Torture in Healthcare Settings: Reflections on the Special Rapporteur on Torture’s 2013 Thematic Report Torture in Health Care Settings: Reflections on the Special Rapporteur on Torture’s 2013 Thematic Report, was published in February 2014. The 322-page volume includes articles from more than 30 authors from around the world, focused on the theme of torture… Continue Reading
Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
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Torture: It Can Happen Anywhere
February 13, 2014 – In this new video from the Open Society Foundations, the Special Rapporteur explains that torture can happen anywhere, and is not only limited to the use of harsh interrogation techniques in custodial settings. The Special Rapporteur’s thematic report on torture in healthcare settings illustrates just one of the non-traditional contexts in which torture and ill-treatment can occur. The Special Rapporteur also observes that the use of torture in the context of counter-terrorism efforts only breeds more torture and more terrorism, is an ineffective way of obtaining information and evidence, and dangerously generates distrust in the police and institutions. The video is available on the Open Society Foundations website.
Endocrinologists Respond to UN Statement on Genital-Normalizing Surgery
The group Advocates for Informed Choice (AIC) has published a letter from an international group of pediatric endocrine societies that responds to the Special Rapporteur’s statement calling for an end to genital-normalizing surgeries without the consent of the affected person. The Special rapporteur discussed this issue in his 2013 thematic report on torture and abusive practices in healthcare settings. According to AIC, “the letter thanks the United Nations for bringing attention to this issue, while offering no rationale for continuing the practice that the Special Rapporteur and human rights bodies in several regions have condemned.”
