News archive for 2008
The urgent plight of torture survivors housed in cramped, pest-infested, insecure accommodation has been highlighted by a BBC report exposing the Government's shortcomings in meeting international human rights standards.
The unlawful detention of a woman who fled torture and rape only months before her arrival in the UK is indicative of widespread failures in the asylum system, says the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Victims of Torture (MF).
A decade after the historic arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, more still needs to be done in securing justice for torture survivors, says the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
Substandard levels of accommodation are compromising the emotional well-being of torture survivors as they try to engage in rehabilitative work, warn experts at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
1st Prize - £1000 - McQuillan - Northampton
2nd Prize - £250.00 - Eaton - Norfolk
3rd Prize - £100.00 - Moffat - Newbridge
Indications that the Government is to withdraw its reservation on the UN Children's Convention, which allowed it to opt-out of prioritising children's welfare in favour of tougher immigration controls, has been welcomed by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
The struggle between President Mugabe's ruling ZanuPF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is well known and frequently reported by the media. What is less known is the extent of the torture and ill-treatment at the hands of Mugabe's regime as evidenced by some of the estimated 11,000 Zimbabweans thought to have fled to the UK as a result of wide-spread violence and repression.
Health practitioners are failing in their duty of care because of unclear and contradictory guidance from the Department of Health, warns the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF), which has joined other NGOs in calling for the immediate recognition of asylum seekers' health care rights.
A Darfuri doctor who was tortured for speaking out against the atrocities committed by the Janjaweed militia in the Sudanese conflict will speak publicly about her journey of exile to coincide with the release of her book.
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF) has
backed calls for "urgent action" to protect torture survivors in the
wake of a new report which suggests their suffering is being
unnecessarily prolonged because of a lack of understanding among
Government decision-makers.
Proposed legislation that would safeguard and promote the welfare of torture surviving children has been welcomed by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF), which says the law should be enacted without delay.
Torturers would rather the voices of their victims remained unheard. Used as a weapon of oppression, fear and repressive control, torture claims the lives of thousands of people across the globe.
Recounting the personal testimonies of those who manage to survive is a vital step in countering the damage inflicted by torturing regimes that would prefer to remain unaccountable.
Here, to mark UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on June 26 2008, we urge you to read the stories of three MF clients who escaped the brutality of their persecutors.
The "ticking time bomb" argument excusing torture as a necessary means to an end was once the preserve of philosophers and theorists. The past few years have seen this theorising take a sinister turn. Policy makers and state leaders seeking to legitimise interrogation practices that are in fact torture, are pedalling the idea that it is a viable solution in combating global terrorism.
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture has welcomed calls for better screening and support for people seeking refuge in the UK, in the wake of a new report which shows asylum seekers are being let down by substandard systems.
Skydiving grandmother raises thousands for the MF
MF supporter wins second place in 5km charity run
Enabling torture survivors to pursue their perpetrators through the UK courts is a move the Government should support as part of its duty to uphold a victim's right to reparation, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF) says.
After many years of pressure from NGOs, international human rights monitors and Parliament itself, exhorting successive UK governments to remove the general reservation against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a public consultation is now underway to consider that very possibility.
When the US government was first revealed to have used waterboarding as a means of interrogation, the argument offered in its defence was that it maintained the moral high ground because it did not constitute torture. A growing body of evidence is now emerging that points to a calculated strategy which openly recognised the technique as unlawful and yet side-stepped all other legal precedent by claiming the supremacy of governmental control in wartime.