• Saturday, October 30, 2010
• Inter Press Service

Twenty-six years after the adoption by U.N. Member States of the Convention against Torture, the objective of eradicating torture and inhuman treatment has not been achieved. At the same time, the absolute prohibition of torture is not yet a reality in many States. While presenting the annual report of the Committee Against Torture (CAT) to the General Assembly Tuesday, Claudio Grossman, CAT's Chairperson, called upon member states to say 'no to torture by any means'.

Grossman, who is also one of the Committee's ten members - all independent human rights experts - expressed concern about 32 States not having submitted their initial reports yet, while as many as 64 out of the 147 States parties have not accepted the competence of the Committee to examine individual complaints alleging violations of the Torture Convention.

During a press conference, Grossman rejected an alleged ambivalence of the definition of torture, allowing an interpretation of it based on the purpose of protecting human beings and the individual. But if you have a doubt about something being a torture, the answer is that it is, he said. Grossman stressed the need to educate people on torture, teaching them that it should not exist.

The Convention against Torture, adopted in 1984 by the General Assembly and currently ratified by 147 States, rejects torture as unjustifiable in any circumstances, including war or threat of war, any public emergency and internal political stability.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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