THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS TOWARDS ACHIEVING A GLOBAL ANTI-TORTURE CULTURE

Abstract

Globally, torture constitutes a serious violation of the physical and mental integrity of the human person. It involves the infliction of serious physical and/or mental pain on a person usually for the purpose of eliciting information or as a form of punishment. However, the unfortunate thing today in humankind’s battle with torture lies in the fact that though torture has been rejected in principle by the world, it is yet to disappear as both de jure and de facto measures of political and legal control among many nations. Thus, this study considered the role of the United Nations (UN) in achieving a global anti-torture culture. The study found that to successfully actualize this ban on torture, nations should rely more on moral pressure as against threat of sanction which most often, are caught up in the web of inability to strike a balance between the commitment of UN member states and the sovereignty claims and ideological self-determination of individual nations involved. The study further found that the activities of human rights Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), local and international, if given more recognition within the operating mechanism of the UN, would better serve to enhance objectivity in the process of monitoring non-compliance with the ban on torture, this way helping the evolvement of a robust norm.