By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Jun 27 2003 (IPS)

A new manual aimed at preventing torture offers simple techniques and presents case studies showing successful actions that have been taken in several countries to combat the problem, which is found across the globe.

A new manual aimed at preventing torture offers simple techniques and presents case studies showing successful actions that have been taken in several countries to combat the problem, which is found across the globe.

The over 300-page report released Thursday by the London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International describes intentional acts that inflict physical or mental pain and suffering on others, for the purpose of extracting information or confessions, or inflicting punishment.

Although torture exists worldwide, as demonstrated by the specific cases documented last year by Amnesty in 106 countries, steps can be taken to combat the phenomenon, according to the new manual.

While torture is a generalised practice used by the police in Albania, for example, certain measures adopted in recent years have begun to bear fruit, says ”Combating Torture: A Manual for Action”.

For instance, police and prison personnel have taken human rights courses given by non-governmental organisations in conjunction with Albania’s Ministry of Public Order and the Danish Centre for Human Rights.

In addition, hot-lines were set up for torture victims to seek legal advice.

The post of ombudsman was created in Albania in 2000, and his recommendations led to administrative investigations the following year and to at least three criminal prosecutions of police officers.

In 2001, Albania’s Ministry of Public Order published full-page ads in the local press informing the public of the constitutional clauses that prohibit ill-treatment and torture, and set up a special telephone line to receive complaints and denunciations.

It is worrying that in the 21st century, ”not all countries are taking steps to eradicate all forms of state sponsored torture,” Amnesty spokeswoman Judit Arenas said at the organisation’s London headquarters on Thursday, International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture.

From 1997 to mid-2000, Amnesty received reports of torture or ill-treatment in more than 150 countries, including deaths caused by torture in over 80 countries, said Eric Prokosch, one of the rights group’s experts on the question.

Political prisoners were among the victims of torture in over 70 countries during that period, and common criminals and suspects were the victims of such abuses in more than 130 countries.

Prokosch clarified that all of the cases studied involved abuses committed by security forces, police or other state authorities. The report did not focus on acts of torture committed by armed political groups or private individuals.

The cases documented underscore Amnesty’s conviction that ”the campaign and fight to eradicate all forms of torture is as vital as ever,” said Arenas.

The manual, designed as a tool for ”all those who want to understand and fight against torture in the 21st century,” refers to international standards and lists international institutions that are fighting to prevent torture and ill-treatment.

Algerian human rights lawyer Rachid Mesli, a former torture victim, agreed with the need to disseminate such information to counter what he called ”the banalisation of human rights violations and torture.”

Rachid said that all of the 600 inmates in the prison located 100 kms east of Algiers where he served part of a lengthy sentence on terrorism charges had suffered torture and ill-treatment.

However, three or four of the detainees denied that they had been tortured, Rachid said, to illustrate the ”banalisation” of such abuses. ”We were only beaten,” they told other prisoners.

Rachid, who now lives in exile in Switzerland, expressed concern that as time goes by, many lawyers in Algeria have gradually lost their sense of the magnitude of such human rights violations.

For example, he said there are attorneys in Algeria who have never even read the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in December 1984 by the United Nations General Assembly.

The manual launched Thursday by Amnesty states that ”much of the torture and ill-treatment recorded by human rights organisations is inflicted on people who have been taken into custody by agents of the state.”

For that reason, one of the main chapters focuses on providing information necessary for protecting potential victims and for reducing the opportunities for state agents to commit torture.

Prokosch cited the case of the northern Sri Lankan district of Vavuniya, where for years torture was a frequent practice in the anti-subversion police unit.

But when they appeared before the judge, the detainees did not report what was happening, because they knew they would be returning to the jail, and could not risk reprisals.

However, in early 2000, a new judge started to demand that the prisoners remove their shirts and pull their pants legs or sarongs (traditional dress) up above their knees, and thus began to verify the abuse.

Once the simple new technique was introduced, reports of torture committed by that police unit plunged, said Prokosch.

The manual refers to the situation of detaineees belonging to especially vulnerable groups like women, children, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, asylum-seekers and immigrants.

Amnesty also reported that it had received denunciations of ”cruel, inhuman or degrading conditions of detention in 90 countries,” and had found that ”such conditions were widespread in over 50 countries.”

In addition, the report refers to mistreatment that occurs in institutions for the mentally ill and the mentally and physically disabled.

Referring to corporal punishment in schools, Amnesty states that some students have been left permanently disabled and have even died in Kenya after being beaten with a cane, for which few teachers are ever prosecuted.

Ill-treatment also occurs in orphanages and the armed forces, says the manual, which adds that the misuse of non-lethal weapons by the police is another form of torture.

The Amnesty report concludes that torture persists and continues to take on new forms, and that eradicating it is mainly a question of political will.

Excerpt:

By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Jun 26 2003 (IPS)

A new manual aimed at preventing torture offers simple techniques and presents case studies showing successful actions that have been taken in several countries to combat the problem, which is found across the globe.

The over 300-page report released Thursday by the London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International describes intentional acts that inflict physical or mental pain and suffering on others, for the purpose of extracting information or confessions, or inflicting punishment.

Although torture exists worldwide, as demonstrated by the specific cases documented last year by Amnesty in 106 countries, steps can be taken to combat the phenomenon, according to the new manual.

While torture is a generalised practice used by the police in Albania, for example, certain measures adopted in recent years have begun to bear fruit, says ”Combating Torture: A Manual for Action”.

For instance, police and prison personnel have taken human rights courses given by non-governmental organisations in conjunction with Albania’s Ministry of Public Order and the Danish Centre for Human Rights.

Activists also visited police posts, detention centres and prisons to talk with detainees and check on the conditions in which they were being held.

The post of ombudsman was created in Albania in 2000, and his recommendations led to administrative investigations the following year and to at least three criminal prosecutions of police officers.

In 2001, Albania’s Ministry of Public Order published full-page ads in the local press informing the public of the constitutional clauses that prohibit ill-treatment and torture, and set up a special telephone line to receive complaints and denunciations.

It is worrying that in the 21st century, ”not all countries are taking steps to eradicate all forms of state sponsored torture,” Amnesty spokeswoman Judit Arenas said at the organisation’s London headquarters on Thursday, International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture.

From 1997 to mid-2000, Amnesty received reports of torture or ill-treatment in more than 150 countries, including deaths caused by torture in over 80 countries, said Eric Prokosch, one of the rights group’s experts on the question.

Political prisoners were among the victims of torture in over 70 countries during that period, and common criminals and suspects were the victims of such abuses in more than 130 countries.

Prokosch clarified that all of the cases studied involved abuses committed by security forces, police or other state authorities. The report did not focus on acts of torture committed by armed political groups or private individuals.

The cases documented underscore Amnesty’s conviction that ”the campaign and fight to eradicate all forms of torture is as vital as ever,” said Arenas.

The manual, designed as a tool for ”all those who want to understand and fight against torture in the 21st century,” refers to international standards and lists international institutions that are fighting to prevent torture and ill-treatment.

Algerian human rights lawyer Rachid Mesli, a former torture victim, agreed with the need to disseminate such information to counter what he called ”the banalisation of human rights violations and torture.”

Rachid said that all of the 600 inmates in the prison located 100 kms east of Algiers where he served part of a lengthy sentence on terrorism charges had suffered torture and ill-treatment.

However, three or four of the detainees denied that they had been tortured, Rachid said, to illustrate the ”banalisation” of such abuses. ”We were only beaten,” they told other prisoners.

Rachid, who now lives in exile in Switzerland, expressed concern that as time goes by, many lawyers in Algeria have gradually lost their sense of the magnitude of such human rights violations.

For example, he said there are attorneys in Algeria who have never even read the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in December 1984 by the United Nations General Assembly.

The manual launched Thursday by Amnesty states that ”much of the torture and ill-treatment recorded by human rights organisations is inflicted on people who have been taken into custody by agents of the state.”

For that reason, one of the main chapters focuses on providing information necessary for protecting potential victims and for reducing the opportunities for state agents to commit torture.

Prokosch cited the case of the northern Sri Lankan district of Vavuniya, where for years torture was a frequent practice in the anti-subversion police unit.

But when they appeared before the judge, the detainees did not report what was happening, because they knew they would be returning to the jail, and could not risk reprisals.

However, in early 2000, a new judge started to demand that the prisoners remove their shirts and pull their pants legs or sarongs (traditional dress) up above their knees, and thus began to verify the abuse.

Once the simple new technique was introduced, reports of torture committed by that police unit plunged, said Prokosch.

The manual refers to the situation of detaineees belonging to especially vulnerable groups like women, children, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, asylum-seekers and immigrants.

Amnesty also reported that it had received denunciations of ”cruel, inhuman or degrading conditions of detention in 90 countries,” and had found that ”such conditions were widespread in over 50 countries.”

In addition, the report refers to mistreatment that occurs in institutions for the mentally ill and the mentally and physically disabled.

Referring to corporal punishment in schools, Amnesty states that some students have been left permanently disabled and have even died in Kenya after being beaten with a cane, for which few teachers are ever prosecuted.

Ill-treatment also occurs in orphanages and the armed forces, says the manual, which adds that the misuse of non-lethal weapons by the police is another form of torture.

The Amnesty report concludes that torture persists and continues to take on new forms, and that eradicating it is mainly a question of political will.

Excerpt: