Take a stand to stop torture

‘The pain of torture is unbearable.’

These are the words of torture survivor Moses Akatugba from Nigeria, one of the many individuals we support in their search for justice. The ‘confession’ Moses made, after having his finger and toe nails extracted, was used to sentence him to death. 

The illegal, barbaric and inhumane act of torture should have been consigned to the world’s history books long ago. But torture is still prevalent in all corners of the world, which is why thousands of you are campaigning to stop it.

Today people across the world are coming together to take a stand against torture, marking the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.  In the UK, Amnesty supporters are organising events from as far apart as Penzance and Hull to Drinnahilly in Northern Ireland. You can get involved too. 

Torture: a very live issue

Ahead of today the United Nations’ leading expert on torture, Juan Mendez, has written an excellent article about the importance of holding torturers to account.

It’s not all doom and gloom. As we’ve already shown, amazing things can be achieved when we come together to take a stand. Here are just a couple of examples:

Mexico: In February, the last remaining charge against Claudia Medina was dropped. The charges were based on evidence obtained under torture.

Nigeria: Earlier this month, Moses Akatugba walked from prison a free man, after 800,000 people from across the world decided they would fight his injustice.

Four things you can do right now

The news for Claudia and Moses is fantastic. But our work can’t stop there. We must show torturers, wherever they are, that they will not get away with it.

If you've got one minute:

Share our graphic and encourage your friends to join our campaign. Just right-click on the image below to save it and you can use it on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or anywhere else.

If you've got three minutes:

Email the Mexican Federal Attorney General and call on her to make sure Mexico meets international standards for investigating torture

If you've got five minutes:

Watch Amnesty's new Stop Torture campaign video and share it with your friends.

If you've got 30:

Write a personal letter or greetings card to a torture survivor, to show that they are not alone and never forgotten.

Please write to Claudia Medina (in English or Spanish) - whilst all her charges have now been dropped, she is still seeking justice against those who tortured her.

Claudia Medina
Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez”
Serapio Rendón No. 57-B, Colonia San Rafael,
Delegación Cuauhtémoc, 06470, México D.F.,
Mexico

Whatever you choose to do, you will be joining in thousands of others across the world standing with torture survivors and against their abusers.

Together we can create a future free from torture.