---

Torture (Damages) Bill [HL]

My Lords, almost everyone abhors torture. In fact, so abhorrent is it that perhaps too few actually think about its impact on an individual and his or her family and community. I am afraid that I must draw your Lordships’ attention to these unpleasant effects and, in so doing, declare an interest as a former director of REDRESS, the lead sponsor organisation for the Bill, having worked on it for several years. Torture of whatever kind aims to dehumanise its victims, to humiliate and to break down personality and dignity. In this, and regardless of the physical pain involved, it is successful. To be kept in a dark but exposed cell without privacy or certainty, to be kept in a state of almost constant fear of what the day or night will hold, to feel wholly out of control of one’s immediate environment and even of oneself is a traumatic experience. Many of us may still be haunted by small humiliations that we suffered as children, at school or in our first jobs. We may remember the fear that unpredictability engenders, whether due to an adult’s behaviour or to daily events. We develop coping mechanisms to suppress the effects of these humiliations and fears, but it often takes a long time and often may be unsuccessful. The testimonies of victims from all over the world who have survived torture repeatedly cite feelings of worthlessness and nothingness that overcame them while being detained. One says: "““I still hear them yelling ‘You’re nothing, you’re nothing’. I don’t sleep because I hear the guard opening the door””." Another says: "““Nobody knows where you are; you feel that the world has given up on you””." Another talks of, "““unspeakable, degrading acts that you will never be able to forget and yet are ashamed to speak about””." Now consider this: the survivors—that is, the lucky ones who do not die under torture—return to their families and to their communities. But how can they share their experiences? How can they subject those closest to them, including children, to the pain of knowing what they have undergone? How can they admit to the truly awful humiliation to which they have been subjected? How can they re-enter family and community life with any kind of confidence, especially if they have given way under torture—that is, signed a false confession, betrayed a friend or denied fundamental beliefs? Depending on the conditions of the detention and torture, there may be severe personality disorders and, inevitably, there is depression, anxiety and sleeplessness with flashbacks and nightmares. Most persistent are the feelings of shame, guilt and loss of self-esteem. One survivor says: "““Ten years later, when I see a policeman I still shake””." Another says: "““I don’t have the … ability to learn new skills due to lack of concentration””." Or: "““I want to try and get that terrible time out of my mind but I can’t … I wake up screaming””." The longer-term effect of torture is mental, psychological and emotional, areas that may not heal as the physical body does, if at all. We must ask ourselves what the extensive research reveals about what helps a torture survivor to deal effectively with this kind of trauma. First and foremost, the survivor needs to have his or her experience acknowledged. He—I use that pronoun for the sake of ease—needs the world to recognise that he has been through a terrible, singular episode and that the utter brutality and unfairness of his torture and detention have to be explicitly accepted. He or she needs to prove that the torturers failed to destroy them as human beings. The second step is for some public acknowledgement in the form of redress. This is not necessarily about money; it is about the admission by the authorities that another Government have committed a crime against humanity. The judgment from a court that admits to this crime, which castigates in the strongest terms those Governments that allow torture, is in itself healing. It demonstrates to the survivor that his experience was not normal or acceptable, but heinous in the face of the world. Compensation in the form of a monetary award serves to underline to the survivor and to the wider community that justice has been done, that a chapter is on some level closed and that the survivor can now focus on his own recovery. We should not underestimate the force of justice in helping recovery. That, of course, brings us to the far wider legal implications of the Bill. If torture is to be taken seriously and treated as the crime that it is, Governments must be prepared to prosecute torturers, whether these be agents of the state or the state police. To do otherwise is to condone torture, however tacitly. In a case not so long ago, which REDRESS pursued to the end, the UK Government used every possible evasion tactic to prevent a case against the police in Harare in Zimbabwe for the torture of a British national. REDRESS was told that there was some doubt about the nationality of the victim, despite sworn affidavits and passport details. Letters were misdirected and/or left unanswered. The Attorney-General at the time refused to answer personally addressed letters. The Bill opens the way for the UK Government to abide by its commitments as a signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture by enabling individuals to seek and gain a civil remedy and justice under the law. Every individual has a right to be free of torture but, until now, there has been no remedy if the responsible Government refuse to take action and claim immunity. If there is no remedy, there is no right. In this sense, to deny the Bill is to infringe the Convention Against Torture. The Bill challenges state immunity in dealing with crimes such as torture and effectively urges that torture should become a listed exception to the State Immunity Act 1978. If passed, it will give Governments and torturers pause for thought. A crime acknowledged by a court of law, with the details widely accessible to the public, must in the end act as a deterrent. The Bill therefore also contributes to the prevention of torture because, if enacted, it will advertise to the international community that torture will not be tolerated. Let me conclude with a few sentences from survivors, one a Sudanese lawyer and member of the Sudan Bar Association, whose torture resulted in the amputation of his leg: "““If I managed to bring those responsible to justice, I would feel content and my confidence in the justice system would be restored””." A British project manager in Saudi Arabia said that, "““a law in this country that outlaws torture in another country … can only be good for mankind””." A Zimbabwean opposition politician said: "““The law needs to change to bring it into shape for the reality facing torture victims … if the Bill becomes law it will be one of the best developments because it will make people accountable””." Lastly, I quote a Bahraini businessman, who said that, "““we must give light to people who live in the dark””."