January 2005
20th
anniversary of the UN Convention against Torture - a reminder to every
government
Statement
from the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) on the
UN Human Rights Day, 10 December 2004
This United Nations Human Rights Day, 10 December 2004, is the 20th anniversary
of the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. Today, the 20-year old Convention is as relevant as
ever.
Freedom and democracy can never be achieved through torture. Terrorism cannot be
eliminated through acts of torture. It must be a priority for the international
community, including for the United States as the only remaining superpower, to
stop torture in order to create a free and more democratic world.
Victims of torture must receive due support and rehabilitation. According to the
UN Convention against Torture, each State Party shall ensure in its legal system
that a victim of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair
and adequate compensation including the means for as full rehabilitation as
possible.
If the suffering of the victims and survivors is given full exposure during
court hearing of, and subsequent justice for, the perpetrators, torture
survivors from across the world will feel vindicated and feel that justice has
been done. Justice also heals.
Due attention must be paid to those hundreds and thousands of people whose
voices have been brutally opressed through systematic infliction of torture and
rape during Saddam Hussein's regime. This also applies to all other victims of
torture in the world, including prisoners from the Guantanamo base.
It is an embarrassment that new instances of torture continue to emerge, not
only in poor countries or in countries with a democratic deficit, but also in
countries under jurisdiction of governments that have been labelled as defenders
of freedom and democracy.
Torture is prohibited, and there are no exceptions to this prohibition. The
Convention against Torture is clear: each State Party shall take effective
legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of
torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. No exceptional circumstances
whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political
instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of
torture. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be
invoked as a justification of torture.
Impunity must end and all torturers must be prosecuted and sentenced to
appropriate penalties. This goes for Saddam Hussein and his followers, as well
as for other heads of states and their followers instructed to use torture
methods for interrogation or other purposes.
The Convention says, "each State Party shall ensure that all acts of
torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt
to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or
participation in torture", and "each State Party shall make these
offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave
nature."
There is a clear obligation to investigate alleged torture. Alleged torturers
MUST be brought before a court, regardless of the nationality of the alleged
torturer, the nationality of the victim, and regardless of which country the
alleged torture has been perpetrated in.
The UN Convention is universal and it is valid at all times. Justice for the
crimes can be addressed if the world listens to the voices of the torture
victims, the survivors and their families. The medical, psychosocial and
political aspects of their victimisation must be
addressed. To get rehabilitation and redress is their right.
Dr Bhogendra Sharma, President
Brita Sydhoff, Secretary-General
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
Borgergade 13 • P.O. Box 9049 • DK-1022 Copenhagen K
• Denmark