The punishments for the crimes of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment will be toughened under amendments to relevant legislation approved by the Government, Info-Prim Neo reports. Justice Minister Oleg Efrim said imprisonment terms for torture will be increased from 3-8 years at present to 6-15 years and the prescriptive period for such crimes will be scrapped. At present this prescriptive period is 5 years, meaning that after five years the perpetrator cannot be brought before justice. The amendments also make it impossible to pardon people convicted on torture charges or replace their punishments with milder ones. Additionally, the amendments treble the ban from certain jobs, including public offices, for the people convicted of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, from 5 to 15 years. Minister Efrim said the amendments aim to harmonize the domestic criminal legislation with the UN Convention against Torture.