Torture law aims to reinforce democracy

(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.