Calmy-Rey speaks out against torture

Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey says no region of the world is immune to the "scourge" of torture and that nothing justifies its use.

Calmy-Rey was speaking on Thursday to mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

She said the practice is still being carried out despite a United Nations convention banning it.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

The convention obliges signatory states to make torture a crime and to prosecute and punish those guilty of it. It notes explicitly that neither higher orders nor exceptional circumstances can justify the practice.

Torture strikes “at the heart of human rights because torture means denying man’s dignity”, Calmy-Rey said.

“The current tendency of states to defend the use of torture as a necessary evil in the fight against terrorism is therefore all the more appalling,” she said.

She added that it was important to remember that every victim had the right to reparation and rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation should include “medical, psychological, social and legal” support, the foreign minister said.