June 28, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 23, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 27: Speakers at a seminar highlighted the importance of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and called for raising awareness among masses about the elimination of torture from society and ratification of UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) through active participation and support from all stakeholders.

The seminar was jointly organised by UN Information Centre, European Commission and Struggle for Change (Sach), says a press release issued here on Friday.

The seminar was launched by a short and motivating skit performed by children, highlighting the plight of children living and working on the streets.

The skit revolved around the theme of torture highlighting the discriminatory behaviour of the society in general. It was followed by a presentation on the rehabilitation work done by Sach for torture victims.

National Information Officer of the UN Information Centre Ishrat Rizvi read out the message of the UN secretary-general issued for the day.

European Commission Ambassador Jan de Kok spoke about the importance of the day and European Union’s firm commitment to upholding the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel inhuman treatment.

He said: “The EU currently provides more than EUR 680,000 of funding to few projects, aimed both at creating a favourable environment for speedy ratification of CAT and at supporting victims of torture and their families.”

SSP Islamabad Traffic Police Zubair Hashmi said besides making accountability procedure more efficient, human rights officers had been appointed in almost all police stations of Islamabad with a strict adherence to the principles of no inhumane treatment.

Secretary Human Rights and Law Fareed Khan highlighted the ideal code of human rights as given by Islam and the government’s awareness of the need to curb human rights violations.