Difference between revisions of "Representing Victims of Torture"

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==Identifying Victims of Torture==
 
==Identifying Victims of Torture==
  
It is important for criminal defense attorneys to identify victims of torture because specific groups, such as children, women, the elderly, or religious persons may be more vulnerable to the effects of ill-treatment, making it easier to consider the degree of suffering severe enough to amount to torture. Identifying and keeping track of torture cases will also help identify patterns of abuse being directed at a particular group of victims. In certain cases, systematic torture of a particular group will allow the criminal defense attorney to utilize additional international mechanisms.  For example, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December of 1948, included "acting with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group [by] causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group" as part of its definition of genocide <ref> Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Art. 2 </ref>.  The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) incorporates this definition of genocide as well a definition of crimes against humanity which includes torture.  As soon as a State becomes a party to the Statute, it accepts ICC's jurisdiction with respect to those crimes, and a State can recommend individual nationals suspected of those crimes to the Court.  THe ICC will then have complete jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute unless the person recommended has already been tried or is in the process of going to trial in the State already <ref> The Rome Statute of the International  Criminal Court </ref>.
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It is important for criminal defense attorneys to identify victims of torture because specific groups, such as children, women, the elderly, or religious persons may be more vulnerable to the effects of ill-treatment, making it easier to consider the degree of suffering severe enough to amount to torture. Identifying and keeping track of torture cases will also help identify patterns of abuse being directed at a particular group of victims. For example, regarding children, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that "every child shall have, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the State" <ref> The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 24 </ref>.  Similarly, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that "no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age" <ref> The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 37 </ref>.  At this point, the Convention does not provide for individual complaint mechanisms, however, thus CAT may provide the only method of redress for individual children.
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In certain cases, systematic torture of a particular group will allow the criminal defense attorney to utilize additional international mechanisms.  The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December of 1948, included "acting with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group [by] causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group" as part of its definition of genocide <ref> Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Art. 2 </ref>.  The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) incorporates this definition of genocide as well a definition of crimes against humanity which includes torture.  As soon as a State becomes a party to the Statute, it accepts ICC's jurisdiction with respect to those crimes, and a State can recommend individual nationals suspected of those crimes to the Court.  THe ICC will then have complete jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute unless the person recommended has already been tried or is in the process of going to trial in the State already <ref> The Rome Statute of the International  Criminal Court </ref>.
  
 
===Istanbul Protocol===
 
===Istanbul Protocol===

Revision as of 13:15, 2 July 2010