Governments betray commitment against torture: Amnesty

LONDON — Amnesty international has accused governments around the world of betraying their commitment on stopping torture.

In a briefing entitled 'Stop Torture', the human rights organisation launched its latest global campaign to combat what it says is widespread torture and other ill-treatment in the modern world, even though it has been 30 years since the Convention Against Torture was adopted by the UN.

Since 1984, 155 states have ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, 142 of which are researched by Amnesty International. In 2014, Amnesty International says that 79 of these are still torturing people. A further 40 UN states haven't adopted the Convention, although there is a global legal ban on torture making it incumbent on them to stop torture.

In the briefing, Amnesty highlighted a variety of torture techniques, from stress positions and sleep deprivation to electrocution of the genitals and water boarding, used against criminal suspects, security suspects, dissenting voices, political rivals and others.

The organisation said that it would concentrate on five countries in its latest campaign. Mexico, Morocco and Western Sahara, Nigeria, Uzbekistan and the Phillipines.