Communiqué de presse: Journée internationale pour le soutien aux victimes de la torture - L’interdiction absolue de la torture et des mauvais traitements doit devenir une réalité

On the 15th of June 2011, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights dedicated a public hearing to the OMCT to markthe International Day inSupport of Victims of Torture that will take place on the 26th of June,during which Mr. Eric Sottas, OMCT Secretary General, and Ms. Hina Jilani, FormerSpecial Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on the Situationof Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer and founding member of the HumanRights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), were invited to speak.

«More than 20 years after theentry into force of the Convention against Torture, an increasing number ofgovernments are allowing the practice of torture to spread, and public opinionappears to tolerate the practice», recalled Ms. Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, FI), Chairperson of theSubcommittee on Human Rights, at the opening of the hearing.

«During thefirst decade of this century, we have witnessed a change in discourse withindemocracies in relation to the use of torture and particularly ofill-treatment», stressed Mr. Eric Sottas.

Serious human rights violations, including torture andill-treatment, have been and are still today perpetrated with almost totalimpunity, within the framework of the « war against terrorism » and/or in thename of national security.

Moreover, toooften, public opinions, who are supposed to ensure greater respect for humanrights, have allowed themselves to be persuaded to tolerate practicestantamount to torture and ill-treatment.

«It is urgent tomobilise all political stakeholders, as well as judges and the public opinion,to avoid that the drifts that were observed undermine the principles andsafeguards entailed in the UN Conventionagainst Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,and in other related international instruments», recalled Mr. Eric Sottas during the hearing.

In the opinion of Ms. Hina Jilani, another alarming trend isthe military response to terrorism - through practices such as incommunicadoand secret detention, or forced disappearances, which are potentially allowingtorture insofar as they cannot be denounced or proven. This militarisation andthe expanded role of intelligence services in countering terrorism have lead to«parallelsystems of justice, with very limited judicial and civil scrutiny», said Ms.Jilani.

Moreover, according to Ms. Jilani, in most countries"there is no legal basis for the transfer to secret services of power tointerrogate and detain", which defacto guarantee the immunity of the perpetrators, who cannot be easilyidentified or hold legally accountable for secret acts.

Regarding secret services, Mr. Eric Sottas replied: «We need toensure an effective control on intelligence services. Clear standards need tobe established and internationally adopted in order to regulate the obligationsof the security services, particularly regarding the use of information. It isnot enough to prohibit the use of information that are known to have beenpossibly obtained under torture. It is also fundamental to ensure that eachintelligence service investigates on sources who are providing information tothem and in making sure that these information have not been obtained undertorture.»

It is in thisperspective that the OMCT has decided to launch a Campaign for the AbsoluteProhibition of Torture and Ill-treatment, notably through the Manifestoentitled “Nothing can justify torture under any circumstances”, which has already been signed by more than 2,000signatories, including ten laureates of the Nobel Prize. In order to raiseawareness and mobilise public opinions all over the world against suchpractices, members of the SOS-Torture Network will organise specific activitieson the 26th of June that will be published on OMCT’s website.

Indeed, the 26thof June should not only serve to remind States of their obligations to respectand guarantee the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, but italso should remind the public at large to mobilise in order to denounce suchpractices.

Finally, on this daydedicated to the victims of torture and ill-treatment, OMCT also wishes torecall that, too often, the victims fail to obtain justice and reparation. Yet,both are instrumental in the restoration of victims’ dignity.

For further information, please contact:

Eric Sottas, Secretary General, Tel. +41 22 809 49 39

Gerald Staberock, Deputy Secretary General, Tel. +41(0) 79 377 54 46

For furtherinformation on OMCT’s Campaign:

“Nothing can justify torture under anycircumstances”

www.omct.org/international-campaigns/campaign-prohibition-torture/manifesto/

page of OMCT about the June 26th