June 26: International Day to Support the Victims of Torture

Today is the UN's International Day to Support the Victims of Torture and the month of June is designated as Torture Awareness Month.

The date was selected in 1998 and was announced at the time by Kofi Annan:

June 26 is not a date chosen at random. It was the day, 11 years ago, that the Convention against Torture came into force. It was also the day, 53 years ago, that the United Nations Charter was signed -- the first international instrument to embody obligations for Member States to promote and encourage respect for human rights.

Following a call for all countries to end torture, the European Union also took a subtle swipe at the US: 'The EU also said it condemned any attempt by states or public officials to legalise or acquiesce in such treatment "under any circumstances, including on grounds of national security."

At the time of this writing, I was unable to find anything on the White House web site even noting the significance of this day.

You can read the text of the UN Convention Against Torture here.

Amnesty International has more.


Light a candle for a victim of torture today.