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21 June 2000




The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture will be commemorated, for the third time, on Monday, 26 June 2000.

The Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, the Committee against Torture, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights -the principal actors of the United Nations engaged in the fight against torture, have launched two appeals to commemorate this International Day around the world.

The Commission on Human Rights had asked the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations bodies and agencies, relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to commemorate this Day with special emphasis this year on reparation for torture victims.

On 26 June at 2:30 p.m. at the Palais Wilson, High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson will officially launch the International Day. Brief statements will also be made by Helen Bamber of the Medical Foundation, London, and Eric Sottas of the World Organization Against Torture.

Following are the texts of the Joint Message to the public at large and of the Joint Declaration to Governments:


Joint Message to the public at large on the occasion of
the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture


The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee against Torture, the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and the Special Rapporteur on Torture recall on this UN Day in Support of Victims of Torture that torture, an international crime, is committed on a wide scale and often at the instigation or with the approval of government agencies. It is a crime which cannot be justified under any circumstance. Torture is just not acceptable. Governments should, therefore, prohibit it, prevent it from happening and, if it has happened, prosecute and punish those who have committed the crime.

It is not only Governments that should take action: also individuals, groups of citizens and non-governmental organizations may contribute to the elimination of torture by condemning this crime and by not accepting torture as if it were a regular feature of police detention or imprisonment, as something which is an inevitable part of the treatment by police or prison officials. Public awareness is an important tool in the fight against torture, especially public awareness of the right of every one to be safeguarded from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Let this day be a reminder for each of us that we owe it to the victims of torture to stand up for them against the evil of torture.

Let us all do whatever we can to help victims of torture participate fully again in society and to recognize their special needs.


Joint Declaration for the United Nations
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture


The Committee against Torture, the Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (The Fund), the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on questions relating to torture and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,

Recalling the decision of the General Assembly to declare 26 June United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture,

Taking note of resolution 2000/43 of the Commission on Human Rights adopted on 20 April 2000 which called upon all Governments, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations bodies and agencies, as well as relevant intergovernmental-mental and non-governmental organizations to commemorate on 26 June, the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, this year with particular emphasis on reparation for torture victims

Recalling the Joint Declarations they adopted on 26 June 1998 and
26 June 1999,

Recalling also the continued regular exchange of views between the Board of Trustees of the Fund, the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on questions relating to torture with regard to their common mandate to assist victims of torture and taking note of the need stressed by the General Assembly for further exchange of views with other relevant United Nations mechanisms and bodies, as well as for the pursuance of cooperation with relevant United Nations programmes, notably the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, with a view to enhancing further their effectiveness and cooperation on issues relating to torture, inter alia, by improving their coordination

Recalling the appeals against torture of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in which, inter alia, all Governments were exhorted to defeat torture and bring to justice torturers everywhere and reminded that ending torture was a beginning of true respect for the most basic of all human rights: the intrinsic dignity and value of each individual,

Reaffirming that torture is one of the vilest acts to be perpetrated by human beings upon each other,

Concerned that requests for assistance to the Fund for victims of torture and members of their families are constantly increasing,

Recalling that torture is prohibited by article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as by specific provisions of international human rights treaties adhered to by the majority of the States,

Recognizing that torture is a breach of a non-derogable human right which cannot be justified under any circumstances and that its systematic or widespread practice is characterized as a crime against humanity under international law, in particular, by article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,

Conscious of the necessity to place emphasis on prevention of torture, as recommended by the World Conference on Human Rights of 1993,

Acknowledging the valuable work of Governments, associations, groups and individuals in contributing to the effective elimination of all forms of torture,

Paying tribute to all those who work selflessly to relieve the suffering and assist the recovery of torture victims around the world,

Commending the persistent efforts by non-governmental organizations to combat torture and to alleviate the suffering of victims of torture,

1. Renew their appeal to provide support to victims of torture, this year with particular emphasis on reparation, as well as to prevent and prohibit torture on the occasion of the United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture of 26 June 2000, and to this end,

2. Stress in particular the increasing need for legal assistance to obtain reparation, compensation and rehabilitation services for victims of torture and encourage the Fund to continue to support small projects of humanitarian assistance to victims of torture in various countries, taking into consideration that efficiency is linked to the proximity of these humanitarian organizations to the victims,

3. Express their gratitude and appreciation to those Governments, organizations and individuals that have contributed to the Fund, in particular those which have been able to reply favourably to the appeal by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and paid their contributions before the annual session of the Board, as well as those which have increased the amount of their contribution and encourage them to continue to do so,

4. Urge all Governments, organizations and individuals to contribute annually to the Fund, preferably by 1 March, before the annual session of its Board of Trustees, and if possible with a substantial increase in the contributions in order to take into consideration the ever-increasing requests for medical, psychological, social, economic, legal, humanitarian and other forms of assistance to victims of torture and members of their families worldwide,

5. Urge all States to become parties to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment without reservation, if they have not already done so,

6. Urge States parties to the Convention that have not yet accepted its optional provisions to do so as soon as possible,

7. Call on all States to redouble their efforts to achieve the early adoption of the optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,

8. Urge all States to become parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted on 17 July 1998, as a matter of priority,

9. Urge all States to ensure that torture is a crime under their domestic law and to rigorously pursue perpetrators whenever and wherever the act was committed and bring them to justice,

10. Welcome the decision of the Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 2000/43 of 20 April 2000, to draw the attention of Governments to the Principles on the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, annexed to that resolution.

11. Support the recommendation of the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2000/32 that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights encourage forensic experts to coordinate further and produce additional manuals concerned with examination of living persons, and welcomes the initiative by the Office of the High Commissioner to publish the “Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or degrading Treatment of Punishment” in its Professional Training Series, towards which the Fund contributed.

12. Urge all States to provide for fair and adequate reparation, including compensation and rehabilitation of the victims of torture in their domestic law,

13. Urge all States to cooperate fully with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture in fulfilling his mandate,

14. Express their gratitude to those States that have extended invitations to him to visit their countries and urge those from whom he has solicited an invitation to respond positively to his request.

15. Consider that, by these means, the crime of torture may be effectively prosecuted and condemned through out the world and that impunity of torturers, regardless of their status, will not be tolerated.

16. Request the Secretariat to transmit to all Governments this Joint Declaration and give it the widest possible distribution.



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