International Day of Support for Victims of Torture

"He entered my cell at night, woke me up, made me sit up on my bed and began questioning me. When he failed to achieve any results and his attempts to persuade me proved to be futile, he told one of the prisoners to boil some water and began pouring it on me. My arm was in a sling, broken from previous beatings. The water was poured on my bare flesh. The pain was terrible. I began to scream, but even that required energy. I felt very weak. In short, I could hardly tolerate the torture with boiling water."

"When he did not achieve anything by scalding me, he got mad at his assistant, accusing him of not having heated the water properly and asked him if he had actually boiled the water. I laughed to myself as it would have been impossible for the water to have been hotter than it was; that he thought it was because of the water not being hot enough that he had not had any results. In fact, that boiling water had almost killed me, it was very hard to endure it. You are always on the verge in such a case. And the verge keeps shifting further and further, thank God, but you are on the verge of your endurance, feeling that you can not stand it any longer."

This brief excerpt of a torture survivor's story, taken from the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, just scratches the surface of the terrible physical harm man can inflict on others. There are thousands, if not millions, of stories just like this, of people who may or may not have something to hide being beaten and abused, tortured, either for that information or whatever other reason the torturer decides. While this tale comes from the early 1990's, it would be ignorant to assume these kinds of acts don't continue all over the world today. All to often though, the horror of these acts focuses our attention on the wrong person as we become consumed with catching and punishing the torturer while forgetting the pain and terror of the victim.

That is why this Saturday is so important. Designated the first International Day of Support for Victims of Torture by the United Nations, June 26th serves to remind us that for every conflict, every horror, there are the human victims to remember.

For more information on the day, visit http://www.un.org/events/torture/bkg.htm.

"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. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to remembering and supporting the many victims and survivors of torture around the world."

Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Global Labor Issues Highlighted by World Cup

South Africa has worked hard to keep the spotlight surrounding the 2010 World Cup focused on the games and players, though the referees are doing a good job of stealing the show. This desire though has deeper, and much more selfish, roots than most international commentators are revealing. While it’s known to many that most South Africans are far too poor to afford attending a single World Cup match, the exploitation of local labor populations has received scant attention.

This is best evidenced by the plight of staffers who are working as security at the stadiums. BBC covered the story on Wednesday, June 16th (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10329679.stm), but it has since fallen out of the headlines. The article explains how workers are suffering 15- to 18-hour shifts, being paid wages below their contracted amounts, and even having paychecks withheld by their employer, Stallion. For a company that prides itself for “[caring] about the wellbeing and safety of its staff,” these allegations should be even more embarrassing.

But it gets even worse: since the reporting of the strikes, Stallion has fired thousands of these workers, many of who believed these jobs were their chance to benefit from the country’s and continent’s first World Cup. Stallion blames the workers for trying to hold the World Cup ransom and accusing them of “not being patriotic [sic].” Honestly, Stallion thinks the workers should just suck it up not to embarrass their nation? I for one believe it is Stallion and the South African officials who are doing their country the disservice.

At a time when world attention is drawn upon a global celebration of talent, how shameful is our collected failure to address these conditions. Though South Africa has ended apartheid, the country remains segregated as the vicious cycle and realities of poverty continue to hold most of the country’s black population. We must not let the abuses continue unquestioned. If we don’t speak up when a company violates the principles enshrined in Articles 23 and 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the rights to a living wage and limitations on work hours, we may find our protests fall upon deaf ears when we find any of our other 27 rights enshrined in the declaration are being disregarded. Specifically, contact Stallion at either http://www.stallion.co.za/contact.html or their email info@stallion.co.za and tell them you support workers’ rights!

But maybe it’s just me who believes 15-hour work days are unreasonable?