Torture: The Need for a Dialogue with Its Victims and Its Perpetrators

Abstract

Torture has probably never been as widely discussed as today, nor has it ever been as broadly condemned, both in specific terms and within the more general framework of human rights It is none the less true that it remains a common practice across the world and constitutes, in many cases, an instrument of power. The scope of the phenomenon, as well as the development of its various forms, renders the task of its active opponents ever more difficult and sensitive Among their ranks, the International Committee of the Red Cross is developing, within the framework of its protection activities implying access to persons deprived of liberty, a little-known approach combining visits to the detainees and dialogue with the responsible authorities. This approach, increasingly implemented by the ICRC and which has involved about 90 countries, contributes not only to preventing and decreasing the practice of torture, but also to furthering, through the accumulation of experience, global efforts to assess the nature and implications of the phenomenon.