In a statement issued by OHCHR Nepal on Thursday, Pillay said that the prohibition of torture is one of the most absolute to be found anywhere in international law, adding that “no one should be left off the hook.”
A total of 146 states have ratified the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in the 25 years since it was adopted in 1984. “This is impressive by comparison with many other treaties, but unimpressive given the inhumanity of the practices this Convention seeks to ban. I urge more states to ratify this treaty, and its Optional Protocol, and I urge those who have already done so to ensure they abide by the very clear rules it contains,” Pillay further said. Pillay added that many states that have ratified CAT continue to practice torture, some of them on a daily basis.
Moreover, Pillay said, the terrorist acts of 9/11 had a devastating impact on the fight to eliminate torture. “Some states that had previously been careful not to practice or condone torture became less scrupulous” after 9/11. She said that the Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons, in particular, “became high-profile symbols of this regression, and new terms such as “water-boarding” and “rendition” entered the public discourse.”
Pillay urged the world leaders to end the grotesque practice of torture. He welcomed Barack Obama´s actions to close down Guantanamo and ban methods of interrogation such as water-boarding.
Equally important, Pillay said, is to help the victims of torture recover from “one of the worst ordeals that a human being can face.” She said, “Victims of torture must be compensated and cared for.”
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