UN international day supporting victims of torture

Amnesty International (Malta Group) yesterday held an event to mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

An information stand was set up on the Sliema promenade and signatures were collected towards the release of alleged victims of torture in Congo, Uzbekistan and Sudan.

The petitions also call for the competent authorities to carry out full investigations into the incidents as well as, in some cases, compensation for the victims.

Twenty years ago, the UN adopted the Convention against Torture - an important move towards stamping out torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Maltese government is one of the first in Europe to have already signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

This Protocol, adopted in 2002, aims to take concrete steps to prevent torture in police stations, prisons and other places where people are deprived of their liberty.

Any states ratifying the Optional Protocol commit themselves to allowing regular and unannounced inspections of places of detention by international monitors.

They also commit themselves to setting up independent national bodies to carry out inspections within their territory.

Torture always thrives where it cannot be seen. "When the torturers can't hide, torture stops." Amnesty International (AI) believes that the signing of the Optional Protocol by governments worldwide would significantly reduce instances of torture.

Please go to http://web.amnesty.org/pages/stoptorture-join-eng to support AI's cause. For more information on torture and other human rights issues please contact info@ aimalta.org.