood trial for allegedly beating a robbery suspect in an
attempt to force a confession following an arrest in 2003. At year's end the
criminal trial was still ongoing. The officer resigned his post in March,
which nullified all administrative actions against him and ended the internal
investigation. The ombudsman's
office lodged and recorded complaints of police misconduct (see section 4).
As of August the ombudsman's office had received 47 reports of police abuse
of authority or misconduct. Of these, 34 reports remained under
investigation, 1 was determined to be legitimate, and 12 were found to be
without merit. On November 10, an
individual was attacked by two guard dogs on private premises he had
unlawfully entered during the early morning hours. Seven public security
officers witnessed the attack but did not intervene for nearly an hour while
the dogs mauled the victim. The officers alleged they could not shoot the
dogs for fear of injuring the victim, who was found to be Nicaraguan. An
investigation into the officers' actions proceeded at year's end. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, " Torture by Police, Forced
Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st
Century- Costa Rica ", http://gvnet.com/torture/CostaRica.htm, [accessed
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