AAPP (2002) Report on Torture

Make the world a torture free zone.

These words were expressed in a small pamphlet published by Amnesty International. In Article 1 of United Nations Convention Against Torture states that “For the purposes of this Convention, the term Torture’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining  from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public  official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”

In the Report 2001 of Amnesty International, the situation of political prisoners in prisons of Burma was stated clearly. It said “Torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners continued to be reported. Methods of torture included severe beatings and kicks with boots; an iron bar being rolled repeatedly up and down the shins until the skin peeled off; near-suffocation; and “the airplane”, where prisoners are suspended from the ceiling, spun around and beaten. Above mentioned phrases obviously described the current situation of torture and ill-treatment in the prisons and interrogation centers of Burma military regime. Those also show the way how the intT community can do for nearly 50 million people of Burma, who are still being in suffer more than four decades.

We have tried our best to disclose the real situation of Torture and ill-treatment, which have been using by successive military regimes throughout the years, in this report.

Full paper here: Report on Torture (February 2002)