26 June - International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is annually observed on June 26 to remind people that human torture is not only unacceptable – it is also a crime. 

What do people do?

Rehabilitation centers and human rights organizations around the world celebrate the UN’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on June 26 each year. The day serves as a reminder to people that torture is a crime. This event gives everyone a chance to unite and voice their opinions against human torture.

Organizations, including the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims and Amnesty International, have played an active role in organizing events around the world to promote the day. Activities may include: photo exhibitions; the distribution of posters and other material to boost people’s awareness of issues related to human torture; and television advertisements.

Public life

The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is not a public holiday and public life is not affected.

Background

On June 26, 1987, the Convention against Torture came into force. It was an important step in the process of globalizing human rights and acknowledging that torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment should be universally illegal. In 1997 the United Nations General Assembly decided to mark this historic date and designated June 26 each year as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

The first International Day in Support of Victims of Torture was held on June 26, 1998. It was a day when the United Nations appealed to all governments and members of civil society to take action to defeat torture and torturers everywhere. That same year marked the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

Symbols

The United Nations’ logo is often associated with marketing and promotional material for this event. It features a projection of a world map (less Antarctica) centered on the North Pole, enclosed by olive branches. The olive branches are a symbol for peace, and the world map represents all the people of the world. The logo appears in colors such as black on a white or light yellow background.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

Sixty years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt and the U.S. government worked doggedly to create the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mrs. Roosevelt knew many successes in her long years of public service, yet she regarded the writing and passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as her greatest accomplishment. She envisioned it as an international Magna Carta and Bill of Rights for people everywhere. She worked so hard (and drove others hard as well) that one delegate charged that the length of the drafting committee meetings violated his own human rights.

What would Mrs. Roosevelt make of the current U.S. debate over the use of torture in the war on terrorism as we saw that American Soldiers are doing in the warS? Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits torture, unequivocally stating, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” So serious was this basic human right that the drafters placed it at the very beginning of the document, right after the articles stating that all human beings are free and equal and enjoy “the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Articles 6 to 11 guaranteed a person’s legal rights, including freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention, a right to an impartial trial and a presumption of innocence; these were the “easy” articles from the U.S. perspective.

EU member states responsibility
 
The absolute ban on torture and ill-treatment is reflected in Article 4 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the EU, which states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” and Article 3 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms with an identical wording.

As Members of the Council of Europe, EU Member States have all ratified the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture which provides for visits to places of detention by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). The EU actively supports the valuable work of the Council of Europe in this area – inter alia through granting full access by the CPT to all places of detention and fully complying with its recommendations.

Member States are legally obliged under the EC Directive laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers (article 20) to ensure that torture survivors receive necessary treatment. As a result of a recent EU-wide survey, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) has concluded that only a minority of member states comply with their obligations by providing sufficient funding to national rehabilitation centres and through their development aid. IRCT has also denounced the insufficient contribution by member states to the UN Voluntary Fund for Torture Victims (UNVFT), which represents the second main source of funding for centres around the world after the EIDHR.

Torture victims in the EU
 
In spite of an absolute ban on torture and ill-treatment, enshrined in the International Bill of Rights and in the UN Convention against Torture, the practice of torture and other forms of ill-treatment remains widespread. According to Amnesty International, 102 countries had cases of torture and ill-treatment by security forces, police and other state authorities in 2006.

IRCT evaluates the number of torture survivors in the EU at roughly 400.000, the vast majority of which are refugees. IRCT considers that only 16.000 of these individuals receive medical, psychological and social support on an annual basis. It is also estimated that around 20% of asylum seekers in the EU have been subjected to some form of violence or torture.