campaigners from london guantanamo campaign and kingston peace council organised a rally in trafalgar sq on sunday afternoon in solidarity with the international day in support for the victims of torture. the rally aimed to raise awareness of torture and the collusion in its practice of states worldwide.

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the rally attracted a wide range of speakers from many campaigns all linked in the struggle against torture.

after introductions from david harrold of the london guantanamo campaign, the london green mp jean lambert was the first invited speaker, and she talked about uk sales of torture equipment to states with poor human rights records. she said it was time to call for a complete ban.

next was peace activist maya evans, who works with the campaigning group 'justice not vengeance'. she talked of her human rights cases against the uk government. first, with phil shiner, the birmingham rights lawyer, she launched a judicial review into the government's treatment of deportees, and forced a change in procedure so that detainees had to be tracked when deported to suspect states to ensure that they would not be subject to torture. immediately after this ruling, the govt changed the rules on legal aid, preventing activists from bringing cases to judicial review in this way. maya challenged this action too, and the high court overthrew the new rules and castigated the government. maya also mentioned a play currently running at the tricycle theatre which is about baha mousa, the iraqi hotel receptionist beaten to death at the hands of the queen's lancashire regiment.

noah kleunman, who has worked for amnesty international for 50 years, then spoke of how america used 911 to justify torture, but reminded us of the american use of torture both abroad and in US prisons over many years prior. she noted that the abu ghraib guards learnt their dark arts in US prisons. amnesty, she said were currently involved with campaigns relating to US prisoners facing injustice, torture and execution.

andy worthington, author of the 'guantanamo files',and co-director of 'outside the law: stories from guantanamo', described the sanitation of torture in language, with terms such as 'water-boarding', 'enhanced interrogation techniques', and the guantanamo practice of sleep deprivation, waking inmates every two hours and moving them around the camp, sometimes for months, known as the 'frequent flyer programme'. he spoke about how the official line is that these techniques were 'approved by US lawyers' as 'legal', but he made the point that under international law, they are simply not allowed to 'approve' such torture, but that although they should all be prosecuted for doing so, they still continue in their high-profile jobs with impunity.

les levidov spoke about the 'campaign against criminalising communities'. he told us how the government changed the defenition of terrorism in the 2000 bill, and thus excluded the refugee status of many legitimate freedom fighters. as a result MI5 have become even bolder in their use of 'stick and carrot' techniques to turn refugees into informants. a recent example which came to light involved somalian youth workers who were threatened by MI5 agents that unless they informed on the political views of their charges, they would be labelled as terrorists and then deported to somalia. in this case the workers refused to co-operate and went public, exposing the disgusting and unlawful plot, but clearly MI5 believes it can get away with such actions, and who knows how many innocent people have been affected by similar injustices.

russian campaigners from 'speak up' told of their 8 year battle to free russian businessman mikhail khordoskovsky, who is imprisoned, they claim, after a politically motivated trial. some of their supporters were in the square celebrating mikhail's birthday with a banner and balloons.

medical justice founder, dr frank arnold, spoke from personal experience of carrying out more than 500 examinations of torture victims seeking refuge in the uk. he described some of the  gruesome noticeable physical and mental signs of torture, but explained that while it's possible to document these things, it is not possible to document the lifelong damage caused. he spoke of how it is absolutely clear that you can make anyone say anything and admit to anything under torture, and that the 'ticking bomb' scenario, often used to justify such acts, is palpable nonsense. he also spoke in solidarity with the bahraini doctors currently in detention for treating protestors injured in the brutal government crackdown (aided by saudi troops), and asked why we are bombing libya but allowing bahrain to do what it wants.

simar kuar ('TARAN' - trauma rehab network) made a heartfelt plea over an appalling case in india. in 1991 professor davinderpal singh bhullar began to investigate why 42 students at his college had gone missing after being taken in by punjab police. his journey of discovery led him to become an activist and dissident, and in 1995, after intimidation and harrassment, he applied for asylum in germany, but courts there stated he was in no danger and returned him to india where he has now been imprisoned for 16 years, 8 of them in solitary confinement. the german courts reversed their decision too late for the doctor back in india, and after a confession, signed with a thumbprint and extracted under torture, he now faces the death penalty, the first in india's supreme court history where an execution is going ahead despite a split judgement. more info at www.thejournal.ie/calls-for-india-to-cancel-first-hangings-since-2004-146395-May2011/

another speaker from 'justice for aafia' told the harrowing story of dr aafia siddiqui who is facing 86 yrs in prison in america, after spending time under torture at bagram. accused of assaulting and attempting to shoot guards, her case contains lots of inconsistencies, and one of her sons seems to have been murdered by US personnel.

naomi colvin spoke on behalf of the bradley manning campaign, outlining the terrible conditions he has been held in, and the current campaign to get justice for a man who should never have been in iraq in the first place.

huci ozdemir spoke on behalf of the 'international committee against disappearances' which campaigns about this special form of violence that some states use, and which began out of the campaign to find out what happened to turkish revolutionary hasan ocak. ICAD now organises conferences in the countries where disappearances still occur.

maria gallestegui spoke on behalf of 'peace strike' in parliament square, and she urged people to use the coming strikes on june 30th to protest against the government's use of public money to fund their illegal wars. she asked everybody to just stop on thursday - no travelling, no working, no shopping - send a message to the government by shutting trade and normal society down.

finally, ray silk, spoke about the campaign to free guantanamo prisoner shaker aamer who is a uk citizen still held there. he told of the legal wrangles between different authorities, and the dodgy guantanamo inquiry held partly in secret. he described how currently the US won't allow a consular visit, but our govt doesn't seem concerned at this denial of justice to their citizen. he reminded us of the annual 4th july protest 4-6 outside US embassy, and also spoke of an apparent call from the 'stop the war coalition' to begin a permanent peace protest in trafalgar square from the 8th october.

the afternoon finished with a poem read by mr. qavi who is a well-known figure among peace activists.

although the actual turnout was poor, it was a very hot afternoon, and plenty of people passed through trafalgar square, often stopping to listen to the speakers, and picking up leaflets from the table. it was also an opportunity for many of the represented groups to network and to feel less alone in their individual struggles.

torture is banned absolutely under international law. it is always illegal. the united nations convention against torture became law in 1987, and also bans acts that facilitate torture, such as extradition or returning a person to a country where they are at risk, or even refuelling a boat or plane used to carry out such renditions. torture is so heinous that it is considered a crime against humanity.

despite all this, not only does the use of torture appear to have risen worldwide in recent history, but also western "democratic" states have been found to be involved. the UK intelligence services have been proven to have been involved in torture of british nationals abroad, especially in pakistan, and of course in iraq, and it still takes part in 'deportation with assurances', sending people to their country of origin, where they are clearly at risk.

legal aid cuts are causing more and more asylum seekers to return to the torture they are fleeing. it is time to hunt down the perpetrators and the sick politicians who collude in facilitating torture - they should all be tried and prosecuted.
 
'this is a day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured the unimaginable. this is an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable' - kofi annan, former UN sec general

'a sad chapter in america's history' - barak obama, speaking about guantanamo during his presidential campaign