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	Torture is unacceptable and unjustifiable under any circumstances by World Organization against Torture (OMCT)   Feb 2011   Torture is unacceptable and unjustifiable under any circumstances, by Kofi Annan.   Not only does it undermine the foundations of any society under the rule of law but it negates the fundamental value of human dignity.   Over the past century, tremendous progress has been made in the fight for human rights. In 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which sets out a vision of individual freedoms, social protection and economic opportunities.   And since then, significant advances have been made in incorporating human rights as a fundamental pillar in the manner in which we manage the affairs of man.   Those rights proclaimed sixty years ago have been enshrined in a rich body of international human rights norms and institutions.   The Human Rights Council strengthens the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and provides a forum where failures to live up to international obligations are made public.   The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also plays a critical advocacy and monitoring role especially in the field to address urgent and often tragic situations.   The Special Tribunals and the International Criminal Court have taken concrete action to fight impunity.   Some perpetrators of the worst international crimes, including those responsible for acts of torture have been brought to justice.   With such architecture, there is no doubt that, in legal and institutional terms, we are better placed today to act collectively to protect human rights than we were just a few years ago.   And yet, recent years have also shown that an increasing number of Governments are allowing torture to spread and that an apathetic public appears to tolerate the practice.   In an era of global interdependence, rights that were once conceived as inalienable are more and more subject to systematic violations under the excuse of expediency or to justify the protection of democratic principles or economic growth.   This assault on the human rights accomplishments of the past sixty years cannot go unanswered.   The Manifesto we are signing demands individual and collective responsibility and action whenever the very values these rights protect are endangered. And, it starts with Governments.   Either because of lack of political will or because of poorly equipped or corrupt political and judicial institutions, Rulers still disregard human rights or allow or encourage those under their command to do so.   If yesterday’s accomplishment was to set the rules, today’s and tomorrow’s challenge is to effectively bind the Rulers – and the rest of us for that matter – to these laws.   Governments must be helped to improve their human rights structures and record.   Best practices must be shared and officials must be trained in better systems and procedures.   But for human rights to become a reality for all, society as a whole must both accept and recognize these rights as universal and inalienable.   Human rights activists constitute a strong rampart not only against gross violations but also against shameful indifference.   Amnesty International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for its campaign against torture;   Lawyers without Borders train jurists across the globe to better understand the legal rationale behind human rights;   And this very organization, the OMCT, provides personalized medical, legal and/or social assistance to hundreds of torture victims.   The media has also a critical role to play. Napoleon used to say that “he feared three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets”.   There is a reason for that. News reports have the power to shape public opinion, influence our business, social and personal decisions and hold our elected officials accountable.   But that power also comes with great responsibilities.   And because torture and inhuman treatment often take place in remote or hidden locations, news reports not only constitute our very first source of information, but the first step towards effective accountability.   For the media have a duty to report any abuse, no matter the author. And they have a public service obligation to educate the public at large.   And yet, none of these commitments or campaigns or news reports will indeed matter if the public remains indifferent.   And perhaps here lies the greatest challenge of all.   In a 24-hour news cycle where people are bombarded by a flow of unfiltered information, the propensity to assign equal value to any story is compelling. We must fight that tendency.   Through education and grass-root campaigns, advocacy and awareness actions, sport and culture events, we must ensure that respect for the human person and the unacceptability of torture under any circumstances is embedded in people’s conscience. Fighting torture and inhuman treatment is an individual and collective responsibility that requires all of us to rise up whenever these rights we hold dear are sacrificed on the altar of national security, economic imperatives or any other reason.   I urge you to join me in signing and supporting this Manifesto, live up to the standards it sets and help spread the message.   International Campaign for the Absolute Prohibition of Torture and Ill-treatment.   The absolute prohibition of torture is under attack, and public opinion is putting up with it. This deviation from the international norm is a negation of the dignity of the human person.   Nobel Peace Prize laureates Martti Ahtisaari, Kofi Annan, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Rigoberta Menchú, José Ramos-Horta, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Joseph Stiglitz, Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter have signed the OMCT Manifesto, "Nothing can justify torture under any circumstances".   Kofi Annan and Sandrine Salerno, Mayor of Geneva, formally signed the Manifesto on 23 June 2010 to mark the launching of an international campaign to alert everyone to the dangers which a society that tolerates torture risks. Visit the related web page
	EU Commissioner for Human Rights says that migrant children should not be detained by Council of Europe / ChilOut & agencies EU / Australia   Feb 2011 (Council of Europe)   The Council of Europe"s Commissioner for Human Rights has argued against migrant children being detained as it constitutes a violation of their right to health, as well as being a cause of trauma and anxiety for children.   Thousands of migrant children are detained every year in Europe. They are forcibly brought to detention centres in a number of countries, in most cases with a view of preparing for their deportation. There they have to endure prison-like conditions, in spite of not having committed any crime.   Some of these children have arrived with their parents, others are on their own, unaccompanied. In both cases they experience fear and uncertainty while in detention.   In most cases they are also deprived of education and are sometimes also exposed to abuse and violence.   It is established that detention and restriction of movement have particularly negative psychological effects on minors, and these effects are compounded by time. Unaccompanied migrant children are especially vulnerable.   Governments in the host countries need to rethink their approach; the present policy is not humane. It is also in conflict with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that detention “is to be used only as a measure of last resort, for the shortest appropriate period of time and taking into account the best interests of the child as a primary consideration.”   No precise statistics are available on how many children are kept in detention in Europe today. A more comprehensive mapping system is needed. However, an analysis of reports from UN agencies and reputable non-governmental organisations indicates that migrant children continue to be routinely detained, in spite of recommendations from the Council of Europe and the European Union.   One example is France where 368 migrant children were detained in 2009. They were kept with family members, but still, these children – with an average age of eight years – were confronted with the negative sides of detention and an atmosphere of deep anxiety.   While European States provide a minimum age at which a child could be detained for a criminal offence, such rules do not exist in migration cases. The consequence is that even families with very small children have been placed in detention centres.   When children are detained with their parents, authorities have justified this with the argument that it is in the best interest of the children not to be separated from their parents. However, the humane solution would be to spare the whole family, including the caregivers, from detention, in order to give the child the necessary support and security. Detaining parents while their children remain free cannot be an appropriate alternative.   Alternative solutions exist. During a visit to Belgium I saw apartments where families due to be returned were accommodated. They had the possibility to leave the flat and live an almost ordinary life; the parents had the possibility to organise the return and the children were able to attend school in the meantime.   Similar humane approaches are needed for unaccompanied minors. They should benefit from smaller accommodation facilities, with more privacy and better care, and with access to education. This would also be in line with the recent EU Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors.   There are a few positive signs in the darkness. While the United Kingdom has had one of the worst records in Europe - with some two thousand children detained each year for the purpose of immigration control – the new government has decided to put an end to these detentions. So far, the decision is only partly implemented but the number of children detained has already diminished significantly. This is good news.   Putting an end to the detention of asylum-seeking or migrant children should be seen as the first and important step towards minimising the use of detention in all immigration cases, including of adults.   The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe expressed concern last year - Resolution 1707 (2010) - on the increased use of detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants. It stated that detention must be used only as a last resort: On unaccompanied minors and others vulnerable the Assembly was crystal clear: they should never be detained. Governments should respond.   Jan 2011   Children out of Immigration Detention (ChilOut).   ChilOut is a community group of Australians who are very concerned with the plight of children held in immigration detention. The movement began its campaign in 2001, and quickly drew the support of many thousands of Australian parents and citizens who were against the detention of children.   The campaign was put on hold after the 2005 changes made by the Howard Government to release children from secure detention facilities. In recent years, although there has been no official change to policy, this practice has been reversed and the numbers of children being held in locked facilities has risen to alarming numbers, with conditions in those facilities worsening. As a consequence, ChilOut has resumed its campaign to ensure the rights of those children will be upheld.   These are children who have fled warzones, watched family members killed or persecuted, or who have been subject to persecution and harm themselves.   Many are unaccompanied - effectively orphans - sent here by desperate parents who could only scrape together enough to save one family member. They are alone, they are frightened, they are traumatised. They are incarcerated by Australia our littlest prisoners.   For more details visit http://www.chilout.org/ Visit the related web page
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