The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) has released the statement of global solidarity against torture to be read on June 26th, The UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
STATEMENT FOR GLOBAL READING ON 26 JUNE 2008
Ladies and gentlemen,
For over a decade, the world has marked the 26 June as the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. On this day, thousands of individuals and organisations around the globe speak out against torture and insist that torture survivors’ needs and rights be fulfilled.
Among those who raise their voice on this day are the treatment centres and programmes affiliated with the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims – the IRCT. Today, on behalf of Survivors International, I am proud to read out this statement, which is being delivered by dozens of human rights defenders in many other countries across the world right now. It is a statement of global solidarity, to show that regardless of where we are, we raise a collective voice to say NO to torture. It is a statement in honour of those who have suffered under torture’s cruel hand; and a reminder to us all that no matter where we live or work, there are torture survivors among us. Daily they show extraordinary courage as they attempt to heal from the physical and mental wounds of their experience.
"Let’s erase torture" is the theme for the global 26 June campaign. With this theme, we’re calling upon policy-makers as well as the general public to act to eradicate torture, and to assist survivors toward erasing the scars of torture from their bodies and minds.
Rehabilitation services – such as medical care, counselling, legal aid and social support – are a way to heal those scars. Within the IRCT’s global membership of 139 treatment centres and programmes, each year more than a hundred thousand torture survivors and their families receive such services.
However, in spite of the vital services they provide, many of these centres struggle to find the resources to continue their work, and to extend their hand to those in need. But you can help by ensuring, in whatever capacity you are able, that they can keep their doors open. If you are a policymaker, you can help to prioritise rehabilitation services by passing legislation that supports survivors’ rights to treatment and redress. If you are a donor, you can financially support your local treatment centre or the IRCT. And as a citizen there are many ways you can offer your support - through donation of time, resources or money to your local centre or by speaking out about the importance of rehabilitation in your community.
Your efforts are important! Because sadly, torture is not a phenomenon that exists "somewhere else" – it is widespread in more than one hundred countries, and anyone can become its victim. The good news is that there are tools to help us wipe the slate clean and create societies without torture.
Among them is the United Nations Convention against Torture, which came into force on 26 June 1987. This convention commits the authorities in each and every country to actively prevent torture and to support survivors and their families when torture has taken place. Another key tool is the Convention’s Optional Protocol, which obliges its signatories to establish mechanisms for independent monitoring places of detention – one of the primary places where torture occurs. Important as they are, many states have not ratified these instruments, and among those who have, some continue to systematically practice torture and ill-treatment.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As concerned citizens we must call upon our governments to ratify and abide by these and other international conventions, which aim to protect men, women and children from the awesome power of the state. Speaking out against torture – breaking the silence – is a vital first step to bring perpetrators to justice and to honour survivor’s needs and rights.
Today, let us pay tribute to the dignity and strength of torture survivors everywhere. It is in their name that we issue the call "Let’s erase torture" – so that all of us can live in a world where the man-made disaster called torture is wiped away.
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