torture

Torture is one of the most barbaric acts of state repression, and it constitutes a direct and deliberate attack on the core of the human personality. Like slavery, it is an expression of the almost unlimited power of one individual over another. In the case of slavery, the human being is degraded to the condition of a non-human object deprived of legal personality. Torture aims to destroy human dignity and reduce the victim to the …

…experienced by human rights workers and thus deserves special attention. Financial support received by human rights organization from governmental and non-governmental agencies is limited. The UN Voluntary Fund for Torture Victims is a case in point. Since its foundation in 1981, the fund has received contributions from 40 countries and is able to spend a mere $1.6 million on 70 projects currently in progress or planned. Calls have been made to increase international contribution to at least $100 million by 1999.