"If we are to protect democracy in our countries, we need to guarantee respect for certain principles which are non-negotiable, and the prohibition of torture is one of them. Torture is unacceptable under any circumstances and in any situation", said today the legislators coming from more than 40 countries, at the House of Parliaments, Headquarters of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

"As parliamentarians, we must ensure that the necessary procedural safeguards are put in place to prevent torture at all times. We pledge to do everything within our power to ensure that our parliaments, if they have not yet done so, ratify the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol which provides for visiting mechanisms to prisons and detention centres. We must also adopt the necessary implementing laws. We must ensure that torture is defined as a crime in our criminal codes, that the appropriate punishment is meted out to torturers and that testimony obtained under duress cannot be used as evidence in court", underlined legislators at the end of a three-day seminar, organized by the IPU, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT).

Participants also discussed issues such as the administration of prisons, the organization of the Judiciary and fair trial guarantees, juvenile justice, privatization of prisons, and military tribunals. In some countries, military courts are hearing cases which should not fall under their competence. "Under international law, military tribunals are competent only to hear cases concerning military personnel and offences strictly related to military matters. Their procedures must respect the fair trial guarantees contained in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Military tribunals should never judge civilians or hear cases of human rights violations", they stressed.

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organisation, currently brings together 146 affiliated parliaments and seven regional assemblies as associate members. The world organisation of parliaments has an Office in New York, which acts as its Permanent Observer at the United Nations.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Phone: +41 22 919 41 16 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org Mrs. Ingeborg Schwarz, Manager of the Human Rights Programme 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Phone: +41 22 919 41 42 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 E-mail: is@mail.ipu.org