UN human rights chief highlights need to eradicate torture

The UN human rights chief on the international Human Rights Day Wednesday urged all states to act unequivocally in their effort to stamp out torture.

It was also the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention against Torture.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement that as showed in the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report publicised Tuesday, torture was still taking place in a few of state parties to the convention, a core human rights instrument.

"To have it so clearly confirmed that it was recently practiced -- as a matter of policy -- by a country such as the US is a very stark reminder that we need to do far, far more to stamp it out everywhere," the UN human rights head said.

"This has been true at the best of times. It is particularly true during this period of rising international terrorism, when it has shown a tendency to slither back into practice, disguised by euphemisms, even in countries where it is clearly outlawed," he continued.