torture

Holding cell inside a maximum security detention centre.
Emma Reverter

‘Prohibition of torture is absolute,’ says Ban on International Day in support of victims

26 June 2014
Reiterating their pledge that every victim of torture will one day gain his or her right to acknowledgement, senior United Nations officials marked the International Day in Support of those victims by calling on the international community to strengthen efforts “to eradicate this heinous practice.”
Photo: UNHCR/B. Szandelszky
UNHCR/B. Szandelszky

UN expert denounces use of torture-tainted information in States that condemn practice

12 March 2014
States that condemn torture while using information and products obtained through the practice in other countries are hypocritical, a United Nations human rights expert declared today, regretting that many Governments refuse to subject their intelligence agencies to strict scrutiny on the subject.
Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

Independent UN expert urges Tajikistan to turn policy into action to eradicate torture

12 February 2014
An independent United Nations human rights expert today urged the Government of Tajikistan to fully implement its policies to eradicate and prevent torture and ill-treatment.
Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

UN rights experts criticize proposed UK investigation into torture allegations

24 December 2013
Two United Nations human rights experts today criticized the British Government’s decision to replace an independent judge-led inquiry into the United Kingdom’s involvement in torture and abuses of people detained overseas in counter-terrorism operations with a parliamentary inquiry.
Credit: OHCHR
OHCHR

UN rights experts concerned about fate of Guantánamo detainee transferred to Algeria

10 December 2013
Two independent United Nations human rights experts have voiced concern about the fate of Djamel Ameziane, who was recently transferred by the United States from the Guantánamo Bay detention centre to Algeria, from which he fled two decades ago to escape persecution.
Claudio Grossman, Chairperson of the Committee Against Torture.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

Independent UN expert urges Ghana to re-think criminal justice, mental health practices

18 November 2013
An independent United Nations human rights expert today voiced deep concern about the situation of overcrowding in prisons in Ghana which is leading to other rights violations such as poor hygiene and risk of diseases.
Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

UN rights experts urge review of standards for treatment of prisoners

16 October 2013
United Nations human rights experts today urged a review of the universally accepted global principles and practices for the treatment of prisoners and management of penitentiary institutions, particularly decrying the use of solitary confinement.
Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
UN Photo

UN rights office welcomes Tunisian law on national anti-torture body

11 October 2013
Welcoming the adoption by the National Constituent Assembly of Tunisia of a law on setting up a national body to prevent torture, the United Nations human rights Office hailed the decision as an “important milestone” in the country’s ongoing transition.
Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

Four decades in solitary confinement amounts to torture, UN expert tells US authorities

7 October 2013
An independent United Nations human rights expert today called on the United States to immediately end the indefinite solitary confinement imposed on Albert Woodfox for the past four decades.
Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

DR Congo: UN welcomes progress in ending impunity for torture

9 July 2013
The United Nations has welcomed the progress made in the fight against torture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the enactment two years ago of a law criminalizing the practice.