The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The European Commission (EC) is launching a global information campaign regarding its policy and funding programmes to combat torture.

The campaign is also designed to mark International Day against Torture on June 26,an EC press release said here on Thursday.

As part of the campaign, the Delegation of European Commission to Bangladesh hosted a roundtable on June 12.

Representatives of the EC delegation and executive director of the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre For Trauma Victims (BRCT) Akram H Chowdhury addressed the roundtable.

The event was attended by 40 representatives of civil society who were invited to give their views on how the fight against torture might be intensified and how development partners might contribute to such efforts, the press release said.

The EU has set out its position on torture in policy guidelines adopted in 2001. That position emphasizes that torture cannot be accepted under any circumstances, including a state of war or public emergency.

In the last five years, under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), the EU has allocated an average of almost 12 million euro per annum to project designed to tackle torture and support torture victims.

This makes the European Union the lead global donor in this field, as acknowledged recently by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

The EU has financed a wide variety of projects. Examples include awareness-raising on the Convention against Torture, training of law enforcement personnel, investigation into the supply of torture technology, and support for rehabilitation of torture victims.

The scale of the challenge of eradicating torture is underlined by the latest global report by Amnesty International which reveals that cases of torture and ill treatment by security forces, police, and other state authorities occurred in more than 80 countries in 2007.

Francoise Collet, Charge d'affaires and Acting Head of Delegation of the EC Delegation to Bangladesh said, "The EU's position on torture is crystal clear. Torture is an abhorrent violation of human rights and human dignity.

A key message of the European Commission's campaign to combat torture is that all countries of the world must make endeavours to eradicate torture and address its root causes".

She said the EC is supporting such endeavours through substantial funding worldwide for projects to prevent to torture and to rehabilitate torture victims.