torture

Afghan National Police in training in Kabul.
UNAMA/Eric Kanalstein

Systematic torture in Afghan detention facilities – UN report

10 October 2011
A United Nations report released today cites evidence of the “systematic” torture and mistreatment of detainees in Afghan detention facilities, including children, and issues recommendations which it hopes will spur reforms.
Special Rapporteur Juan Méndez

Independent UN expert on torture calls for unrestricted access to US detainees

12 July 2011
The United Nations independent expert on torture today voiced concern over restrictions imposed by the United States on access to detainees, stating that it is vital for him to have unmonitored access to Bradley Manning, the US soldier detained for allegedly leaking classified information to the WikiLeaks website.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

UN human rights chief appeals to donors to help support victims of torture

28 June 2011
The United Nations human rights chief today called on donors to support the fund that provides financial assistance to groups providing psychological, medical and social assistance to thousands of torture survivors and their families worldwide.
Torture victim from Republic of Congo undergoing treatment at a rehab centre in Senegal

States must take effective measures to prevent torture – UN chief

26 June 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today exhorted States to take effective legislative, administrative and judicial measures to prevent torture, calling the practice a brutal attempt to destroy a victim's sense of dignity and sense of human worth that can never be justified.

UN-backed meeting aims to eradicate torture in Latin America and the Caribbean

15 June 2011
Human rights experts and government officials from 11 countries today began a United Nations-backed meeting aimed at eradicating torture from Latin America and the Caribbean, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported.
Special Rapporteur Juan Méndez

UN rights expert voices frustration at United States over access to detained soldier

11 April 2011
An independent United Nations human rights expert today voiced his deep disappointment and frustration that the United States has not allowed him unmonitored access to a soldier accused of being the source of large amounts of classified material given to the website Wikileaks.
Special Rapporteur Juan Méndez

Leading rights defender named as UN expert to combat torture

4 November 2010
Human rights defender Juan Méndez of Argentina has taken over as the new United Nations independent expert on the scourge, vowing to help victims of torture.
Claudio Grossman, Chair of the UN Committee against Torture

UN rights expert urge States to comply with Convention against Torture

19 October 2010
The Chairperson of the United Nations independent committee of experts against torture today urged States to recommit themselves to the values of the global treaty that prohibits the practice, which, he stressed, cannot be justified under any circumstances and has to be eradicated.
Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

UN experts urge US to ensure no Guantánamo detainees are forcibly returned

21 July 2010
While welcoming United States efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, two independent United Nations human rights experts have called on the Government to ensure that it does not forcibly transfer anyone to another State where the person could be subject to torture.
2003 poster of fugitives wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Torture remains prevalent in too many countries, UN warns

26 June 2010
Too many countries are still practising or tolerating “cruel, degrading and illegal” acts of torture, top United Nations officials said today as they pledged the UN's solidarity with the millions of torture victims worldwide.