Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Estonia.htm
|
|||||||||||
|
CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Estonia. 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 *** Council of Europe
anti-torture Committee publishes report on Estonia Executive Summary,
19 November 2019 [accessed 1 June
2020] The CPT expresses serious
misgivings about the fact that remand prisoners were still frequently being
held in police detention houses beyond the period of police custody (pending
their transfer to a prison) for one to four weeks, and in some cases even for
several months. Whilst acknowledging the
fact that the
total number of
such cases in
the country has
significantly decreased since the 2012 visit, the Committee recalls
that detention houses are not suitable for holding remand prisoners. In the
CPT’s view, the detention of remand prisoners in such establishments for
prolonged periods in the poor material conditions described in the report
combined with the total lack of
out-of-cell activities could
amount to inhuman
and degrading treatment, all the more
so if the persons
concerned are defacto held in solitary
confinement. The
CPT calls upon the
Estonian authorities to put an end to the practice of holding remand
prisoners in police detention houses beyond the period
of police custody(i.e. 48 hours). As regards discipline, the
CPT expresses its
serious concern that
hardly any of
the specific recommendations
made after the 2012 visit have been implemented. In particular, the maximum
time-limits for disciplinary solitary confinement remained unchanged (i.e. up
to 45 days for adults and up to 20days for young offenders). It is of all the
more concern that, in particular at Viru Prison,
multiple disciplinary sanctions of
solitary confinement were
still being imposed
consecutively, which in a
number of cases resulted in very long periods of solitary confinement (in one
case, 225days). Overall, resort to solitary confinement as a punishment
appeared to be widespread in all three prisons, and, at Viru Prison, this
practice appeared to
be particularly excessive.
The CPT recommends
once again that, for
adult prisoners, the maximum
period of solitary confinement as a
punishment for a
given offence be limited to14
days, and preferably less, and
that no prisoner
beheld continuously in disciplinary isolation for longer than
the maximum time-limit. In addition, the Committee considers that solitary
confinement as a punishment should no longer be imposed on juvenile
prisoners. 2020 Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices: Estonia 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/estonia/
[accessed 18 July
2021] PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS In a November 2019
report on its 2017 visit to the country, the Council of Europe’s Committee
for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) expressed concern over “appalling
material conditions” at the Parnu, Tallinn, Tartu,
and Valga detention houses as well as at the
Tallinn East Police Station and over the small size of some of the cells seen
in various police establishments. The report also expressed the CPT’s
“serious misgivings” that remand prisoners were frequently held in deficient
police detention houses for one to four weeks, and in some cases for several
months, beyond the period of police custody (pending their transfer to a
prison). With regard to
prison conditions, the CPT report noted that the use of solitary confinement
as a punishment appeared to be widespread in all three of the country’s
prisons and that the practice appeared to be particularly excessive at Viru Prison. Prisoners were placed in disciplinary
solitary confinement continuously for more than 14 days, thus exceeding the
maximum permissible time. At Viru Prison, multiple
periods in solitary confinement were imposed on prisoners consecutively,
which in a number of cases resulted in very long periods of solitary
confinement (in one prisoner’s case, 225 days). There were no major concerns
in prisons regarding physical conditions or inmate abuse except for the
excessive use of solitary confinement. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/estonia/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 12 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE
OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? While Estonia is
generally safe and peaceful, it has one of the highest intentional homicide
rates in the European Union. There have been reports of law enforcement
officials using excessive force when arresting suspects. Some inmates
reportedly have inadequate access to health care. The incarceration rate is
the seventh highest in the OECD. Score Change: The
score declined from 4 to 3 due to a relatively high homicide rate and because
conditions in prisons and detention facilities remain inadequate. Anti-torture unit
reports on Estonia Council of Europe,
Human Rights Europe www.humanrightseurope.org/2014/01/anti-torture-unit-reports-on-estonia/ [accessed 21 Jan
2014] The report reveals
that “the CPT’s delegation received almost no allegations of physical
ill-treatment of persons detained by the police; practically all the detained
persons interviewed by the delegation who were or had recently been in police
custody said that they had been treated correctly. “However, the
delegation did receive a few isolated allegations of excessive use of force
(such as kicks, punches, tight handcuffing) by police officers at the time of
apprehension, after the person concerned had been brought under control.” 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/EST/CO/4
(2008) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/estonia2008.html [accessed 27
February 2013] Fundamental legal safeguards
of detained persons 9. The Committee is
concerned about the practical implementation of the fundamental legal
safeguards of detained persons, including access to an independent medical
doctor, as well as about the registration of all detained persons (art. 2). The State party
should ensure that all detained suspects are afforded, in practice,
fundamental legal safeguards during their detention, including the right to
access a lawyer, an independent medical examination, inform a relative and to
be informed of their rights at the moment they are deprived of their liberty,
including about the charges brought against them, as well as to be promptly
presented to a judge. Administrative
detention 10. The Committee
is concerned about the possibility of “administrative detention in jail” and
“administrative arrest” (paras. 89 and 215 of the State party report) and
about the complete absence of information on such detention in the report as
well as from the delegation, especially regarding the competent authority and
the applicable legal safeguards (art. 2). The State party
should provide the Committee with detailed information on such
“administrative detention” and insure that the fundamental legal safeguards
also apply in such cases. Appropriate
penalties for acts of torture in the Penal Code 13. The Committee
remains concerned about the inadequacy of the penalties applicable to
torture, i.e. of articles 122, 291, 312 and 324 of the Penal Code, ranging
from “pecuniary punishment” to a maximum of five years imprisonment (art. 4). The State party
should ensure that torture is punishable by appropriate penalties which take
into account its grave nature, as set out in paragraph 2 of article 4 of the Convention. Complaints,
investigations and appropriate sentencing 15. The Committee
notes the supervision activities of prisons by the Ministry of Justice, of
arrest houses by the Police Board, of psychiatric institutions by the Health
Board and of the Illuka Reception Centre for
Asylum-Seekers by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Defence
Forces. The Committee is nevertheless
concerned about the inadequate complaint mechanism existing for all places
where persons are deprived of liberty and about insufficient oversight and
monitoring of such places, as well as the small numbers of perpetrators of
acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
convicted with appropriate sentences for the grave nature of the acts
committed (arts. 12 and 13). The State party
should ensure that complaint mechanisms exist in all places where persons are
deprived of liberty and that the oversight and monitoring of such places is
adequate. The State party
should promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate all allegations of acts
of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
bring the responsible to justice and punish those convicted with sentences
proportional to the gravity of their offence. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For current
articles:: Search Amnesty
International Website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=estonia+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 31 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/2005/61646.htm [accessed 25 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61646.htm [accessed 3 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits such practices; however, there were reports that police used
excessive physical force and verbal abuse during the arrest and questioning
of suspects. In September a retired individual accused local police officers
of using excessive force on him. The police initiated an official
investigation, which determined that the police officers had acted according
to the rules. In 2003 the court
brought charges against two police officers for use of excessive force. In
the spring the Jarva rural court found the police
officers guilty and sentenced them to two years' probation. In June the
Tallinn district court reversed the Jarva rural
court's decision. In June the Tallinn
district court sentenced three former police officers to probation with terms
ranging from six months to three and a half years for the use of excessive
force on several occasions in 2001. There were 15
pending investigations related to the use of excessive force by police
officers 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-
Estonia", http://gvnet.com/torture/Estonia.htm, [accessed <date>] |
