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05 June 2008 / Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC
Issue: 7324 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights , Constitutional law
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Risking a shameful betrayal

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The government needs to practise what it preaches on torture, says Geoffrey Bindman

The Torture (Damages) Bill, introduced by Lord Archer of Sandwell, a former solicitor general and president of Amnesty International, was given a second reading in the House of Lords on 16 May. It will now go to a committee for detailed examination and, unless blocked by the government, will move to the Commons and eventually become law. It is a private member's Bill strongly supported by other peers including the former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf. The only opposition in the debate came from the government minister, Lord Hunt. It would be a tragedy if the government procured the defeat of this humane measure. It is a vital step in the international struggle to end torture by providing its victims with the means of obtaining redress through the courts.

The United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel or Degrading Treatment, ratified by the UK and over 100 other countries, condemns torture as an international crime of

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