United States President Joe Biden on Monday denounced the Russian authorities’ torture, both in Russia and Ukraine, that destroyed “lives, families and communities”.
“Torture destroys lives, families and communities. Yet people around the world are daily victims of these horrific violations of their human rights and dignity”Biden said in a statement referencing the International Day of Support for Victims of Torture, which is celebrated this Monday.
In particular, the US president referred to “evidence of appalling violence by members of the Russian armed forces” in Ukraine, which had been invaded by Moscow in February 2022, “guilty”, he said, to “torture to force cooperation with occupation authorities and during interrogations, such as beatings, electrocutions, mock executions and the use of sexual violence”.
“On Russian territory itself, there are regular reports of torture in detention centers, including against activists and opponents of government policy”he added.
Joe Biden also mentioned Syria and North Korea, which he quoted “the enforced disappearance of tens of thousands of Syrians, with families never knowing the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones”.
“There are many credible reports of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” by the Pyongyang authorities, particularly against women subjected to “sexual violence, forced abortions and sterilizations”he adds.
However, without explicitly mentioning the numerous allegations of torture leveled against US troops and secret services in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo for years, Biden believed that “no country” can escape its human rights obligations in this area .
“We deeply believe as a nation that we, too, must live up to the standards we hold others to”defended.
Source: DN
