Share this story!            

Pakistan to join forum against torture in war on terror

* Advocacy group says some democratic nations have chosen to torture suspected terrorists

By Iqbal Khattak

COPENHAGEN: Pakistan will join the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims for an international conference in the Danish capital on Friday – focusing on whether torturing terrorists was justified in the war on terror.

The advocacy group is organising the conference to highlight the issue of torture during the US-led war, and seeks to discourage it.

"The so-called 'war on terrorism' has re-ignited the ages-old debate on whether torture can be justified when the purpose is to save innocent lives. In parallel, some democratic governments have resorted to torturing suspected terrorists or rendering such people to third world countries known for their systematic use of torture, while authoritarian rulers have used the opportunity to increase their oppression of dissident individuals and groups – not least journalists," the IRCT said.

The conference comes as US President Barack Obama completes a year in office after campaigning for “change” from previous policies and the recent Nobel prize given to him. These events reignited suspicions worldwide that torture while fighting terrorism would continue and the Guantanamo Bay prison still existed despite Obama's pledge to shut it down.

The IRCT and the Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme organised the conference – Preventing Torture within the Fight Against Terrorism (2007-2010) –funded by the European Commission and aimed at "promoting respect for the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment".

According to the organisers, target countries of the conference included Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Kenya, Mauritania, Philippines, Pakistan and the Russian Federation.

Home | National

Share this story!