OSCE/ODIHR Director Link, UN Special Rapporteur Mendez call on states to ensure redress, including full rehabilitation for torture victims, and to protect and provide care for those fleeing torture
WARSAW/GENEVA, 24 June 2016 – Ahead of Sunday’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and Juan E. Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, called for redoubling of efforts to eradicate all forms of torture and ill-treatment and to fully implement the victims’ rights to obtain full and effective redress, including full rehabilitation.
Expressing their solidarity with victims of torture and support for those who work to restore victims’ dignity and help them return to normal life, they stressed that torture-prevention efforts will only succeed if victims’ rights to redress and to full rehabilitation are ensured.
“OSCE participating States have committed to implement fully and in good faith the provisions of the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and to intensify their efforts to take persistent, determined and effective measures to prevent and combat torture and other ill-treatment,” said Director Link. “This includes taking appropriate action to provide remedy and ensure the full rehabilitation of torture victims by promoting their ability to heal, rebuild their lives and fully participate in society.”
They stated that the burden to provide rehabilitation services often falls on local civil society organizations and that, in some cases, service providers have inceasingly come under scrunity by states and targeted by legislative and procedural measures. Rehabilitation centres are often put in a situation of increased vulnerability due to the sensitive data and information they possess, the difficult task of physical protection of witnesses and a lack of protection as human rights defenders.
Adding to the already difficult situation rehabilitation centres face across the region, people who have experienced torture elsewhere continue to arrive in many OSCE participating States in connection with the current refugee emergency.
“It is vital that states ensure that torture survivors, fleeing their country of origin, are immediately identified and get immediate protection and care, to avoid exposing them to further trauma and to prevent irreversible physical and psychological harm,” Mendez said.
“We call on all OSCE participating States to adhere to a zero-tolerance approach to acts of torture and ill-treatment, to take effective preventive measures and to give full support to holistic, victim-centred and long-term rehabilitation services that enable victims to rebuild their lives and dignity as human beings,” said Director Link. “It is important that states prevent attacks, intimidation and harassment and effectively investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of reprisal against those providing those services,” concluded Mendez.