UN: torturers must never get
away with their crimes
International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture, June 26
On UN International Day in Support of the Victims of
Torture, Friday, the UN chief is urging all to speak out against torture, an
outrage against human dignity.
By Vatican News
The United Nations is urging people to speak out against
torture, saying it is an “abhorrent denial of human dignity."
“Torturers must never be allowed to get away with their
crimes, and systems that enable torture should be dismantled or transformed,”
urged United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
Abhorrent denial of human dignity
In a message for UN International Day in Support of the
Victims of Torture, Friday, he lamented that “torture continues in many
countries, even those where it is criminalized." “Torture is an egregious
abuse of human rights,” he said, adding, “International law unequivocally
prohibits torture in all instances.”
In a resolution in December 1997, the UN General Assembly
proclaimed 26 June as International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
On this day, Guterres said, “human rights defenders and
survivors of torture around the world take the opportunity to speak out against
this abhorrent denial of human dignity and they act to remember and support its
victims."
“Torture,” he pointed out, “diminishes everyone and
everything that it touches, including torturers and the systems and States
where it occurs.” Hence, he said, “torturers must never be allowed to get
away with their crimes, and systems that enable torture should be dismantled or
transformed."
Support for victims, survivors
The UN Secretary-General called for the empowerment of
victims, survivors and their families, and to help them obtain “justice for
their ordeal." In this regard, he urged support for and replenishment of
the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
The Fund assists victims of torture and their families by
awarding hundreds of grants to civil society organizations worldwide for
medical, psychological, legal, social and other assistance.
It contributes to the rehabilitation, reparation,
empowerment and access to remedies for nearly 50,000 torture survivors each
year.
Covid-10 and torture
In a separate statement, four UN anti-torture entities have
warned that current Covid-19 pandemic is leading to an escalation of torture
and ill-treatment worldwide, and torture survivors are especially in danger of
getting infected by the lethal virus due to their vulnerable situation.
The statement on the occasion of the June 26 observance
noted that people subject to the risk of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
behind bars and in other confined spaces, are now facing a new threat.
As of mid-June 2020, the group of four said, more than
78,000 prisoners have contracted COVID-19 in 79 countries, and at least 1,100
have died of this new virus throughout prisons in 35 countries.
Eliminating torture
From the outset, the UN has condemned torture as one of the
vilest acts perpetrated by human beings on their fellow human beings.
Torture seeks to annihilate a victim’s personality and denies a human
being of his or her inherent dignity.
The International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture
provides an opportunity to everyone, everywhere, to unite in support of the
hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have been tortured and
those who are still being abused today.
“Let us honour the victims of torture and commit to work to
achieve a world where such abuse cannot happen,” the UN chief
urged.
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