[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 26 (Monday, June 30, 2003)]
[Pages 824-825]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of 
Torture

June 26, 2003

    Today, on the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims 
of Torture, the United States declares its strong solidarity with 
torture victims across the world. Torture anywhere is an affront to 
human dignity everywhere. We are committed to building a world where 
human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law.
    Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. The Convention 
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, 
ratified by the United States and more than 130 other countries since 
1984, forbids governments from deliberately inflicting severe physical 
or mental pain or suffering on those within their custody or control. 
Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes 
whose cruel methods match their determination to

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crush the human spirit. Beating, burning, rape, and electric shock are 
some of the grisly tools such regimes use to terrorize their own 
citizens. These despicable crimes cannot be tolerated by a world 
committed to justice.
    Notorious human rights abusers, including, among others, Burma, 
Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Zimbabwe, have long sought to shield their 
abuses from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and 
denying access to international human rights monitors. Until recently, 
Saddam Hussein used similar means to hide the crimes of his regime. With 
Iraq's liberation, the world is only now learning the enormity of the 
dictator's three decades of victimization of the Iraqi people. Across 
the country, evidence of Ba'athist atrocities is mounting, including 
scores of mass graves containing the remains of thousands of men, women, 
and children and torture chambers hidden inside palaces and ministries. 
The most compelling evidence of all lies in the stories told by torture 
survivors, who are recounting a vast array of sadistic acts perpetrated 
against the innocent. Their testimony reminds us of their great courage 
in outlasting one of history's most brutal regimes, and it reminds us 
that similar cruelties are taking place behind the closed doors of other 
prison states.
    The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of 
torture, and we are leading this fight by example. I call on all 
governments to join with the United States and the community of law-
abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts 
of torture and in undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual 
punishment. I call on all nations to speak out against torture in all 
its forms and to make ending torture an essential part of their 
diplomacy. I further urge governments to join America and others in 
supporting torture victims' treatment centers, contributing to the U.N. 
Fund for the Victims of Torture, and supporting the efforts of 
nongovernmental organizations to end torture and assist its victims.
    No people, no matter where they reside, should have to live in fear 
of their own government. Nowhere should the midnight knock foreshadow a 
nightmare of state-commissioned crime. The suffering of torture victims 
must end, and the United States calls on all governments to assume this 
great mission.