Message of Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission On the occasion of UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE, 26 JUNE 1999

"All over the world today, the 26th of June, the voice of humanity is being raised in support of the victims of torture.

Twelve years ago, on this day, the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment entered into force. It was then hoped, perhaps naively, that the abominable practice of torture having been outlawed, this evil would come to an end, once and for all.

But between the making of law, whether domestic or international, and its effective implementation, falls a shadow. And that shadow persists in respect of torture, still darkening the globe, the minds of those who practice it, and the lives of those who are its hapless victims.

Our government, after persistent advocacy by the National Human Rights Commission, announced on 26 June 1997 that it would ratify the Convention against Torture. But it has not yet done so and two year have passed. In the name of the Commission, I therefore urge that this step be taken at the earliest.

There are some evils with which there can be no compromise, and torture is one such evil. Our constitution, our laws and the rulings of our Apex Court all forbid it. Indeed, the latter has recognised that the right against torture is a Fundamental Right. And our treaty obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights categorically forbid the practice of torture article 7 of that Covenant being non-derogable.

Indeed, no circumstance – not war, not public emergency, not orders from the higher authority, nothing - can be invoked to justify torture.

Yet sadly the practice persists: the Commission receiving numerous complaints relating to this barbarous practice. It is to help end this evil that the Commission is, for its part, organizing jointly with the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), the VIII International Symposium on Torture in New Delhi between 22-25 September 1999.

There are certain crimes so ugly that they scar and disfigure civilization itself. Torture is such a crime. Neither our planet, nor our civilization, should countenance it any more. But until it is eradicated, we must extend our fullest solidarity and support to those who are its victims, for anything less would be unconscionable."

- Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah