Torture is prohibited under international law in all circumstances, with no exception. Yet it persists, often hidden from view and with impunity. Far from only affecting individuals in detention, UN reporting shows that torture is increasingly used to silence political dissent and prevent people from exercising fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
This topic is high on the European Union’s political agenda. EU sanctions target individuals and entities involved or complicit in torture or ill-treatment. The trade in tools of torture is banned in Europe under EU law – we were the first region in the world to do so. And we will continue to work closely partners such as the ‘United Against Torture Consortium’. They bring together over 200 civil society organisations from more than 100 countries to support judicial processes, reparations and rehabilitation efforts for survivors.
Accountability and reparations must be central to any response in support of victims, not least because both restore what torture seeks to destroy: dignity, agency, and the ability to live free from fear. Survivors must also be front and centre of efforts to respond to torture. That is why the ‘Charter of Rights of Victims and Survivors of Torture and other ill-treatment’ is a landmark document. It provides guidance that is shaped by survivors, for survivors.
As part of broader efforts to tackle torture, the UN Convention against Torture and the Optional Protocol remain indispensable tools. The Protocol provides a framework to independently monitor detention facilities, expose degrading treatment, deter torture and safeguard human rights. All states that have not yet done so should ratify and fully implement both.
Torture can never be justified. It is a heinous denial of human dignity. Every government across the world has a responsibility to support victims and end the use of this illegal and inhumane practice.