On 14 May 2014 Amnesty International published a new campaign video on torture. It is specially interesting as a very short summary – in images – of the history of the anti-torture campaigns started by AI under the leadership of Martin Ennals more than 40 years ago.
The video traces the struggle against torture which 30 years ago saw the UN Convention Against Torture come into being. The Convention was groundbreaking: it offered a set of concrete steps to make the global ban on torture a reality, by establishing a set of measures, enshrined in law and specifically designed to prevent torture, punish perpetrators and ensure justice and redress to victims. These measures intend not only to end torture and other ill-treatment nationally, but also to ensure that no-one is deported across borders to be tortured, and that there is no safe haven for perpetrators.
[155 states have ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, but AI finds that more than half the states party to the Convention continue to use it. A further 40 UN Member States haven’t adopted the Convention, although the global legal ban on torture binds them too.]
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 
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