International Day in Support of Victims of Torture - June 26 скачать в хорошем качестве

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture - June 26

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is annually observed on June 26 to remind people that human torture is not only unacceptable – it is also a crime. 1. Torture is illegal. Torture is a crime under both international and domestic law. There are no exceptions or justifications for the use of torture. It’s not allowed in a time of war, national emergency or in the name of national security. Torture is explicitly banned, without exception, by the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 2. Torture is immoral. Torture consists of acts that are intrinsically wrong due to their cruelty and abusiveness; it is an extreme abuse of power and control of one person over another. Whether psychological or physical, torture is a calculated and systematic dismantling of a person’s identity and humanity. Torture causes long-term physical and psychological trauma. 3. Torture makes us less safe. In resorting to torture of detainees in the past, the United States has strengthened the resolve of adversaries. Indeed, the fact that the CIA used torture after the 9/11 attacks served as a recruiting tool for terrorists. The U.S. use of torture also alienates partners and puts the United States in the company of human rights violators whose actions we deplore and condemn. 4. Ending torture has bi-partisan support. U.S. leadership across party affiliations has long opposed torture, with the prominent example of President Ronald Reagan’s 1988 signing of the Convention Against Torture. President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2009, ending the CIA’s use of torture and cruel treatment. 5. The “ticking bomb” scenario is fiction. The absurd idea that torture could result in intelligence so quickly that it would stop a terrorist plot comes from the fictional world of films and television shows. Never has a real-world “ticking bomb” situation been identified where torture resulted in useful intelligence. In fact, seasoned interrogators forcefully assert that accurate information comes from sophisticated questioning techniques, not torture. 6. Torture is psychological as well as physical. Torturers often focus on ways of inflicting grave pain that never leave a mark on the flesh: forced nakedness and sexual humiliation, stress positions, sleep deprivation, sensory overload, sensory deprivation and mock executions are among some of the horrific methods used to inflict torment. From a medical and psychological perspective, these abuses constitute torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. 7. Torture is used to control communities and families. When one person is taken and tortured, the family learns immediately to be afraid, to be silent. When a second person is tortured, the community quickly gets the message: you must do whatever the perpetrators want. Torture takes control swiftly. Torture creates such a climate of fear and insecurity that it fractures communities, silences dissent and suppresses civic engagement. 8. Unfortunately, Even children are being tortured for political reasons and for the demonstration of power. This can be difficult to accept, but even children are being tortured This can be difficult to accept, but the fact is clinicians work in many locations with children who have been tortured or survived war atrocities. In some cases, perpetrators capture children to force their parents to turn themselves in. In other cases, children are present when homes or buildings are raided, and they are singled out for torture. Parents describe watching their children being tortured as even more excruciating than their own torture. 9. As many as 1.3 million refugee torture survivors live in the U.S. As the global refugee crisis grows, with 65.6 million persons displaced today, the need for rehabilitative care grows as well. The number of refugees who have survived torture is staggering: up to 44 percent of refugees in the United States have survived torture. This is as many as 1.3 million people, a number larger than the entire population of Dallas. 10. Rehabilitative care is critical to rebuild lives of torture survivors. The long-term effects of torture last a lifetime without proper care. Many survivors suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, anxiety and other severe mental health conditions, in addition to the painful physical symptoms of their torture. Many survivors tell of the intense fear they confronted every day before getting help; this fear causes many to isolate themselves and remove themselves from the community. Rebuilding a life is a journey, and one that results in success for survivors with the proper care.