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Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, commented today on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture being commemorated tomorrow, Saturday, 26 June 2004:
"Although there is no human practice so abominable or so widely condemned, physical and mental torture and other forms of cruel and inhuman treatment are now on the increase and are applied systematically in many countries, to the extent that practically no nation can claim to be free of them. The inhuman treatment of helpless men and women in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad that shocked people all over the world a few weeks ago is a recent and tragic example. Torture in all its forms remains a violation of the absolute gospel value of the dignity of the human person and the sacredness of life that the WCC upholds.
"The sad fact that the horrible practice of degrading people, subjecting them to physical and psychological torture continues to be practised at local and international levels in all the regions of the world, whether in the northern or southern hemisphere, is largely due to the fact that national governments have failed to ratify international norms and standards in order to make them applicable to local and national situations."
Kobia also commended the work of organizations like Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) which struggles "to bring to an end the culture of impunity that plagues many of our societies particularly in the South." ACAT shares the "common objective of the abolition of capital punishment which the members of the WCC see as a significant expression of the Christian belief in the sanctity of life".
In a meeting with leaders of the International Federation of ACATs on 11 June 2004, the WCC general secretary acknowledged the past cooperation between the two organizations and assured them of its continuation.
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