KIEV—The International Day Against Torture created a buzz in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev the end of last week.
It started with a round table event where prominent Ukraine human rights activists and politicians gathered.
They expressed concern about ongoing torture in the Ukraine, particularly the handling of people jailed as well as illegal actions by police.
Later in the day the activity spread out into the streets where Ukrainian Helsinki Union, a group launched in 1988 by former political prisoners, gathered to appeal in front of the office of the Prosecutor General while holding banners asking for strict measures to prevent the use of torture in the Ukraine.
Arkady Buschenko, chair of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union, said: "Although in the past two years there have been a few cases of people accused of torture, it absolutely does not correspond with the widely reported scale of this shameful phenomenon."
"This is why we hope that our appeal will awaken the Prosecutor's office to treat this problem more seriously," Buschenko said.
Falun Gong adherents in Ukraine gathered in the central square of the country to appeal.
They drew public attention to the severe torture by the communist regime in China against their spiritual movement.
Alexandra Goncharenko, a participant of the appeal, said: "Today is the International Day Against Torture and Falun Gong practitioners in Kiev appeal to condemn the ongoing torture of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
The torture and killing started in July of 1999 and is still happening."
Few passers-by remained indifferent to the topic of torture. Many signed a petition aimed at ending the torture.
Participants of the appeal said the signed petitions will be sent to the president and the government as well a to United Nations representatives in the Ukraine.
Antonina Koloimova, a middle-aged resident of Kiev, said: "I am very scared by the events in Tibet, in particular, and by what the Chinese government is doing to their own local population, as well as to Tibetans. I am against that."
To many in the former Soviet Union, torture and killing at the hands of a communist regime like modern-day China's are reminiscent of the persecution their parents and grandparents experienced.
An older Kiev man said: "We should give China some kind of support, if not material then at least moral, because the same kind of problems can start happening over here. After all, this looks like the Stalin persecution we experienced in the 1930s.
This is persecution against people who are completely innocent."
The International Day Against Torture was introduced by the United Nations Organization on June 26, 1998, the same day as the ratification of the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1987.
It has been a time for many people to make a difference for abused prisoners and others around the world.
In related U.N. documents, torture is defined as "the act of inflicting severe pain or suffering especially as a means of punishment or coercion," that it is intentionally inflicted on a person and results in the victim experiencing "extreme anguish of body and/or mind."
Recent reports from Amnesty International document that torture is being used against jailed prisoners in dozens of countries. In 2007, documented evidence was received from over 81 countries.
Additional reporting by NTDTV
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