“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. So reads the fifth article of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed 55 years ago. It was also the prayer recited during the ecumenical prayer meeting for human rights held in Barcelona on 9 December. This prayer vigil, held in the Evangelic church of St. Paul in the Catalonian city, inaugurated the celebrations for the World Day of Human Rights (10 December) and brought together exponents of various confessions: Catholics, Protestants mainly Evangelicals and Orthodox. The prayer was animated by Action of Christians against Torture (ACAT), an international ecumenical association that campaigns for the abolition of torture and the death sentence. Specific cases of torture were denounced during the meeting, and prayers recited for the individuals tortured, who are personally known to the members of the association. ACAT’s activities include so-called “urgent appeals”: this involves the sending of letters of protest to the governments that violate human rights. The members also maintain contacts with individuals being detained. The association has existed since 1984, while at the world level FIACAT, as an international federation, has advisory status in the United Nations. “As Christians we are pledged to campaign for a world without torture, because this scourge is incompatible with human dignity”, and because “we find our strength for action in the Gospel”, say the members of ACAT.
