The number of victims of torture is increasing worldwide
June 26 - International Day of Support for Victims of Torture . The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is celebrated all over the world, especially in the context of ongoing torture in conflict zones.
The world is marking the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture amid concerns over the ongoing practice of torture in conflict zones. This primarily concerns the occupied Palestinian territories and Syria, where the civil war continues.
In 1997, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 26 as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. This day is observed to end torture and to ensure the effective operation of the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which entered into force on 26 June 1987.
However, despite the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting torture, violations continue due to war, internal conflicts and discrimination.
The lack of effective mechanisms for the implementation of these conventions necessitates the need to reform the UN.
Israel has been torturing the Palestinians for 76 years
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Palestinians have been subjected to regular displacement, killing, arbitrary arrest and torture.
Reports from non-governmental organizations and official agencies indicate that human rights violations against Palestinians have increased significantly since October 7, 2023.
According to the UN Committee against Torture, since 2001, the Israeli Ministry of Justice has received more than 1,400 complaints about torture. However, all cases related to these appeals were closed before the indictment was prepared.
Between 1967 and 2023, 233 Palestinian prisoners died in Israeli prisons, according to the Palestinian human rights group Addamir Prisoners' Support and Human Rights Association. In addition, 73 of them died directly as a result of torture.
In 2022, the Israeli government arrested nearly 7,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
At the beginning of 2023, there were 4,700 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, of which 29 were women and 150 were minors. After October 7, 2023, their number exceeded 9 thousand people.
33 Palestinians who were recently released from Israeli prisons showed signs of severe torture. Israeli authorities promised to investigate this information, but no serious action was taken by them.
Syria
Since the beginning of the civil war in March 2011 , massive violations of human rights have been recorded in Syria. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), 15,334 people died under torture in Syria during this period, including 199 minors and 115 women.
Since March 2011, a total of 15,074 people, including 95 women and 190 minors, have been tortured in Syrian regime prisons.
Guantanamo: Symbol of Torture
Camp Guantanamo is a US military prison located on the territory of the Guantanamo naval base.
In January 2002, the detention center for terrorism suspects (the official name of the prison) was opened in the Guantanamo prison by the order of the then US president George Bush. Since then, the name of the special prison has been strongly associated with torture.
Since the establishment of the Guantanamo camp, 779 Muslim prisoners have been brutally tortured without formal charges or trial.
According to the international human rights organization Amnesty International, 30 people of Muslim origin have been detained without trial in the Guantanamo prison for more than 22 years.
According to official data, nine prisoners have died in prison so far.
During a visit to Guantanamo last year, a UN special rapporteur found that torture was routinely used in the special prison under the guise of "enhanced interrogation".
According to human rights organizations, Guantanamo detainees often face torture and discrimination even after their release.
