By George Murumba

25^th Oct 2010

The Chairperson of the UN committee of experts against torture on 20^th October urged States to recommit themselves to the values of the global treaty that prohibits torture.

Mr. Claudio Grossman stressed that torture cannot be justified under any circumstances and has to be eradicated.  “…The Convention embodies very important values of humanity.  Confessions extracted by torture cannot be used in judicial proceedings”, Mr. Grossman said.

The UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the General Assembly in 1984 and has so far been ratified by 147 States.

“…Twenty six years after the adoption by UN Member States of the Convention Against Torture, we have not yet achieved our shared objective to eradicate torture and inhuman treatment”, said Mr. Grossman.

The absolute prohibition of torture, he added, was “a non-derogable” obligation under the Convention.  That, he said, means that under no circumstances whatsoever can torture be justified.  He called upon all UN Member States to say “no to torture; no to torture during emergency situations; no to torture by any means.”

The Convention provides that “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

It also obliges States that have ratified the Convention to refrain from deporting or returning people to countries where they would face the risk of torture, and requires ratifying States to extradite or prosecute perpetrators of torture.

Under the Convention, victims of the scourge have the right to redress, including compensation.  END.  If it’s Monday, it’s Uganda Correspondent.  Never miss out again!