The president of the United States, Joe Biden, denounced on Monday the acts of torture committed by the Russian authorities, both in Russia and in Ukraine, destroying “lives, families and communities”.
“Torture destroys lives, families and communities. Yet people around the world are subjected to these horrific violations of their human rights and dignity on a daily basis,” Biden said in a statement marking the International Day of Support for Women. Victims of Torture. which is celebrated this Monday.
The US president referred, in particular, to the “evidence of atrocious violence by members of the Russian forces” in Ukraine, invaded by Moscow in February 2022, “guilty”, he said, of “torture to force cooperation with occupation authorities and during interrogations”. such as beatings, electrocutions, mock executions, and use of sexual violence.”
“On Russian territory itself, reports of torture in places of detention, including against activists and opponents of government policies, are frequent,” he added.
Joe Biden also mentioned Syria and North Korea, in which he cited “the enforced disappearance of tens of thousands of Syrians, with families without 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, who are victims of “sexual violence, forced abortions and sterilizations”, it adds.
Without explicitly mentioning the numerous accusations of torture that have been made over the years against US forces and secret services in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo, Biden nevertheless considered that “no country” can evade its human rights obligations in this ambit.
“We deeply believe, as a nation, that we too must meet the standards that we demand of others,” he defended.
Source: TSF
