English  |  Français  |  Español
 
OMCT LogoOMCT logo
Make a donationRSSOMCT on FacebookOMCT on TwitterOMCT BlogHomeAbout OMCTActivitiesCATOMCT NetworkOMCT EuropeContactsMake a donation
  • Urgent campaigns
  • Assistance to victims
  • Human rights defenders
  • ESCR
  • Rights of the child
  • Violence against women
  • Monitoring protection mechanisms
 Save as PDF Print version
Urgent campaigns / Statements / 2014 / June

26 June 2014: Global anti-torture coalition: Torture victims need to be given their rights with real remedies

PR_OMCT_26 June 2014: Global anti-torture coalition: Torture victims need to be given their rights with real remedies
2 pages / 628 KB

Geneva, 26th of June 2014. On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the leading global civil society coalition against torture, calls on States to put their legal obligation under the UN Convention Against Torture into practice.

The UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is reminding us year after year of the same sad story. Despite the universal consensus under international law persons from all strands of society and in all regions of the world continue to suffer from torture and other forms of cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment. Torture occurs in different contexts, national security or counter-terrorism, the quelling of political and social dissent or towards ordinary criminal suspects often to extract information.  Whatever its context and whoever it may affect the bottom-line is that any victim has a right to justice and reparations. There is no room for distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ or ‘guilty’ or ’ innocent’ victims.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment setting out this very fundamental consensus.

“After thirty years, it is time to make this absolute prohibition a reality. At its heart should be a see change that victims have rights. Those who are acting criminal in the name of the state must no more count on leniency,” said Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the OMCT. “We have to come to realise that a crime committed in the name of the state makes it not more tolerable but far worse”.

The OMCT recalls that implementing the UN Convention is not an abstract duty. It starts with making sure that victims are protected and have real remedies to obtain justice and reparation.

“A right without effective remedy in practice is deprived of its meaning,” he added on the occasion of the June 26 commemoration in which he called for additional efforts to establish independent investigation mechanisms against torture.

“A central element of an effective system of remedies is for states to recognize the competence of the UN Committee Against Torture to receive complaints from individuals who have been subject to torture”. OMCT calls on all States parties to recognise the competence of the UN Committee against torture to allow individual cases to be submitted under the article 22 of the Convention. The Day for Victims of Torture is an opportunity for states to accept the competence of the Committee to examine individual cases, and to show willingness to tackle impunity. It creates the needed venue for justice and redress that is critical when remedies at the domestic level are inexistent or ineffective, or when there is a general climate of impunity.

In order to raise awareness and mobilise public opinion all over the world against such practices, members of the SOS-Torture Network organise specific activities on the 26th that will be published on OMCT’s website. Several events are carried out in Bangladesh, Colombia, Ivory Cost, Mexico, Pakistan and Togo targeting public support for reforms implementing the UN Convention Against Torture.

Finally, OMCT and members of the SOS-Torture Network strongly reaffirm, on this day dedicated to the victims of torture and ill-treatment, that respect for the fundamental human dignity entailed in any human being means, that nothing less than ‘nothing can justify torture under any circumstances’.
 

For further information, please contact:

Marina Gente, mg@omct.org, +41 (0)22 809 49 39


The activities carried out on the occasion of the 26th of June – International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – have been conducted thanks to the financial support of the European Commission to the OMCT’s project "Towards implementation and accountability". The aim of this project is the implementation of the UN Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by the States parties.

Properties

Date: June 26, 2014
Activity: Assistance to victims, Urgent campaigns
Type: Statements
Subjects: Torture and violence

Share this

Tweet

Related articles

  • OMCT Newsletter - June 2014 International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
    Statements / July 7, 2014
  • Colombia:  26 de Junio de 2014: En Colombia la Tortura existe y tiene muchos nombres
    Statements / June 26, 2014
  • Mexico:  26 de junio de 2014: La tortura en México sigue siendo una constante y las víctimas merecen justicia
    Statements / June 26, 2014
  • Togo:  26 juin 2014: le CACIT, l’ACAT-Togo et l’OMCT appellent le Togo à criminaliser la torture, lutter contre l’impunité et protéger les victimes de torture
    Statements / June 26, 2014
  • Côte d'Ivoire:  26 juin 2014: Les victimes de torture doivent obtenir justice et réparation
    Statements / June 26, 2014
  • Bangladesh:  26 June 2014: Bangladesh: UN Day for victims of torture - an urgent call to end impunity
    Statements / June 26, 2014
  • Pakistan:  26 June 2014: Pakistan: Time for real efforts to eradicate torture and implement the Convention Against Torture
    Statements / June 26, 2014

Languages

This page is available in:

English


You can also translate it on the fly:

Recently Viewed Articles

OMCT International Secretariat
PO Box 21, 8, rue du Vieux-Billard, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 809 4939
Fax: + 41 22 809 4929
E-mail:
OMCT Europe
Rue Franklin 111
1000 Brussels
Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
E-mail:
OMCT TUNIS
3, Rue Hassen Ibn Nooman
Cité Jardins | Tunis 1002
Tel: +216 71 791 114
Fax: +216 71 791 115
E-mail:
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Rss
  • Privacy Policy