Jean has called on a Nigerian governor to investigate allegations of torture, as part of Amnesty International’s Stop Torture campaign, which launched last week.
Jean has written to Emmanuel Uduaghan, the governor of Nigeria’s Delta State, urging him to take action in the case of Moses Akatugba. In 2005, aged just 16, Moses was arrested by the Nigerian Army and charged with stealing mobile phones. He says he was shot in the hand, beaten, and had finger- and toenails pulled out with pliers. Convicted on the ‘confession’ extracted under this duress, he is now sentenced to death.
Jean said:
“Torture is never, ever acceptable. That’s a truth publicly accepted by most countries and yet around the world those same countries continue to let it happen. I’ve been a long-time Amnesty supporter and am proud to back the Stop Torture campaign.
“As part of Amnesty’s campaign, I have written to the Governor of Delta State to request that he commute the death sentence passed against Moses Akatugba. Mr Akatugba was arrested by the military aged just 16 and condemned to death on the strength of ‘confessions’ he says were extracted by torture. I have asked the Governor to launch an independent investigation into the allegations of torture.”
Siobhan Reardon, Amnesty Scotland’s Programme Director, said:
“Thirty years ago 151 countries signed up to the UN Convention Against Torture, but since then we have seen a steady decline in almost every one of those countries and today torture is flourishing. Governments hold up the convention in one hand whilst sanctioning horrendous acts of brutality against their own people, with the other.
“Torture has been used against people in the name of national security. It has been used to silence dissidents and political rivals. It has even been used against schoolchildren. In some countries, torture is routine, while in others cases of abuse are isolated and exceptional. However, just one case of torture or ill-treatment is not only prohibited by international law, it is completely unacceptable.
“Amnesty International has been at the forefront of the campaign to eradicate torture for fifty years and although achieving the Convention Against Torture in 1984 was an important milestone, we need a global campaign to end torture more than ever.
“Today is the Stop Torture Global Day of Action and we are asking everyone in Scotland to speak out on behalf of all those who have been tortured – and are being tortured right now. Torture is never justifiable and should never be used by any government for any reason.”
Amnesty International launched its global Stop Torture campaign ahead of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June. The human rights organisation says torture is flourishing, despite a 30-year global ban.
In the last five years, Amnesty has recorded torture and other forms of ill-treatment in at least 141 countries from every region of the world but the secretive nature of torture means the true number is likely to be even higher.
Amnesty’s 30-page briefing, Torture in 2014: 30 Years of Broken Promises details a shocking variety of torture techniques with at least 27 different kinds of torture and other cruel treatment recorded during 2013-14.
These include beatings with fists, rifle butts, wooden clubs and other objects; needles being forced underneath a victim’s fingernails; prisoner having their joints drilled; boiling water being poured onto the body; the administering of electric shocks; the stubbing out of cigarettes on the body; water torture/partial suffocation; and the use of stress positions and sustained sleep deprivation.
Torture or other ill-treatment reported in 141 countries in past five years, and in at least 79 already in 2014, with 27 different types of torture during 2013-14
Since 1984, 155 countries have ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture – a milestone convention that Amnesty campaigned hard for in the 1970s and 1980s – yet Amnesty is now accusing governments around the world of betraying their commitments to stamp out torture.
While measures such as the criminalisation of torture in national legislation, the independent monitoring of detention centres and the video recording of interrogations have led to a decrease in the use of torture in some countries, Amnesty is calling for the wide implementation of rigorous protective mechanisms such as proper medical examinations, prompt access to lawyers, independent and effective investigations of torture allegations, and the prosecution of suspects and proper redress for victims.
Jean Urquhart 