June 26, 2014

30 years after the UN convention on banning torture - Amnesty's campaign to stand with victims of torture

editor:	Murat Suner

Today, all over the world, Amnesty International's members and activists are taking to the streets to ask governments to take action.

On International Day in Support of Victims of Torture the idea is to stand in solidarity with anyone who has suffered torture, and to demand that governments stop this barbaric practice and make sure torture survivors get justice.

On this occasion Amnesty is publishing personal stories of people who have been tortured. Here is one of them, the story of Moses Akatugba from Nigeria:

"Aged 16, Moses was awaiting the results of his secondary school exams when his life changed forever. On 27 November 2005, the Nigerian army arrested and charged him with stealing three phones and various other items.

Moses describes being shot in the hand and soldiers beating him on the head and back. He was taken to an army barracks, and shown the body of a dead man. When he was unable to identify who it was, he was beaten again.

If Moses had been allowed to call a lawyer - or even just his mother - it could have protected him from being tortured. But for the first 24 hours, nobody knew where he was.

Moses was moved to Epkan police station in Delta State and says police severely beat him with machetes and batons; tied and hanged him for several hours in interrogation rooms and used pliers to pull-out his finger and toe nails in order to force him to sign two confessions.

At his trial, the investigating officer failed to show up. Moses was convicted solely on the basis of the victim's statement and the two confessions he made while being tortured.

After eight years in prison, Moses was sentenced to death by hanging. Today, Moses is traumatized, his life hanging in the balance."

The international campaign and ways to take immediate action can be followed here.