( Seven minute read)

Wars, Genocide, Natural Disaster, Murder. Assignations, Corruption, Exploitation, Greed, Bigotry, Racism and Torture.

Let’s look at one of the above.

TORTURE.

To fully appreciate the scope of torture around the world is beyond this post.

In a world where the President of the United States, Donald Trump and other leaders say torture works, we must fight this dangerous message.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine has shown scenes of violence and intense suffering and you may rest assured torture.

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Torture tries to destroy lives. 

There are many types of torture still in use today. 

These include:

• Physical torture is when injury is intentionally inflicted to a person’s body, like beatings, burns from cigarettes, electric shocks, simulated drowning
• Psychological torture  like isolation, sleep deprivation, sensory assault from loud music and bright lights, threats of death or violence and threats against family
• Sexual violence  which includes rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, forced abortion and forced marriage
• Water boarding.
• Poverty.

In countries around the world, people are tortured by oppressive governments for activities like participating in peaceful protests, for speaking out against human rights abuses.

Some people are tortured because of their religious beliefs, political beliefs or affiliation. Others may be targeted just because of who they are, on the basis of their race or ethnicity, or their sexual orientation or gender identity.

People are also tortured by rebel or insurgent groups for refusing to join and/or take up arms for them.

By using methods that leave no physical scars, and renaming techniques as “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques,” perpetrators have been able to justify and deny acts of torture, despite it being illegal and prohibited under international law.

Mental torture, also known as psychological torture, is torture that does not directly cause physical violence or injury to a person’s body.

An overwhelming majority of the world’s countries have ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, since it was first adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1984.

However torture is still rife in many countries. 

For more than two decades, Guantánamo Bay prison has stood as one of the world’s most infamous detention camps. Today, it has become a global symbol of torture, injustice and cruelty, embodying the severe human rights violations perpetrated in the name of the so-called ‘War on Terror’.

UK universities are offering postgraduate security and counterterrorism education to members of foreign security forces, including those serving some of the world’s most repressive regimes.

In the corporate world, businesses are now routinely judged on their human rights records. Terms like “ethical sourcing,” “responsible investment,” and “human rights due diligence” are standard parts of doing business. Universities, which pride themselves on being forward-thinking and socially responsible, should be held to no lower standard. The fact that many have no policy at all on overseas human rights risks is indefensible.

There are never any circumstances in which torture is justified.

It is illegal for any country to practise torture, or to be involved in helping it happen.

These are not abstract concern they raise serious, immediate questions.

What happens when the covert surveillance techniques taught in British classrooms are later used to hunt down dissidents?

Why are universities not investigating the backgrounds of applicants from regimes where “counterterrorism” is a common pretext for torture and arbitrary detention?

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

As more governments seek to justify torture in the name of national security, the steady progress made in this field over the last thirty years is being eroded.

To be it in detention centres, on the streets, or other places, these practices are still a present reality.

Establishing effective controls on the trade in torture technologies, and their use, is an essential tool.

The fight against torture will continue.

However Governments around the world are two-faced on torture – prohibiting it in law, but facilitating it in practice.

Freedom from torture is a fundamental human right.

The changes seen in international human rights over the past 40 years come completely with contrasts and contradictions, thus denying us a black and white understanding the situation and instead encouraging us to exercise heightened vigilance.

All human comment appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.,

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