Preventing torture
Torture is one of the most serious violations of a person’s fundamental rights. It destroys her dignity, body and mind and has far-reaching effects on families and community.
Despite the absolute prohibition of torture under international law, its practice remains widespread, particularly in places out of public view. The risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment exists everywhere. In democratic states, national security commonly triumphs over human rights, for example in the context of the so-called “war on terror”, “tough on crime”-polices and in means used to obtain confessions.
Torture is about a pervasive abuse of power, a problem which goes beyond prisons and equally concerns migrant or juvenile detention centers, as well as psychiatric institutions. The APT works to promote a global system of independent monitoring visits to all places of detention, as the most effective way of preventing torture.
