News archive for 2007
A former political prisoner who was detained and tortured for almost six years by Burma's military junta has spoken of his fears for those who are still being held if the momentum for justice is lost.
On International Human Rights Day, we are reminded that 60 years after the world recognised every individual's fundamental right to be protected against torture, thousands of people are still being driven to desperation and exile by the shocking betrayal of that right.
A Ugandan woman who narrowly escaped death at the hands of the
unrelenting torturers that killed her husband and abducted her children
has had her story published in a seminal new book.
Vulnerable asylum seekers are being exposed to serious abuses because of a consistent failure by the private contractors who detain them to ensure that complaints are independently investigated, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture says.
A House of Lords ruling that allows the Government to remove Darfuri asylum seekers from the UK does not give enough assurances about their security to warrant their return, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture warns.
Writer and broadcaster John McCarthy has been recognised for his invaluable support of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture in Britain's Most Admired Charities awards.
Art work donated by some of today's most sought after names helped the Medical Foundation beat all expectations at its latest auction, raising £60,000.
Plans to introduce charges for basic medical treatment could endanger the lives of torture survivors and would make doctors unofficial arbiters of an immigration policy that prioritises cost cuts over health care, the Medical Foundation warns.
Children who have survived torture and who are unaccompanied asylum seekers in the UK are at risk of further traumatisation and return to the very countries they fled because of a lack of access to appropriate legal representation.
Writers who have been praised on the literary circuit for their reflections on lives of pain and exile appeared alongside Sheffield novelist Lesley Glaister at this year's Off the Shelf festival.
A lengthy report on BBC Radio Four's drive time PM programme, later repeated on the World Service and Five Live, has drawn attention to the MF's work with former child soldiers.
Key safeguards must be introduced to protect asylum seekers fleeing torture from further unnecessary suffering at the hands of the UK immigration authorities, the Medical Foundation urges.
Born to suffer. That was one of the lines composed by young teenage clients of the Medical Foundation during a series of powerful sessions in which they laid bare feelings of lost lives and uncertain identities which were then transformed into music by rock icon and long-term MF supporter, Skin.
Exiled writers, flourishing poets and novelists who have forged new
identities through their work will be sharing their talent at two key
events on Edinburgh's literary scene.
Several young Medical Foundation clients have attended the House of
Lords to give a first hand account of the difficulties they encountered
as adolescents trying to claim asylum in Britain.
The Government appears to be retreating from its undertaking that
asylum seekers who have survived torture will only be detained in
"exceptional circumstances" by listing four sets of circumstance in
which they may be held.
Marcel, Armel and Serge-Eric all share similar experiences of detention, torture and organised violence in their respective countries. They met at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture where they are part of a therapy group.
Marcel, Armel and Serge-Eric were interviewed for the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Listen to their accounts of the torture that forced them to flee to the United Kingdom:
Today, June 26th, marks the 20th anniversary of the coming into force of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture believes an
independent, public enquiry into British Army interrogation techniques
is essential following a Law Lords ruling that the Human Rights Act
binds members of the armed forces serving abroad.
Far-reaching Home Office changes to the way in which unaccompanied child and adolescent asylum seekers are looked after could damage young torture victims, the MF warns.