Full Minutes of the Meetings

SESSION OF THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2003

The European Union and the Fight Against Torture

Karamanou (PSE). – Mr. President, as Chair of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament, I would also like to welcome today’s release of Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman who had been sentenced to death, to a horrific death by stoning, on the charge of adultery. I would like to congratulate the Commission, as well as my own committee, for the fight we put up and for the significant influence we had on the decision that was made today. We exerted the greatest possible pressure. However, this woman will continue to symbolize the struggle of all women, across every corner of the globe, who are fighting for the protection of their fundamental freedoms and human rights.

Regarding torture, I would like to warmly congratulate you, Commissioner, for the initiatives you have undertaken, particularly for the prevention of torture and for funding the rehabilitation centers for victims of torture. However, allow me to reflect a little on this issue. 2,500 years ago, in Athens, Aristotle emphasized that confessions extracted under the influence of torture should not be accepted. Another Greek philosopher and rhetorician, Antiphon, also said that people who undergo torture only say what pleases their torturers. Of course, modern experience has also taught us that under the influence of torture, any confession can be extracted. The victims say what the interrogator wants to hear and sign any document that will put an end to their pain and torture.

It is a fact, even though it may now sound like a cliché, that September 11th marked a significant turning point for human rights. Acts of violence and terrorism, the fear and insecurity that were once confined to certain corners of the world, became a daily reality in many other regions, including the Western world.

Commissioner, a few years ago, we were campaigning against torture used by totalitarian and dictatorial regimes. We were convinced that in the Western world, torture had no place. However, we quickly realized our mistake. We realized it when we saw Afghan prisoners with masks and their eyes and ears covered, crammed into prisons at the American base in Guantanamo, Cuba, in conditions that, according to an expert, the President of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, whom you referred to, the Greek Ms. Maria Kalli, are tantamount to torture.

At the same time, with horror, we heard arguments from so-called intellectuals who support the use of torture in the fight against terrorism. In other words, what we have known as truth for 2,500 years, we are now being asked to reconsider. However, no one doubts that the war on terrorism produces even greater terrorism. Unfortunately, the war on terror has turned into a war on freedom—freedom to travel safely, to walk the streets, to meet people, to have a daily life without fear and dread. The most vivid and recent example of how violence breeds even greater violence is the attack on the UN offices in Baghdad.

Today, human rights activists and volunteers from humanitarian organizations are being targeted as if they themselves are terrorists. However, our fight, Commissioner, to combat violence and protect victims, must not stop. In this regard, I congratulate you for the initiatives you undertake.