News archive for 2009
Women survivors of torture are being denied justice due to failures in countries around the world to uphold their human rights and to respond to their rehabilitation needs, according to new research by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
Antonia Hunt
From 1 June 1935 to 3 October 2009
One of the original group of volunteers who began working with torture survivors during the founding years of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture has died at the age of 74.
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture condemns unreservedly the failure of Zimbabwe to permit entry to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF) has echoed the concerns of a new study revealing the damaging physical and psychological impact of detention on children held in UK Immigration Removal centres.
The mental and physical welfare of some torture survivors is being compromised by a system that denies the validity of their testimonies, according to the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
The 1951 Refugee Convention does not require a torture-surviving asylum seeker to provide concrete evidence of past persecution or torture. Increasingly, however, for survivors to be able to claim their right to protection as refugees, they must corroborate their testimony with independent evidence of their torture.
While efforts to unearth the truth about the UK government's role in the torture of terrorism suspects are to be welcomed, the plight of countless other lesser known torture victims should not be forgotten, says the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.
First they were captives of a conflict in which their freedom and security was thwarted at every turn. Now the Tamil population of Sri Lanka find themselves trapped again, unseen for the most part and wholly unprotected.
First the demonstrations. Then the clampdown. Now, the ‘confessions'. The streets of Tehran have been largely deserted by the estimated two million protesters who turned out following Iran's disputed presidential elections of 12 June. This lull has been likened to the ‘calm of the grave'.
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture supports calls to close legal loopholes which allow people suspected of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes to gain sanctuary in the UK.
The Medical Foundation's Scotland centre has been shortlisted for the 3rd Annual Scottish Charity Awards as an organisation that has made significant achievements in the past year.
People compelled to seek refuge in the UK as a result of escaping torture and organised violence face a raft of challenges in integrating in British society because of a lack of adequate care and support. That was the message from the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture on June 26, UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The second reading of the Torture Damages Bill in the House of Commons is a reminder of the vital role of justice in effective rehabilitation, says the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
In the US, the declassification of torture documents has led to demands that senior figures acting under the previous US administration should be investigated and prosecuted. Dr William Hopkins reflects on the under-reported role of those who played an equally critical role in the use of torture during the 'war on terror' - the medics.
Men, women and children who have been forced into exile are battling an increasing number of obstacles that breach their human rights and seriously impede their efforts to rehabilitate after surviving severe physical and psychological abuse, warns the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF) in its 2009 annual review.
Medics who stood by and allowed people to be tortured during the "war on terror" should be subject to public scrutiny and criminal prosecution, says the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
Detention, torture and the policy of mandatory conscription is forcing an increasing number of Eritrean citizens into exile, according to a new report, which includes information gathered from the testimonies of clients seen by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.
People fleeing the violent conflict in Sri Lanka are presenting with increasingly pronounced scars as a result of torture, with a significant number having been persecuted in ways not previously seen by doctors at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.
Individuals and organisations which liaise with victims and witnesses at the International Criminal Court deserve greater recognition and protection from the risks they face, says the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.
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).