"Torture is inflicted on men, women and children in well over half the countries of the world", according to Ms Mary Lawlor, director of the Irish Section of Amnesty International. "Despite the universal condemnation of torture," says Ms Lawlor, "it is still used to extract confessions, to interrogate, to punish or to intimidate."
She points out: "The victims of torture are not just the people in the hands of the torturers. Friends, families and the wider community all suffer. Torture even damages and distorts the hopes of future generations."
Amnesty International is best known for its campaigns against the death penalty and its work in defence of human rights and on behalf of prisoners of conscience. It has been campaigning worldwide against torture for almost 40 years.
However, Ms Lawlor says, torture remains a daily reality, and in more than half the countries of the world people are subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. "We can and must confront torture and ill-treatment and take practical steps to eradicate them," she says.