[psych-hr] High Commissioner for Human Rights says total ban on torture under attack in 'war on terror'

***Learn more about Human Rights Day, 10 December:
{http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/human-rights-day.php } 

New York, 7 December 2005 -- The absolute ban on torture, a cornerstone of
the international human rights edifice, is becoming a casualty of the
so-called "war on terror", the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights said today.

"Pursuing security objectives at all costs may create a world in which we
are neither safe nor free", said Louise Arbour, speaking at United Nations
headquarters in New York in the run-up to Human Rights Day, commemorated
on 10 December. "This will certainly be the case if the only choice is
between the terrorists and the torturers". "Governments are watering down
the definition of torture, claiming that terrorism means established rules
do not apply anymore", Mrs. Arbour continued.

Mrs. Arbour said the right and duty of Governments to protect their
citizens from attacks was not in dispute. Governments may even impose
limitations on certain rights at times of imminent or clear dangers. But,
she added, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment may not be subject to any limitation, anywhere, under
any condition.

The High Commissioner singled out two practices as having a particularly
corrosive effect on the global ban on torture and cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment: the recourse to so-called "diplomatic assurances",
and the holding of prisoners in secret detention. "The former may make
countries complicit with torture carried out by others, while the latter
creates the conditions for torture by one's own", she said. The
international legal ban on torture prohibits transferring persons -- no
matter what their crime or suspected activity -- to a place where they
would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. "If there is no risk
of torture in a particular case, such assurances are unnecessary and
redundant", Mrs. Arbour said. If there is a risk, the High Commissioner
questioned how effective such assurances were likely to be.

Mrs. Arbour suggested that instead of seeking to obtain meaningless
assurances for the wellbeing of a handful of detainees, efforts should be
directed at eliminating the risk of torture faced by many, including by
creating a genuine system for monitoring all detainees in all places of
detention. Regarding secret detention the High Commissioner said the
phenomenon appeared to have gained renewed currency in the "war on
terror". Holding people in secret detention amounts to "disappearance",
which itself amounts to torture or ill-treatment.

Prolonged incommunicado detention or detention in secret places
facilitates the perpetration of torture. "Whatever the value of the
information obtained in secret facilities -- and there is reason to doubt
the reliability of intelligence gained through prolonged incommunicado or
secret detention -- some standards on the treatment of prisoners cannot be
set aside", she said.

The High Commissioner said she believed firmly in the role of law to guide
society through difficult challenges. "The law provides the proper
balancing between the legitimate security interests of the State with the
individual's own legitimate interests in liberty and personal security. It
must do so rationally and dispassionately, even in the face of terror".

The High Commissioner called on all Governments to reaffirm their
commitment to the absolute prohibition of torture by condemning torture
and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and prohibiting it in national
law; abiding by the principle of non-refoulement; refraining from
returning persons to countries where they may face torture; ensuring
access to prisoners, and abolishing secret detention.

UNITED NATIONS Press Release



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