EU and US leaders ‘have a responsibility to victims of torture’
A former soldier, he claimed to be the victim of torture, one of hundreds of people who arrived here and were referred to a centre for the care of survivors of torture.
As George W Bush landed in Shannon last night, Sebastia and a handful of others who have suffered horrific abuse in their home countries were dancing the night away in a small theatre in Dublin.
The dance show, Fall and Recover, is being held over two nights to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture today.
Some of the State’s most prominent lawyers have accused Mr Bush of presiding over war crimes and suggested he could be arrested if he had knowledge of the torture of prisoners in Iraq.
Mike Walker, of the Dublin-based Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture, said the stories emerging from Iraq highlighted the fact that documented torture has occurred in half of the countries aligned to the UN.
It is conservatively estimated that 10% of those seeking refugee status in the European Union were victims of torture. By that estimate, there have been more than 1,000 in this country.
Sebastia was referred to the CCST by a lawyer fighting his case to remain in Ireland. But he was a victim of a non-state group and, partly on that basis, his plea for refugee status was rejected.
He has been waiting two years to hear whether he will be given leave to remain on humanitarian grounds, a decision that is left entirely to the Justice Minister. Only 4% of asylum seekers have been given leave to remain on this basis.
The centre has hundreds of files documenting abuse by both state authorities and non-government groups, including criminal gangs and rebel groups.
The Irish CCST has heard of men and women being strangled, choked, suffocated, subjected to mock executions and forced to witness others being tortured.
They have been starved, deprived of sleep, feet, raped, mutilated, burned and given electric shocks.
The psychological effects are also documented, with victims suffering depression and having suicidal thoughts.
The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims said the leaders of the EU and the US have a special responsibility to victims of torture.
“This includes effective prosecution of their torturers, legal redress, restitution of property, an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible,” it said.
