AMNESTY International has appealed to the Government to use its presidency of the EU to raise the question of a code of conduct for trade in arms which could be used in torture. If there vas a clear EU position it could then be taken to the UN, according to Mr Sean Love, chairman of Amnesty's Irish section.
He was speaking at the publication of Amnesty's annual report yesterday. The 360 page document is a chilling catalogue of worldwide torture, rape, murder, ill treatment, detention and disappearances.
"Atrocities are committed virtually every day, somewhere in the world," it asserts. "There is a risk that `horror fatigue' will set in and dull the outrage that such atrocities ought to provoke. Unless concerted action is taken to stop the abuses, the massacres, mutilation and rape will continue."
It accuses governments worldwide of turning their backs on human rights violations by other regimes and abetting abuses through the sale of "equipment used in repression".
Mr Love pointed out that a distinction made between "lethal" and "non lethal" weapons allowed weapons of torture to escape embargos. For example, Nigeria could still import equipment like thumb screws, handcuffs and electric cattle prods. He appealed to the Department of Tourism and Trade to ensure that "dual use" components could not be exported.
Ms Mary Lawlor, director of Amnesty's Irish section, said the report exposed the "duplicity of governments that arm and train human rights violators, then claim they can do little or nothing to stop torture and killings in other countries".
China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the US were identified as among the countries "trading in terror", in a survey of human rights in 146 countries.
Amnesty, which has more than a million members worldwide called on governments to prohibit the sale of military, security and police equipment to any state where there was evidence that it could be used to commit human rights violations.
Afghanistan was cited as an example of how powerful governments, which rushed to pour weapons into the hands of warring factions after the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, now ignored the legacy of armed conflict and human rights abuses which had left thousands dead last year.
In East Timor dozens of people were unlawfully executed. Thousands were abducted by Serb forces in Bosnia and many of them are believed to have been killed.
In Cambodia newspaper editors who published articles critical of the government were prosecuted and at least two people were unlawfully executed.
The report includes evidence that at least 4,500 people died as a result of torture in custody or in inhuman prison conditions in 54 countries, including Egypt, Kenya, Burma and Turkey.
At least 10,000 detainees were subjected to torture or ill treatment, including rape, in 114 countries, including the former Yugoslavia, Indonesia and East Timor and Iran.
Some 2,900 people were known to have been executed in 41 countries including the US, China, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan, although Amnesty believed the number was far higher.
"Despite embracing the language of human rights, in reality governments in every region of the world not only fail to protect the rights of their own citizens but lead the way in violating them, often in the most brutal manner," Ms Lawlor concluded.