[Pak-Media] PR--UN Secretary-General Messages on "International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking" + " International Day in Support of Victims of Torture"

 

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL MESSAGE ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING

26 June 2012

ISLAMABAD, 25 June 2012 (UN Information Centre) - By resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987, the General Assembly decided to observe 26 June as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse. This resolution recommended further action with regard to the report and conclusions of the 1987 International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

 

The UN Secretary-General issued the following message on this Day:

  "Drug abuse and illicit trafficking continue to have a profoundly negative impact on development and stability across the world.

The billions of dollars generated from illicit drugs fuel terrorist activities and abet other crimes such as human trafficking and the smuggling of arms and people.

Illicit drugs and related criminal networks undermine the rule of law.  And the impunity with which they go about their business causes tremendous fear and sows disillusion with governance at all levels.

 

Central America, for example, faces rising levels of violence fuelled by transnational organized crime and drug trafficking. The region is now home to the highest homicide rates in the world. 

 

Development in Afghanistan is being hindered by the highest rates of opiate prevalence in the world.  In parts of Myanmar, farmers are trapped by food insecurity compelling them to grow poppies as a cash crop. 

 

The challenge is also greatly testing West and Central Africa, which lies along one of the main drug trafficking routes to Europe.  With often weak legal and financial institutions, countries in the region are highly vulnerable.

 

Moreover, transit countries are no longer simply links in the chain of supply; they have become points of arrival.  About half of the cocaine trafficked through West and Central Africa now remains in the region.  Such changing patterns of drug consumption jeopardize hard won gains in sustainable development and good governance.

 

 The drug, crime and corruption conventions of the United Nations form a solid basis for global solutions to these challenges. Together, these instruments offer a balanced approach to halt trafficking, promote viable alternatives to the farmers of cash crops, and offer drug users their health and human rights.     

 

Our efforts to promote development and fight drugs and crime will be more effective if they are rooted in partnerships with the young, civil society, governments and the international community. Working together, we can alleviate the suffering of millions and break the hold of drugs and crime on countries, communities and families."

 

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THE SECRETARY-GENERAL MESSAGE ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE

26 June 2012

ISLAMABAD, 25 June 2012 (UN Information Centre) - On 12 December 1997, by resolution 52/149, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 26 June the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, with a view to the total eradication of torture and the effective functioning of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, (resolution 39/46), annex, which entered into force on 26 June 1987.

 

The UN Secretary-General issued the following message on this Day:

 

 

"Twenty-five years since the entry into force of the Convention against Torture, this cruel and dehumanizing practice remains pervasive.

 

Every day, women, men and children are tortured or ill-treated with the intention of destroying their sense of dignity and human worth.  In some cases, this is part of a deliberate state policy of instilling fear and intimidating its population.  

 

In too many countries, people's legitimate demands for freedom and human rights are met with brutal repression.  Even when regimes change, torture often persists and a culture of impunity remains.

 

On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we express our solidarity with, and support for, the hundreds of thousands of victims of torture and their family members throughout the world who endure such suffering.

 

We also note the obligation of States not only to prevent torture but to provide all torture victims with effective and prompt redress, compensation and appropriate social, psychological, medical and other forms of rehabilitation.  Both the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have now strongly urged States to establish and support rehabilitation centres or facilities.

 

The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture supports hundreds of organizations and entities that provide assistance to victims of torture and their family members in all regions of the world.  However, the Fund has seen a significant decrease in contributions over the past two years. 

 

I strongly encourage States to reverse this trend, despite current global financial uncertainty.  By concretely supporting victims of torture, the international community will prove its unequivocal determination and commitment to fight torture and impunity."

 

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