OSCE Chairman-in-Office urges redoubled efforts to combat torture
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea
Geoana. (Michal Olejarnik/OSCE) Photo details
BUCHAREST, 26 June 2001 (OSCE) - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office today called on all OSCE countries to redouble their efforts to combat torture and other ill-human treatment.
"All OSCE states have committed themselves to take effective legislative, administrative and judicial measures to prevent and punish torture", said Mircea Geoana, Romanian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman-in-Office, on the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture. "The implementation of this commitment is a matter of utmost importance."
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office recalled that this objective, like other human rights commitments, is not a matter left to the internal discretion of individual States; it is recognized by all OSCE States as an urgent and legitimate concern for the OSCE as a whole.
The OSCE Chairman-in Office drew attention to the anti-torture work of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and its prominent advisory panel of anti-torture experts, and to the activities of OSCE field missions. The various anti-torture activities carried out by the OSCE include organizing training aimed at the prevention of torture and providing advice on the reform and implementation of anti-torture legislation.
"It is essential that OSCE institutions and field missions build an information network that includes national institutions and organizations, as well as relevant international organizations and human rights NGOs", said Mr. Geoana. "We highly appreciate the efforts by other international organizations to combat torture. In this regard, we welcome the recent adoption by the European Union (EU) Council of a set of Guidelines to EU Policy towards Third Countries on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, in order to identify ways and means to effectively ensure that the prohibition against torture is enforced."
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For further information, please contact Josue Anselmo, OSCE Spokesperson, mobile (+43) 664 325 3698, or the Press and Public Information Section of the OSCE Secretariat, tel.: (+ 43-1) 514 36 180, or e-mail: info@osce.org
"All OSCE states have committed themselves to take effective legislative, administrative and judicial measures to prevent and punish torture", said Mircea Geoana, Romanian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman-in-Office, on the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture. "The implementation of this commitment is a matter of utmost importance."
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office recalled that this objective, like other human rights commitments, is not a matter left to the internal discretion of individual States; it is recognized by all OSCE States as an urgent and legitimate concern for the OSCE as a whole.
The OSCE Chairman-in Office drew attention to the anti-torture work of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and its prominent advisory panel of anti-torture experts, and to the activities of OSCE field missions. The various anti-torture activities carried out by the OSCE include organizing training aimed at the prevention of torture and providing advice on the reform and implementation of anti-torture legislation.
"It is essential that OSCE institutions and field missions build an information network that includes national institutions and organizations, as well as relevant international organizations and human rights NGOs", said Mr. Geoana. "We highly appreciate the efforts by other international organizations to combat torture. In this regard, we welcome the recent adoption by the European Union (EU) Council of a set of Guidelines to EU Policy towards Third Countries on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, in order to identify ways and means to effectively ensure that the prohibition against torture is enforced."
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For further information, please contact Josue Anselmo, OSCE Spokesperson, mobile (+43) 664 325 3698, or the Press and Public Information Section of the OSCE Secretariat, tel.: (+ 43-1) 514 36 180, or e-mail: info@osce.org