{"id":4422,"date":"2026-06-26T14:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/?p=4422"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:09:56","slug":"gihr-statement-on-the-international-day-in-support-of-victims-of-torture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/?p=4422","title":{"rendered":"GIHR Statement on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Statement on the Occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June 2026)<br>&#8220;Torture is a crime against humanity&#8230; and must never become a legitimate trade&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GIHR\u00a0marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, declared by the United Nations General Assembly reaffirming the global commitment to eradicating torture, prosecuting its perpetrators, and upholding the Convention against Torture, which prohibits this crime in absolute terms, without exception or justification.<br><br>Despite significant developments in international human rights law, torture continues to be practiced in many parts of the world, with its methods becoming increasingly sophisticated due to technological advances revealing a painful gap between the principles states proclaim and the practices they permit or tolerate.<\/strong><br><strong><br>GIHR expresses grave concern over the continued international trade in torture equipment and instruments of ill-treatment, a trade estimated at billions of dollars annually. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has documented more than 335 companies in 54 countries engaged in the manufacture or marketing of inherently prohibited equipment, including electric shock devices, painful restraints, spiked batons, and other tools designed solely to inflict pain and humiliation.<br><br>What makes this reality more alarming is that several major powers rank among the leading producers and exporters of such equipment embodying a clear double standard: states that champion human rights while their companies profit from tools used to commit serious violations that may amount to crimes against humanity.<br><br>GIHR calls for the adoption of a binding international treaty prohibiting the manufacture, export, and import of torture instruments, enhanced oversight of law enforcement equipment trade, and accountability for companies and states that directly or indirectly sustain this trade. GIHR also renews its call on all states to fully implement the Convention against Torture, recognize the competence of the Committee against Torture under Articles 21 and 22, cooperate fully with the UN Special Rapporteur, and ensure reparation, rehabilitation, and redress for victims.<\/strong><br><strong><br>Combating torture is not only about prosecuting perpetrators it begins with cutting off the sources of this crime, foremost among them halting the trade in its instruments and holding those who profit from them accountable.<br><br>Torture is a crime that must be erased from existence and knows no statute of limitations. Human dignity is not a matter for bargaining or trade.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Statement on the Occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June 2026)&#8220;Torture is a crime against humanity&#8230; and must never become a legitimate trade&#8221; GIHR\u00a0marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, declared by the United Nations General Assembly reaffirming the global commitment to eradicating torture, prosecuting its ","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4424,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions\/4424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}