(ANSA)- Rome, July 19 - An Italian bill against torture
expected to be passed by the Senate soon is aimed at reinforcing
democracy and is not a measure drawn up against anyone in
particular, Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini said.
Earlier Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the law
needed to be revised to prevent misunderstandings in the
legitimate use of force by the police.
"This is a measure awaited for many years which reinforces
our democracy. There is no other way to interpret it, it is not
a measure against someone, but a guarantee for all," Boldrini
said, adding that Italy had signed the United Nations convention
against torture.
The issue has been on the agenda since April last year,
when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Italy
for police brutality in a July 2001 raid on anti-globalisation
protestors at the Genoa G8 summit.
The court condemned Italy not only for what happened to the
demonstrators during the infamous raid on the Diaz school, but
also because it said the country lacks appropriate legislation
to punish the crime of torture even though it ratified a UN
convention on torture in 1989.
Premier Matteo Renzi's government has pledged to fill this
vacuum.
The final vote on the torture bill was expected to take
place on Tuesday but a meeting of Senators from Renzi's
centre-left Democratic Party (PD) which also featured Justice
Minister Andrea Orlando decided to cause the vote to be
postponed.
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