26 June is not just a day to remember the victims of torture, but to call for a firm commitment to protect them and to prevent new violations.
Since its creation in 1945, the United Nations has worked to eradicate torture. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its Article 5, proclaims that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".
On 10 December 1984, the UN General Assembly (Resolution 39/46) adopted the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). This Convention, which entered into force on 26 June 1987, obliges States to make torture a crime and to prosecute and punish those guilty of it. It notes explicitly that neither higher orders nor exceptional circumstances can justify torture.
It was an important step to acknowledge that torture, and all forms of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, are absolutely and universally illegal. Proposed by Denmark, the UN General Assembly in December 1997 marked the historic date - 26 June - as International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The CAT interprets torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions." (Article 1)
Torture may include:
systematic beatings, being deprived of sleep for several days, being subjected to electric shock, being submerged head first in foul water, being confined to mental hospital on other than medical grounds, being given sophisticated drugs, starvation, exposure to extreme temperatures, electric shock treatment, live burials ...
Victims of torture are often caught up in government suppression of dissent, they are not charged with any criminal offence and they may be the wives or young children of suspects. They suffer, physically and mentally, long after release.
Effects of torture may include:
serious injury and/or paralyses, destroyed minds, emotional scars, death, disappearance - a terrible form of torture for those left behind ...
Torture is not just an expression of sadism, practiced by those who deal with prisoners. It becomes an institution, part of the system, authorised by governments, connived by officials at every level, and accepted as a "necessary evil".
History of Torture [Torture Survivors Network]
Past
Torture has been with us since the beginning of human history because somewhere, buried deep, the seeds are planted in all of us. We still are unclear about all that causes those seeds to flourish, but we do know what excuses are used to justify it and how people go about institutionalizing it.
Religious fervor, incredibly, was the root and justification for torture during the days of the Crusades and the Inquisition. But were they simply a rationalized excuse for individuals to maintain power? Christians encompass the reality of the crucifixion of Jesus in religious practice, but rarely put it into the context of "torture" which continues in many forms in our modern world.
Desirable land throughout time has been the instigator of wars which inevitably encompass evil - in widespread orgies of torture in all of its forms. Again, it was individuals who desired the land. Wanting and desiring anything to an excess, we call "greed."
Another familiar expression of contemporary times is "power-hungry." Greed and power are the hallmarks to seek when looking for the roots of the evil we call torture. They are the constant throughout history and including modern times.
Words such as "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide" are not causes, they are secondary, masking the deeper narcissistic urge for power. For this reason it is always best to look deeper than philosophic, political, or pragmatic rationalizations for the use of torture, or even war. There will always be a few individuals at the heart of the effort who are greedy and are seeking power.
Present
In modern "civilized" times, there are at least 123 countries which utilize torture as a means of controlling its citizens. This figure includes industrial as well as "third-world" nations. It is about the need to control and the necessity of using force to establish control - always ultimately, by a few individuals.
One of the most efficient means of control is to terrorize a society into passivity and submission. The way to exert that control is by torture. The public exposure of the results of that torture - the destruction of the physical, psychological, and/or mental capacities of a community leader - will strike terror in the hearts of his or her community. How many strong and freedom-loving people will speak out against evil if their child has been kidnapped or rape or maimed, then returned as an omnipresent warning? There are hundreds in one of our neighboring countries and it continues as this is being written.
In the Asia Pacific
The CAT remains the least ratified of the six international human rights treaties with only 128 states parties in May 2002. Those in Asia who have not yet signed are Bhutan, Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
[Diplomacy Training Program] In the Asia Pacific, torture is a widespread practice that exists in all its regional groupings:
South Asia - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka East Asia - Peoples Republic of China, Japan, North Korea South East Asia - Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines
Torture in police custody is common throughout the region - inflicted on both criminal suspects and political dissidents. People have died as a result of torture in several Asia Pacific countries including India, Burma and China.
Many of the region's governments have failed to take the most basic steps to prevent torture or investigate complaints. Corruption, official acquiescence and a lack of adequate human rights training for law-enforcement officials, means that in many countries torture has become routine practice.
In many Asia-Pacific countries there is a clear link between discrimination and torture - those at most risk are the poorest and most marginalised groups in society. They may be ethnic minority groups who face discrimination in society at large, drug users and petty criminals, street children and women. Women in South Asia are particular vulnerable to torture by private individuals. Governments continue to fail to investigate patterns of torture including rape in custody, acid attacks and dowry-related murders.
In areas of conflict, including in Sri Lanka, India and Solomon Islands, whole populations are often at risk of torture from both state agents and armed opposition groups.
A climate of impunity runs across the region and affects almost all countries. From South Asia across to the Pacific, torturers act without fear of prosecution. Impunity is fuelled by official complacence, lack of judicial independence and shortcomings in criminal justice systems.
[International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims]
Has your government ratified the UN Convention against Torture?
All organizations participating in this year's 26 June campaign are encouraged to take up the Ratification Campaign as part of, or in addition to, the activities you are planning.
The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is one of the most important international human rights instruments in the work against torture.
When a UN Member State has become a State Party to the Convention, the government of that country is accountable under international law to take action to prevent torture and to support the victims when torture takes place. Under the Convention, governments have accepted:
The absolute prohibition of torture
The responsibility to indict and punish perpetrators
The responsibility for ensuring the right to reparation, including rehabilitation, for torture victims
The responsibility to train and educate persons at risk of committing torture.
The UN Convention also provides for the establishment of an independent, international body, the Committee against Torture, which is responsible for monitoring and promoting implementation of the Convention, as well as receiving, considering, and investigating allegations of torture, through the co-operation of State Parties.
The global ratification and implementation of the UN Convention against Torture is critical in working towards a world without torture.
The Campaign for Global Ratification
You can make a difference!
In 2002, the IRCT is coordinating a campaign for the global ratification of the UN Convention against Torture. This is an important part of the activities being conducted worldwide to commemorate the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The ratification campaign is conducted on behalf of the Coalition of International NGOs Against Torture (CINAT). CINAT members include Amnesty International (AI), the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), the International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FiACAT), the Redress Trust, the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), and the IRCT.
To date, 128 states have ratified the Convention. Our goals are:
to target those 65 countries which have not yet ratified the Convention
to call upon all states to fully comply with their responsibilities under the Convention, including those State Parties that have not yet recognized the competence of the UN Committee against Torture to consider complaints from victims of torture.
We can make a difference!
The work against torture requires the active support and contribution of all. It starts with governments, which have the primary responsibility for, and capacity to, prevent torture and to provide redress for victims of torture. It is for this reason that the IRCT and the other members of CINAT place such emphasis on the importance of the Convention itself.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, launched the global ratification campaign in New York on 26 June 2001. Since then, 16 countries have responded formally to the campaign to date, four of which (Nigeria, Lesotho, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Mongolia) ratified the Convention during 2001.
Several other countries (including Germany, the Seychelles, and Mexico) have made, or are in the process of making, declarations under article 22 of the Convention, recognizing the competence of the Committee against Torture to receive and consider individual communications from persons alleging violations of the Convention.
While the focus of the campaign last year was primarily on letter-writing, the aim this year is to pursue the campaign at a national level, including, wherever possible, approaches to the key people within the government and administration of each country.
You can participate
You can participate in this campaign by encouraging your government to ratify and implement the Convention against Torture in national legislation. 2002 marks the 15th anniversary of the Convention's entry into force. Now is the time to take up the campaign in order to achieve our goal – the universal ratification of the Convention by all 190 UN Member States.
What You Can Do?
Letter-writing
You can write to your government calling for the ratification of the Convention without reservations. If your country has already ratified the Convention but has not declared the Committee competent to receive individual communications from victims of torture, you should urge your government to consider doing so now. Please visit the IRCT website (www.irct.org) where you can read the letters which have already been sent to your government. You can use these letters as a basis for your own.
You can also ask your government to make a public statement on 26 June to commit its support to the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention against Torture!
To find out if your government has ratified the Convention, please see the fact sheet on the ratification status, which is included in the 26 June press kit. You may also visit the UNHCHR homepage (http://www.unhchr.ch/) to see whether or not your government recognizes the individual communications procedure.
Lobbying
You can make a direct approach to contacts within your government or within the country's administration. It is good to emphasize the fact that ratification of the Convention is an important step towards the effective prevention of torture at the national level. Ratification sends a very positive signal to the rest of the international community that a country is committed to taking action against torture.
Media
You can write a letter to the editor of your local or national newspaper, expressing your concern that your government has not ratified the Convention against Torture or does not accept the competence of the Committee. Voice your support for the implementation of the Convention in national legislation, if your country has not yet done so, and for the government to support training and education programmes for police and prison officers, and initiatives aimed at addressing the needs of victims of torture and their families.
Joint NGO activities
Consider joining forces with other national NGOs. The IRCT is leading the ratification campaign on behalf of the members of the Coalition of International NGOs against Torture (CINAT). Several CINAT members; Amnesty International, and the World Organisation against Torture, have their own networks of affiliated organizations. Amnesty International is also undertaking an ongoing international campaign for the ratification of core human rights treaties, of which the UN Convention against Torture is one. Link up with like-minded organizations to maximize the impact of your lobbying efforts.
Put torture on the public agenda
Consider creating a discussion forum with participation of national NGOs and other civil society groups (e.g. bar associations, universities, religious organizations), with a view to creating public support for the ratification and ongoing implementation of the Convention.
