Editorial- No justification for torture, zero
tolerance for torture
The right to live free from torture
is enshrined in the Universal Declaration for Human Rights. The International
Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and Customary International
Law all explicitly and absolutely prohibit torture. Prohibition of torture also
extends to times of disturbances and other emergencies as well as to armed
conflict, whether international or non-international. Acts of torture and
ill-treatment can also amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity under
the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Many regional instruments
also prohibit torture including the Arab Charter for Human rights.
Despite the fact that the Convention
against Torture and the Arab Charter for Human Rights both obligate state
parties for instance, to ensure that all acts of torture are criminal offenses
under domestic law, relevant legislation in many Arab countries remain short of
conforming with the Convention against Torture. Out of the 76 states that have ratified the Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture, only 3 are from the Middles East and North Africa, namely Lebanon, Tunisia and Morocco, all of which have
not yet established, as required, a national preventive mechanism to visit and
monitor places of detention.
In the Middles East and North Africa,
many governments continue using systematic and wide scale torture, in the name
of security or in the guise of “fight against terrorism”, to
stifle political dissent and clamp down on freedom of expression and
association. In the absence of the political will and the rule of law, torture
in police custody, detention and prisons prosper. Serious investigations into allegations of torture remain scarce and short of
necessary response and follow-up, while "confessions"
extracted under torture find their way to courts. While governments have a
responsibility to protect the people under their jurisdiction, torture is a multi-faceted
tool used by governments in the region to serve multiple purposes, most of
which – despite usual claims- do not serve the protection of the people or
public security. Governments, national or foreign, are also supporting armed
groups which commit acts that can amount to torture in countries that sank into
armed conflict or use torture in their fight against them.
Failing in their
obligations to prevent human rights violations, torture for instance, and
punish perpetrators, ensure justice and redress for victims, governments fail to
the learn lessons from the Arab uprisings and fail to understand the root
causes of instability in this region. Of great resemblance to governments’
shortsighted vision of stability, is focusing on "state
security"
or "national
security"
at the expense of individual and human security, thus resulting in further
undermining of human rights and deterioration in the human rights situation.
Though domestic laws that prohibit
torture are crucial, they remain short of implementation in the absence of
prevention mechanisms and the persistence of a culture that justifies or tolerates
torture. The key to break this cycle and to stop one of the worst crimes known
to humanity is a radical change in attitudes: no justification for torture and zero
tolerance of torture. To achieve this, we have to stand together as youth
activists, human rights defenders, academics and teachers, students at
universities and schools, professionals, and all those who have the courage and
the will to promote and protect their rights and the rights of others
everywhere. We have to speak out and take action, to denounce torture, torturers,
governments who allow or facilitate torture or fail to protect the victims’
rights to justice and redress.
This issue of Mawared, which comes 6
months after launching Amnesty International ’Stop
Torture’
global campaign, aims at setting the international and regional legal framework
for the prohibition against torture; providing a regional snapshot on torture
in the Middle East and North Africa in addition to country specific ones; and highlighting
initiatives taken and recommendations brought forward by NGOs and human rights
defenders to bring an end to torture in the region. This issue also sheds light
on a wealth of relevant tools and resources.
Mazen Jaber
Human Rights Education Information
Officer and Editor
Regional Office for the Middle
East and North Africa
Amnesty International