Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Government backed torture is flourishing, says Amnesty

  • 155 states have ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (Photo: Christian Haugen)

Governments are failing to live up to their commitments to stamp out state-sanctioned torture, according to London-based Amnesty International.

"Governments around the world are two-faced on torture – prohibiting it in law, but facilitating it in practice," said Salil Shetty, the NGO's secretary general, in a statement on Tuesday (13 May).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Some 155 countries have ratified the 30-year-old UN Convention Against Torture.

But despite the convention, Amnesty says out of the 142 nations it monitors, 79 are still using torture in 2014. Another 32 have yet to sign the anti-torture pact. Many justify torture in the name of national security.

In his introduction to a 50-page report released on Tuesday, Shetty describes torture as "flourishing" with the NGO having documented cases in 141 countries over the past five years.

"Torture is not just alive and well – it is flourishing in many parts of the world," he says.

Amnesty's report bases the figures on cases made known to the NGO but says the scale of the problem is likely to be much greater as many go unreported.

A GlobeScan poll commissioned by the group found almost half of the world's population fear being tortured if taken into custody.

The survey polled over 21,000 people in 21 countries between December 2013 and April 2014.

It also found that around a third of respondents believe torture can be justified under certain conditions while a vast majority are demanding laws to stop the abuse.

With the launch of its report, Amnesty says it will mobilise its efforts to stop state-sanctioned torture in Nigeria, Mexico, Philippines, Uzbekistan and Morocco/Western Sahara. Torture is said to be rife in all five.

The report lists 27 common forms of torture.

At the top of the list are beatings, electric shocks and stress positions.

Some were allegedly used in several EU member states and carried out in the context of US-led counter-terrorism operations in the early 2000s.

Eleven EU countries – Germany, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Romania, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Britain – have faced allegations of involvement in extraordinary renditions and secret detention centres used by the US intelligence service.

The issue was highlighted in 2012 by the European Parliament's civil liberties committee, which described member state complicity as a disgrace.

At the time, French Green MEP Helene Flautre said she had "evidence of extraordinary renditions, illegal detention centres, torture and other abuses" committed on the territory of some of the member states.

All member states denied any involvement.

Amnesty, for its part, notes those seeking justice into the CIA rendition allegations on European soil have been refused "full disclosure of the truth".

Elsewhere, some governments are making improvements.

Amnesty says Turkey, among the countries in Europe and Central Asia, has made the greatest strides in eliminating the practice over the last decade although it notes the recent government uses abuse against protesters.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us