Torture is now banned by international agreement. Every year more countries reject the death penalty. The world will soon have an International Criminal Court that will be able to ensure that those accused of the worst crimes in the world will face justice. The Court's very existence will deter some crimes. But the challenges are still great.
Torture is banned but in two-thirds of the world's countries it is still being committed in secret.
They can help it to stand up for freedom and justice. In 1961 I wrote 'Pressure of opinion a hundred years ago brought about the emancipation of the slaves'. Only then, when the last prisoner of conscience has been freed, when the last torture chamber has been closed, when the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a reality for the world's people, will our work be done.