Submitted by crinadmin on
In its resolution 52/149 of 12 December 1997, the General Assembly proclaimed 26 June as the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. This year’s observance of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. In commemoration of 25 years of funding assistance to torture victims, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will launch a new book – Rebuilding Lives. Rebuilding Lives presents the experiences of torture survivors and the efforts of those who work to rehabilitate them. It focuses on the work of the Fund and the efforts of the non-governmental organisations it has supported over the past twenty-five years to assist and rehabilitate victims of torture. The book includes five illustrated articles on current victim support projects in Australia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Chile , Pakistan and Rwanda , contributed by local journalists of those countries. The book also examines the legal and medical definitions of torture, how and why it happens, the impact it has on victims, what makes torture different from other human rights violations, as well as ways in which it can be effectively treated and combated. Since 1998 the four main United Nations organs dealing with torture, namely the Board of Trustees of the Fund, the Committee against Torture, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the High Commissioner for Human Rights issue a joint declaration to commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Further information
pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/un_rebuilding.pdf