APPENDIX 6
Memorandum submitted by Caring for Victims
of Torture Medical Foundation
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims
of Torture herewith submits the enclosed written evidence to the
Foreign Affairs Select Committee for its session on the Human
Rights Annual Report 1999 to be held on 23 November. The evidence
consists of brief submissions (1) on the International Criminal
Court Statute; and (2), (3) and (4) on torture in three countries:
India (the Punjab), Sri Lanka, and Turkey, based on the testimony
and medical evidence of Medical Foundation clients.
In general, the Medical Foundation welcomes
the improvements in the 1999 reports over its predecessor because
the former specifies types of human rights abuse in particular
countries. The brief mentions of some of the serious human rights
abuses found in particular countries indicate the British Government's
willingness to address specific problems with other governments
in bilateral and multilateral relations.
For these reasons the Medical Foundation regrets
that the widespread practice of torture of Sikhs in India and
of Sri Lankan (largely Tamil) citizens is not addressed in the
Human Rights Annual Report 1999. We welcome the short section
on torture in Turkey (page 55) but believe that there is more
the British Government could do to highlight the problem.
Our country-specific submissions briefly indicate
the extent of torture and some of the methods of abuse suffered
by our clients and documented by our medical staff. In each of
these countries torture occurs in the context of a sometimes violent
struggle by a minority to counter perceived discrimination and
to achieve greater recognition or autonomy than the government
wishes to grant. The UK has particular obligations and responsibilities
towards each of these countries: India and Sri Lanka as members
of the Commonwealth, and Turkey as a Member State of the Council
of Europe. In addition, these three countries are major refugee-producing
countries, and refugees arriving in the UK from these countries
have frequently suffered torture.
Our submission on the International Criminal
Court Statute calls on the Government to make time in its legislative
agenda in the next session of Parliament for ratification of this
milestone treaty.
We request that the members of the Foreign Affairs
Select Committee consider raising with the Minister the following
questions:
1. How does the Government intend to overcome
any scheduling difficulties so as to introduce enabling legislation
that will allow the United Kingdom to fulfil the Foreign Secretary's
pledge made in July 1998 to be among the first 60 countries to
ratify the International Criminal Court Statute?
2. Given the pledges made by the Indian
Government to address the problem of torture, what steps can the
British Government take to press them to deliver on those promises
in Indian police stations?
3. Given the extensive and detailed recommendations
for ending the practice of torture in Sri Lanka made by, eg, the
UN Committee against Torture, the UN Working Group on Disappearances
and Amnesty International, what contribution to ending the practice
of torture in Sri Lanka does the Minister consider the UK could
most effectively make?
4. What plans does the UK have for using
its good offices as a Member State of the Council of Europe to
work towards a just solution to the conflict between the Turkish
Government and the Kurdish minority?
About the Medical Foundation:
The Medical Foundation is the only charity in
the UK which works exclusively with survivors of torture and organised
violence. It cares for both adults and children. It has treated
more than 18,000 clients since it began and now helps approximately
3,000 new clients a year from about 90 countries. Regions from
which new referrals arrived during 1998 included: Africa (33 per
cent); Middle East (37 per cent); Europe (10 per cent); Asia (16
per cent); and the Americas (4 per cent). Its clients also include
British survivors of Far East Prisoner of War camps from the Second
World War and victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The Foundation aims to provide survivors of
torture with medical, emotional and practical support; to train
health professionals and others to work with torture survivors;
to educate the public about torture and to campaign to improve
the legal framework regarding the treatment of asylum seekers
and refugees.
The Foundation's 80 paid and 80 volunteer doctors,
psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychotherapists and case-workers
offer clients medical treatment, practical help and advice with
housing and welfare benefits, and a range of therapies, including
psychotherapy, individual and family counselling, physiotherapy
and complementary therapies. A child psychotherapist works with
childern who have been tortured, whose parents have been tortured
or who have witnessed atrocities perpetrated against their families.
A team of experienced interpreters help our clinicians offer services,
free of charge to the client, in 59 languages.
1. RATIFICATION
OF THE
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
COURT (ICC) STATUTE
1.1 The Medical Foundation welcomes the
statement to Parliament by the Foreign Secretary, the Right Hon
Robin Cook MP, on 20 July 1998: "I hope—it is our intention—that
we shall be amongst the first 60 to ratify [the ICC Statute]".
Speedy ratification of this international treaty will help ensure
that victims and survivors of torture and other crimes against
humanity can seek justice, redress and compensation with the acknowledgement
and support of the international community.
1.2 As co-intervenors in the House of Lords
hearings concerning General Augusto Pinochet, the Medical Foundation
is aware of problems that can arise when the principle of universal
jurisdiction is applied in a national legal system. While this
case established that the crime of torture is subject to universal
jurisdiction in the English courts, even when the accused is a
former Head of State, the case also demonstrated the legal and
practical difficulties of applying such international treaties
as the 1984 UN Convention against Torture in a particular domestic
legal system.
1.3 Public debate around this particular
case highlights further threats which, were it not for fiercely
independent English and Spanish judiciaries, might have tainted
the legal process. Damage to bilateral trade, the alleged moral
debt owed by one state to another for asistance during wartime,
and the threat to democratic stability in Chile—all were
invoked in support of allowing an accused torturer to escape the
rigours of international treaties.
1.4 The gains in the Pinochet case for Btitish
domestic law should not be under-estimated. Nevertheless, the
implementation of international law against torture, "disappearances",
genocide and other crimes against humanity would no doubt be best
achieved at an international level What is noticeable in the Pinochet
case is that neither the British nor the Spanish governments have
sought the prosecution of General Pinochet. The English Attorney
General has repeatedly declined to investigate or prosecute him
in England, and the Spanish Government's attempt to block the
application for extradition would have succeeded had not the Spanish
Supreme Court overruled it. Unfortunately, not all judiciaries
are free from journalistic pressure or political interference.
For the sake of consistency across many legal jurisdictions, it
is imperative that the ICC come into existence as soon as possible
so that future Pinochets can be investigated, indicted and tried
by an international tribunal.
1.5 The advantages to Britain of early ratification
are moral and practical. Britain can show its continuing leadership
role, which it played so effectively prior to and during the Rome
Diplomatic Conference in1998 that drafted the Statute as well
as by its early signing of the Statute. As one of the 60 Charter
States to ratify, Britain would have greater influence in the
drafting and adoption of the rules of procedure and evidence as
well as the financial arrangments for the Court. Finally, pointing
to the Pinochet case as one indication, we would argue that the
financial and diplomatic costs of an ICC prosecution are much
less than a domestic national prosecution when high officials
are the subject of universal jurisdiction.
2. PUNJABI SIKH
CLIENTS OF
THE MEDICAL
FOUNDATION
2.1 A new Medical Foundation report entitled
Lives under Threat: a study of Sikhs coming to the UK from
the Punjab medically documents 95 Sikh torture survivors examined
between November 1991 and March 1999 at the Medical Foundation
in London.Torture in police stations and interrogation centres
in the Punjab is shown to be routine despite efforts by the Indian
Government to suppress the practice.
2.2 The examining physician who conducted
these 95 medical examinations concludes: "All these men gave
a history of abuse with a variety of techniques that show a pattern
peculiar to the region, partly due to the use of materials easily
available to the police, such as the lathi (long stout
bamboo canes) and the ghotna, the four-foot-long grinding
pestle used to roll down the victim's body."
2.3 Several aspects of torture are evident
from this Medical Foundation report:
— Severe physical and psychological
torture is routinely employed in police stations and interrogation
centres in the Punjab;
— Beatings are often severe: 82 of
the 95 cases examined lost consciousness on one or more occasions
during interrogation, and 61 were unable to walk upon release;
— Other methods of torture include
electric shock, beatings on the soles of the feet, suspension
by the arms or wrists tied behind the back, cheera ("tearing")
of the groin muscles by pulling the legs apart to 180 degrees,
rolling of the limbs with the ghotna;
— Long-term physical damage was common,
including pain on walking; damage to the shoulder girdle; pain
in the back, hips and joints; visual disturbance attributed to
blows to the head with rifle butts;
— Psychological sequelae were evident
in all cases, with elements of post-traumatic stress disorder,
such as loss of concentration (65 cases), memory loss (34), confusion
(11), intrusive thoughts (37), flashbacks (8), panic attacks (20),
and especially, recurrent nightmares reproducing events experienced
during detention (56);
— Torture is at least a semi-official
policy since several detainees affirmed that torture occurred
during questioning by senior officers, some of whom were named
by the victim;
— Ill-treatment was clearly aimed at
obtaining information about dissident groups;
— An additional purpose is to terrorise
the supposedly disaffected population;
— 42 torture survivors stated that
they were released without charge only after a substantial bribe
was paid—the sole motive, at times, for the repeated arrest
of the sons of well-to-do parents.
2.4 In spite of the Indian Government's
protestations that security agents accused of torture are being
identified and punished, there is clear evidence that police still
practise routine discrimination, bribery and torture without fear
of retribution. Until the Indian Government's promise of protection
against torture equates with the delivery of protection, our Sikh
clients will continue to fear further persecution and torture
were they to be returned to India.
3. SRI LANKAN
CLIENTS OF
THE MEDICAL
FOUNDATION
3.1 The Medical Foundation has always had
large numbers of Sri Lankan clients, seeing around 200-300 each
year in the last few years. A recent Medical Foundation study
Caught in the Crossfire (publication forthcoming) reviewed
49 Sri Lankan Tamil clients whose torture was medically documented.
All 49 had been in detention in Sri Lanka since January 1997 so
the torture described was relatively recent. All but two of the
clients were male, most aged 20 to 30.
3.2 There was a consistent pattern in all
detentions of being punched, kicked, and hit with a range of objects
including S-LON pipes (plastic pipes filled with heavy material).
Two thirds suffered cuts from knives or bayonets, or burns from
hot metal or cigarettes, or both. More than half described being
suspended upside down, beaten or made to inhale noxious fumes
from burning chillies or both. About a quarter were semi-suffocated
with a plastic shopping bag sometimes smeared inside with a little
petrol. A quarter suffered sexual abuse, sometimes severe and
prolonged. All reported continuing physical problems. About 40
per cent reported continuing psychological problems. The features
reported are also recorded by the US State Department, UNHCR,
and human rights NGOS.
3.3 Torture takes place in the context of
continuing civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) and the Government forces. UNHCR estimates that 138,000
Sri Lankans sought asylum in Europe during the 1990s and a further
32,000 in north America. In addition, there are some 110,000 Sri
Lankan asylum seekers in India.
3.4 Most Medical Foundation clients were
detained on suspicion of being LTTE supporters. Government forces
took obvious scars to mean that the detainee "must"
have been fighting with the LTTE. Some clients were "identified"
as LTTE supporters by other detainees forced to point them out
on pain of further torture if they do not comply. In fact these
scars were caused by shelling or in previous detentions, but they
resulted in people being detained and at risk of torture solely
on these grounds.
3.5 Of the more recent arrests, 65 per cent
were by the army, almost all in the north, 24 per cent were by
the police, all in Colombo, and 11 per cent were by other Tamil
militant groups. The average length of detentions was less than
3 weeks by the police, about 5½ months by those in the army
camps, and those in prison spent an average of more than ten months
there. Few were brought to court or charged.
3.6 Sixty one per cent were released from
their final detention because of bribes paid by family or friends,
indicating official corruption among police and army. 31 per cent
were able to escape, all from army camps in the north. Only two
were released on bail following routine court hearings, and one
other was released following the intervention of the ICRC. Clients
described the presence in many places where they were detained
of equipment whose only use is torture (eg suspension equipment),
suggesting at least official connivance.
3.7 Detailed recommendations for ending
the practice of torture in Sri Lanka have been made by other bodies,
especially the UN Committee against Torture, the UN Working Group
on Disappearances and Amnesty International. Recent recommendations
by the EU High Level Working Group to make it more difficult for
Sri Lankans to leave, many of whom are at risk of persecution
and torture, are not appropriate. EU and British diplomatic efforts
towards a just resolution of the conflict would be a more suitable
and more effective means to diminish the practice of torture in
Sri Lanka.
4. TURKISH CLIENTS
OF THE
MEDICAL FOUNDATION
4.1 Turkish asylum seekers have always been
among the most numerous Medical Foundation clients. We have seen
around 300-400 each year in the last few years.
4.2 A recent Medical Foundation study entitled
Staying Alive by Accident: Torture Survivors from Turkey in
the UK reviewed 78 Turkish clients whose torture was medically
documented. Medical evidence of torture found scars or other signs
that the clients had been tortured as they described. Doctors
found scarring from beatings, cigarette burn scars, pain in feet
and shoulders consistent with reported injuries, and in virtually
all the clients, often considerable mental and emotional symptoms.
Beating, falaka (beating on the soles of the feet), electrical
torture, suspension and cold water hosing were the tortures most
frequently reported, with blindfolding, enforced nakedness and
threats of death or violence generally accompanying the physical
ill-treatment. Similar findings based on medical examinations
in Turkey are reported by other agencies, for example, Physicians
for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch (Helsinki) and the Human
Rights Foundation of Turkey.
4.3 The 78 clients in this Medical Foundation
report left Turkey and sought political asylum in the UK because
they feared further torture. All but eight of the samples were
men, most of whom were married, but a good number had left wives
and children behind. Most lived in small towns or villages and
were farmers, although some had fled to large towns to try to
escape the attentions of the security forces. All but two were
Kurds; most had political sympathies for Kurdish separatist or
communist ideas. Most belonged to the minority religious Alevi
group whose members are also harassed. In virtually every case,
other members of the family had also been persecuted. The clients
were usually detained repeatedly for a few days at a time. Only
15 were charged with an offence, and of these, only three were
convicted. All described torture during their arrests.
4.4 Medical examination during detention
and upon release or court appearance is required by Turkish law,
but intimidation of doctors and detainees leads to torture not
being reported or documented even when there are clear signs of
it. In March 1998 a doctor was charged with malpractice for documenting
torture of six men accused of theft although the charge against
the doctor was later dropped. The Turkish Government has issued
circulars ordering compliance with regulations forbidding the
use of torture and has instituted human rights training for security
personnel. It has also established a Human Rights Minister. However,
as the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture
pointed out, these measures are inadequate without more effective
control of the security forces.
4.5 Incommunicado detention significantly
facilitated the torture of the Medical Foundation's clients. Recently
introduced shorter detention times should help to make torture
less likely, but so far reports suggest that these are not everywhere
complied with.
4.6 It is significant that almost all the
Turkish clients of the Medical Foundation are Kurdish. Most of
the torture we have documented occurs in the context of the struggle
between the Turkish Government and the Kurdish separatist movement,
the PKK. Intolerance of cultural difference, enforced by violence,
characterised the initial relations between the Turkish Government
and the Kurds in Turkey, and still does to this day. A just solution
to this dispute that recognises the human rights of all parties,
would contribute very significantly to the elimination of torture
in Turkey.
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