Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Senegal.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Senegal. 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: Senegal 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/senegal/
[accessed 5 August
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Human rights
organizations noted examples of physical abuse committed by authorities,
including excessive use of force as well as cruel and degrading treatment in
prisons and detention facilities. In particular they criticized strip search
and interrogation methods. Police reportedly forced detainees to sleep on
bare floors, directed bright lights at them, beat them with batons, and kept
them in cells with minimal access to fresh air. Investigations, however,
often were unduly prolonged and rarely resulted in charges or indictments. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Physical
Conditions: Overcrowding was endemic. For example, Dakar’s main prison
facility, Rebeuss, held more than twice the number
of inmates for which it was designed. Poor and
insufficient food, limited access to medical care, stifling heat, poor
drainage, and insect infestations also were problems throughout the prison
system. On February 20, an inmate passed away at Mbour
Prison. According to official reports, he suffered an acute asthma attack due
to being held in an overcrowded cell holding 87 other inmates. ARREST PROCEDURES
AND TREATMENT OF DETAINEES Pretrial Detention:
According to 2018 UN statistics, 45 percent of the prison population
consisted of pretrial detainees. In late 2019 the country’s authorities
reported the percentage to be 42 percent. A majority of defendants awaiting
trial are held in detention. The law states an accused person may not be held
in pretrial detention for more than six months for minor crimes; however,
authorities routinely held persons in custody until a court ordered their
release. Judicial backlogs and absenteeism of judges resulted in an average
delay of two years between the filing of charges and the beginning of a
trial. In cases involving murder charges, threats to state security, and
embezzlement of public funds, there were no limits on the length of pretrial
detention. In many cases pretrial detainees were held longer than the length
of sentence later imposed. Freedom House Country
Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/senegal/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 15 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? Individuals are
generally protected from the illegitimate use of physical force. However,
Senegalese prisons are overcrowded, and human rights groups have documented incidents
of excessive force and cruel treatment by prison authorities. Senegal: Land of
impunity Amnesty
International AI, 15 September 2010, Index number: AFR 49/001/2010 www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr49/001/2010/en/ Download Report at
www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/36000/afr490012010en.pdf [accessed 13 January
2019] THE USE OF TORTURE SANCTIONED
BY THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
-- The impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of acts of torture and other
serious human rights violations is all the more deep-rooted in Senegal
because judicial proceedings against members of the security forces can only
take place with the authorization of the Minister of the Interior (in the
case of police officers) and the Ministry of Defence
(in the case of gendarmes and military personnel). In addition, the
public prosecutor generally refuses to open investigations when victims or
lawyers allege torture during custody or preventive detention, which is
contrary to article 12 of the Convention Against Torture, which states
that: “Each State Party shall ensure
that its competent authorities proceed to a prompt and impartial
investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of
torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction.” An even more
worrying aspect is that judges regularly rely on “confessions” extracted
under torture to sentence the accused to long prison sentences. The use of
“confessions” extracted under torture to convict the accused is normal
practice in Senegal and violates one of the essential provisions of the
Convention Against Torture, ratified by Senegal in 1986. Article 15 of the
Convention states that: “Each State Party
shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a
result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except
against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made”. “CONFESSIONS”
EXTRACTED UNDER TORTURE: ADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE FOR MANY SENEGALESE COURTS -- One of the
tortured detainees told Amnesty International in February 2009: “Three
auxiliary gendarmes took me into another office,
they tied my hands behind my back and handcuffed me. They beat me with their
belts and truncheons, one of them used a metal bar
and hit me on the head, the shins and the knees. They told me to confess that
I had participated in the demonstration on the previous day. I told them I
wasn't there. They told me to talk, I told them that
I would only answer questions. One of them said to me: 'Don't act the little
intellectual here, this is not a university'. One of the
auxiliaries unplugged a computer cable and hit me with it several times. My
body still bears the marks. They showed me two lists of students and asked me
if I knew them. When I told them that I did not know them, they hit me again
and pointed a gun at me, they threatened to shoot. They insisted that I talk
and told me to confess that I burned down the Kédougou
gendarmerie. The next moment, a gendarme presented me with a written
statement, I asked to read it, one of them hit me on
the nape of the neck with his gun and told me to stop acting as though I was
an intellectual. I then signed the statement. Then they gave me
electric shocks in my ears, I cried out a lot, they insulted my mother. Then
they gave me another electric shock, I screamed, another gendarme came in and
said they had tortured me enough. They took off the handcuffs and put me
stark naked in the cell. I spent five days and five nights in jail. During
the first two days, gendarmes made us do push-ups between midnight and 4am.
When were taken back to the cell, they threw cold water on our bodies if we
even looked like dozing off.” Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment -- Doc. A/51/44, paras.
102-119 (1996) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/senegal1996.html [accessed 5 March
2013] 4. Subjects of
concern 110. The Committee
is disturbed by the numerous cases of torture that have been brought to its
attention by non-governmental organizations of established credibility, and
are also referred to in the State party's report, notably in paragraphs 12,
37 and 103. 111. While taking
into account the particular problem of Casamance, which is threatening the
integrity and security of the State, the Committee recalls that a democracy
must, whatever the circumstances, ensure that only legitimate means are used
to protect the security of the State, peace and stability. 112. The Committee
is concerned that, in its report, the State party invokes a discrepancy
between international and internal law to justify granting impunity for acts
of torture on the basis of the amnesty laws. 113. The Committee
is doubtful whether the provisions in force in Senegal can effectively ensure
full respect for the fundamental rights of persons in police custody. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 TORTURE AND OTHER
ILL-TREATMENT Several people were
tortured and otherwise ill-treated by security forces and at least two of
them died in detention, reportedly as a result of torture. In February, Ibrahima Fall was tortured and otherwise ill-treated
after being arrested in Tivavouane while returning
from a demonstration against President Wade’s candidacy. He was tortured by
gendarmes who hit him with batons, water hoses and electric cables. In February, Ousseynou Seck died after being
tortured in custody. All the police officers implicated were arrested and
were awaiting trial at the end of the year. In August, Kécouta Sidibé, a man who was
deaf and mute, died reportedly as a result of torture in custody in Kédougou after he was arrested for consuming Indian hemp.
In December, the Kaolack Appeal Court declared the
deputy commander of the Kédougou gendarmerie guilty
of murder and he was arrested. An investigation into the involvement of five
other gendarmes was in progress at the end of the year. EXCESSIVE USE OF
FORCE At least six people
were killed by security forces during the pre-elections unrest. In January,
gendarmes (paramilitary police) used live ammunition against peaceful
demonstrators in Podor. Two people were killed: Mamadou Sy and Bana Ndiaye, a woman aged around 60 who was not participating
in the protest. In January, Mamadou Diop was killed by a
police vehicle during a peaceful demonstration at the Place de l’Obélisque in Dakar. An inquiry was opened but had not
concluded by the end of the year Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=senegal+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 13 January 2019] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil
Liberties: 3 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/senegal [accessed 11
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] The judiciary is independent
by law, but poor pay and lack of tenure expose judges to external influences.
Uncharged detainees are incarcerated without legal counsel far beyond the
lengthy periods already permitted by law. Prison conditions are poor. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61589.htm [accessed 11
February 2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61589.htm [accessed 5 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits such practices; however, there were occasional reports that
government officials employed them. Although human
rights groups noted fewer examples of physical abuse committed by security
forces, they claimed poor training and supervision led to cruel and degrading
treatment in prisons and detention facilities. In particular, they criticized
strip search and interrogation methods. The police criminal investigation
division (DIC) often required suspects to wait six hours or more before
actually questioning them and may hold people up to 24 hours before releasing
them. Police also reportedly forced detainees to sleep on the floor without
any bedding, direct bright-lights at their pupils, and beat them with batons. 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-
Senegal", http://gvnet.com/torture/Senegal.htm, [accessed <date>] |
