Report to Parliamentary committee highlights restorative role of justice

The therapeutic importance of justice for survivors of torture has been highlighted by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture in a report to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR).

The Parliamentary committee is currently conducting an inquiry into UK legislation on torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including the need for a Torture Damages Bill.

In the MF's submission to the JCHR, CEO Simon Carruth states: "For those survivors of torture who want to and are able to pursue an action, the enactment of the Torture Damages Bill would be of enormous value in recognising and upholding the inherent dignity and humanity of the individual, whilst at the same time sending out a strong message that torture is wrong and that torturers cannot act with impunity."

While international law and judicial mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court provide recourse for actions against high level perpetrators, access to justice for torture survivors, both in their countries of origin and from exile in the UK, remains difficult.

The Torture Damages Bill, promoted by Redress and supported by the MF, would enable torture survivors to bring civil claims in the UK for compensation against foreign nationals and states responsible for their torture, where no adequate or effective remedy exists in that state.

For many clients of the MF, who fled their countries after being targeted precisely because of their attempts to expose corruption in oppressive regimes, the ability to seek reparations abroad could provide recourse to justice they were denied. 

Psychologically, justice and reparation can play a significant role in the recovery process.  Not only does it afford survivors an element of control in a situation where they can otherwise feel disempowered, it is also a public and official acknowledgement of the harm done to them.

In the words of one client: "It would mean that they did not win, they did not destroy me, they will be the ones who have to answer, so the world will know what they did."