Gerald Staberock: The World Organization Against Torture
This week on Rule of Law Talk, WJP Chief Engagement Officer Ted Piccone is joined by Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT). The OMCT is a coalition of nearly 300 organizations working against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and other forms of degrading treatment or punishment.
Wednesday, June 26 is the International Day in support of victims of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It marks the day over 30 years ago when the UN Convention against Torture came into force in 1987. But torture has long been considered a crime against humanity that allows no exception for necessity. In other words, the law treats it as an absolute prohibition, regardless of the circumstances. Yet we know security forces continue to deploy torture and other forms of cruel pain and suffering to extract confessions or other information, or simply to terrify and dehumanize victims and their families. In this installment of Rule of Law Talk, we discuss what the international community is doing to address this problem, and what more needs to be done.
