‌On 11 November the Human Rights Implementation Centre (HRIC), in partnership with Amnesty International, launched a new manual Combating Torture and other ill treatment - A manual for action.pdf (PDF, 3,004kB)‌‌. The manual sets out in detail obligations to enforce the absolute prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment. The new publication provides comprehensive guidance for anyone working to end these abuses worldwide.

Debra Long, principal writer and Senior Research Associate at the HRIC chaired the panel discussion. Panel members were Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, Chair of the UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture; President Nasheed (former president of the Maldives); Ms. Karen McKenzie (Head of the Human Rights Unit at the Commonwealth Secretariat); Ms. Mona Eltahawy (award-winning journalist and commentator); and Dr. Yuval Ginbar (legal officer at Amnesty International). The panel, some of whom spoke from their own personal experience of torture, highlighted the fact that torture is not something that has been confined to the past but is still a daily reality for many throughout the world. It was emphasised that it is often the poor and marginalised within societies that are most at risk of being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and consequently strategies to combat torture are interlinked with the need to address discrimination, corruption and poverty.