MEDIA RELEASE: Human Rights Activists to Mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, 26 June, with Solidarity Vigil in Trafalgar Square, 6.30-8pm

25 June 2014 - for immediate release 

The London Guantánamo Campaign [1] and human rights activists will hold a solidarity vigil to mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture [2] on the north side of Trafalgar Square, outside the National Gallery, at 6.30-8pm, on Thursday 26 June.

Between 7 and 8pm, activists will hold a “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” protest with activists blindfolded and gagged to highlight impunity for torturers worldwide and the injustice of silencing victims.

Aisha Maniar, organiser and a spokesperson for the London Guantánamo Campaign, says, "The theme of this year’s action, across the world, is fighting impunity [3]. The United Kingdom has failed to hold its own state agents to account for the use of torture on numerous occasions, so much so that it is the only western state to be subject to preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court at The Hague for war crimes in Iraq.

“The United Kingdom has used a number of judicial and legislative procedures to ensure politicians, military personnel and security agents are not held liable for their involvement in crimes against humanity, in breach of its own legal obligations. Instead of leading the fight against impunity, Britain is guilty of many of the undemocratic practices it accuses other regimes of. This is unacceptable in a state that claims to be democratic and accountable.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The London Guantánamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com     

The London Guantánamo Campaign will mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on 26 June, with a vigil in Trafalgar Square at 6.30-8pm: hhttp://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/26-june-international-day-in-support-of.html

2. In 1998, the United Nations consecrated 26 June each year as International Day in Support of Victims of Torture: http://www.un.org/en/events/torturevictimsday/

3. http://www.irct.org/our-work/day-against-torture-on-26-june.aspx