According to the protocol signed this Thursday by the justice and internal administration authorities, detainees who have been victims of violence while in police custody will testify about the transferred acts of aggression within a maximum of 48 hours.
At a ceremony at the Ministry of Justice in Lisbon, the inspectors general of the internal administration, Anabela Cabral Ferreira and the justice service, Gonçalo Pires, as well as the director general of the Reintegration and Penitentiary Services, Rui Abrunosa, signed the protocol. which provides for the rationalization and clarification of communication procedures so that, within 48 hours, statements of detainees, prisoners or internees who, upon admission to prison, present bodily harm or allege a violation of physical integrity while they were in police custody, are recorded.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Justice Catarina Sarmento e Castro referred to the need to have “more prompt and effective” means to respond to “any surprise” in the actions of the state, citing that the protocol also provides, in the case of detained foreigners who do not speak Portuguese, appointing an interpreter for these procedures.
At the end of the ceremony, which was also attended by Interior Minister José Luis Carneiro and Assistant Secretary of State and Justice Jorge Costa, there was no further explanation of protocol or clarification of the current police situation. violence against detainees.
In a footnote published to the document signed this Thursday, the government understood that the protocol intends to “respond to the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)”, concluding “that it is necessary to facilitate the prompt transmission of information and create all conditions for the timely collection of evidence.
Regarding the protocol, Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro, President of the Chamber of Lawyers, who was also present at the Ministry of Justice, told Lusa that “all initiatives in defense of human rights are commendable” and that the detainee does not lose his rights because he is in this condition.
He stressed that the state “should guarantee the rights and physical integrity” of detainees at all levels.
“We know this is not happening. There are reports demonstrating this. What they are trying to do – and rightly so – is to create mandatory means of fixing violence. I hope the procedures are fully followed. This is not because I committed a crime that deprives a citizen of the right and in no case detained for attacking evidence, ”the president said.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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