Ilaria Cucchi, a member of the
opposition Italian Left-Green Alliance who lost her brother to
police brutality in 2009, on Friday appealed to President Sergio
Mattarella to not sign into law a bill presented by the ruling
rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party that would eliminate the
crime of torture from the Italian penal code.
Senator Cucchi, who was elected to parliament for the first time
in September and whose surveyor brother Stefano died after a
police beating upon being picked on a minor drugs charge, cited
the suspension of 23 Biella Prison officers for 'torturing'
three inmates Thursday as the latest episode militating in
favour of keeping the crime on the books.
"In the very same hours," she said, "we learn of the assignment
to the Lower House justice committee of a bill by Fdi that wants
to repeal torture.
"This is a very serious fact. To claim that torture does not
exist in Italy is a lie. Pretending nothing (is happening) and
looking the other way is already a violation of human rights and
I know this because I have experienced it first-hand.
"More than one judge, before the introduction of this law, found
themselves unable to proceed because the law did not exist.
"We fought for its introduction and now I make an appeal to all
political forces, especially to the President of the Republic:
hands off the law that punishes torture.
"Those who are afraid of the crime of torture legitimise
torture.
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