torture

Louise Arbour

UN rights chief: total ban on torture under attack in ‘war on terror’

7 December 2005
The absolute ban on torture, a cornerstone of international human rights, is becoming a casualty of the so-called “war on terror” through loosened legal definition, secret detention, handover of prisoners without adequate safeguards and other practices, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today.

UN rights expert urges the end of deportation to countries that torture

30 September 2005
Governments fighting the scourge of terrorism should not expel any person to countries where they risk torture and other forms of ill-treatment, a United Nations human rights expert has warned.

Annan calls for doubling of aid to $15 million for torture victims worldwide

14 September 2005
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked donor societies and governments to more than double their contributions for assisting torture victims and their families to $15 million in 2006, in his latest report on the subject to the General Assembly.

Annan stresses treaty ban on sending suspects to countries where they risk torture

27 June 2005
The prohibition of torture is non-negotiable, and that includes an absolute ban on transferring anybody to another jurisdiction where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person is at risk of torture, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message on the International Day in Support for Victims of Torture.

Torture reported with growing frequency worldwide – UN experts

24 June 2005
Torture is reported with growing frequency from all regions of the world and the lives of individuals and their sense of security continue to be scarred by it on a daily basis, United Nations human rights officials said today in a message ahead of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture being marked on Sunday.

UN experts 'deeply regret' US failure to allow Guantanamo visit on torture report

23 June 2005
Senior United Nations human rights experts today deeply regretted the United States Government's failure so far to allow them to visit detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan or Guantanamo Bay naval base following information "from reliable sources" of serious allegations of torture.

UN expert on torture to visit Nepal at Government's invitation

23 June 2005
Following up on rising concern over violence and human rights safeguards in Nepal, a United Nations expert on torture will visit the strife-torn Himalayan kingdom in September at the invitation of the Government.