Torture is a crime against humanity. Fighting torture is a duty. Every year on day June 26th citizens and activists of many International NGOs in over 60 countries carry out events, public actions, and collections of signatures to celebrate the "International Day in Support of Victims of Torture ", and to remember that many thousands of people all over the world still suffer torture.
The United Nations pinpointed the urge to provide assistance to victims of torture. For this purpose, in 1981, the General Assembly set up the Fund for Torture Victims, financed with voluntary contributions from Governments.
Torture is a crime under international law. It is absolutely prohibited and cannot be justified under any circumstances. This prohibition is binding on every member of the international community, regardless of whether a state has ratified international treaties in which torture is expressly prohibited. The methodical or sweeping practice of torture constitutes a crime against humanity.
Although the ban on torture is acknowledged by all as one of the fundamental bases of human rights, to date this type of crime is still perpetrated in some parts of the world.
People are still being tortured today. Many prisoners are tortured to force them to talk, today there are women and men who live like animals in overcrowded prisons. In 2022 we saw an increase in arbitrary detentions, unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, kidnappings for ransom, extortion, and forced labor.
"Every person who has ever been in a concentration camp, every lager that exists anywhere on earth is a burning wound: if I think of a man lying on his table in a Soviet lager, at that moment she/he is mine fellow prisoner and everything they do to him, they do to me. " SIMON WIESENTHAL
We "Medambiente" - We "Citizens of the World Let's Unite" want to stand alongside all the victims of torture and give them visibility and support.
Giuseppe Nunziato Belcastro, President of "MedAmbiente - Citizens of the World Let's Unite".