TORTURE: ASIAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | FEB - APR 2014
without charges. This example deserves a bit more detail. Mohamed’s lawyers sought discovery of “notes taken by British agents during discussions with CIA agents who detailed to the Brits what they were doing to Mohamed. A British High Court ruled in his favor, finding that Mohamed was entitled to obtain the documents to prove that he had been tortured in American custody. As part of the ruling, the British High Court prepared a summary of the notes in question. But as the ruling was about to be released – and the world to learn the details of Mohamed’s abuse at the hands of his American captors – the British government warned the court that British national security would be severely jeopardized if these details were disclosed.” (p. 185) The British government specifically said that if the courts released the information. “U.S. intelligence agencies would no longer pass onto Britain any information about terrorist plots aimed at British citizens.” [!!] (p. 185) It would appear then that Obama was not only in breach of CAT and the U.S. Constitution, but, as he was prepared to not disclose information about terrorist plots, he would, in effect, be aiding and abetting terrorists.
VOLUME 03 NUMBER 01 & 02
must learn: first, that it is always wrong to use torture, and second, that proper police investigations do not rely on torturing people. In many Asian countries, there are not yet laws in place that make torture illegal. If torture should never be used by anyone, should not the first step be to pass laws making torture illegal? Once laws making torture illegal, are passed, the requisite structures to ensure a strict implementation of those laws must be put in place. These are some of the more important challenges facing those concerned about working to eliminate torture. (The article is based on the speech delivered by the author at the second meeting of Asian Parliamentarians and Human Rights Defenders jointly organized by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Danish Institute Against Torture in end 2013)
Whenever we hear attempts of any kind, by any persons to defend the use of torture, we need to remember the clear message of CAT: torture is never permissible for any reason! I would like to return to the main theme, namely the use of torture, by police officers in many Asian countries, as an ordinary means to attain the objective they have set. That objective is to force persons to state what the police want those persons to say. The police officers attempt to justify the torture they employ as a means of carrying their investigations. These police officers
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