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26 JuneCampaign Kit

International Rehabilitation Council or Torture Victims irct

UN International Day in Supporto Victims o Torture

www.irct.org/26june

Join the global campaign!

This campaign kit is the result o many contributions rom organisations that, overthe years, have commemorated the UN International Day in Support o Victims oTorture 26 June.

Over the years, these organisations have learned rom their experiences. Now,you can learn rom them too.


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Campaign Kit26 June - UN International Day in Support o Victims o Torture

2011 - International Rehabilitation Council or Torture Victims (IRCT)

PhoneFax

E-mailWebsite

Borgergade 13P.O. Box 1022

1022 Copenhagen KDenmark

+45 3376 0600+45 3376 0500

[email protected]

List o Contents

Introduction

Background inormationBeore you start: Plan your campaignCampaign materialsIdeas or campaign activities

Inormational/Educational activitiesCultural ActivitiesPolitical ActivitiesActivities or childrenOther activities

Raising the profle o your campaignShare your activities and ideas

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Welcome to the 26 June global campaign!

Every year on the 26th o June events are heldall over the world to commemorate the UN

International Day in Support o Victims o Torture.This campaign kit is part o IRCTs ongoing workto share knowledge and raise awareness abouttorture. It was developed to help you join acommitted global movement or a world withouttorture and to support torture survivors and theiramilies.

This campaign kit provides backgroundinormation on 26 June, ideas or organising

events and how to attract the interest o themedia. All the inormation in this campaign kit isbased on the experiences o IRCT member centresaround the world and other organisations whohave participated in past 26 June campaigns.

Introduction

Background inormation

What is 26 June?

The United Nations International Day in Supporto Victims o Torture is held annually on 26 Juneproviding an opportunity to speak out againstthe crime o torture and to honour and supportvictims and survivors throughout the world. Theday was selected by the UN or two reasons.First, on 26 June 1945, the United NationsCharter was signed the rst internationalinstrument obliging UN members to respect andpromote human rights. Second, 26 June 1987

mental or physical pain or suering by or withthe consent o the state authorities or a specicpurpose. The aim o torture is to break down thevictims personality and it is oten used to punish,obtain inormation or a conession, take revengeon a person or create terror and ear within apopulation. Torture encompasses many ormso suering, both physical and psychological,which are remarkably similar worldwide. Most

techniques seek to prolong the victims painand ear or as long as possible without leaving

visible evidence.

Torture can happen to anyone girls and boys,women and men rom all walks o lie. Althoughtorture is oten used to silence human rightsdeenders and outspoken dissidents, oten thosewho tortured belong to vulnerable populations:reugees and asylum seekers, internallydisplaced persons, persons in detention, those

living in poverty, street children, as well asethnic, sexual and religious minorities people

was when the UN Convention against Torture(see below) came into eect. The rst 26 Juneevents were launched in 1998; since then,dozens o organisations in dozens o countrieshave marked the day each year with events,celebrations and campaigns.

What is torture and who are its victims?

Torture is the intentional infiction o severe

This is a day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured the

unimaginable. This is an occasion or the world to speak up against the

unspeakable. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to remembering and

supporting the many victims and survivors o torture around the world.

Former UN Secretary-General Kof Annan


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who are targeted or the mere act that they aredeenceless and marginalised.

What is the UN Convention against Torture?

The UN Convention against Torture and OtherCruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment (UNCAT) is one o the most importantinternational human rights instruments in thework against torture. When a country signs andraties the Convention, the government o thatcountry is accountable under international lawto take action to prevent torture and to supportthe victims when torture takes place. To date 146states have ratied the UNCAT (49 have yet to doso).

On 18 December 2002, the UN General Assemblyadopted the Optional Protocol to the UN

Convention against Torture (OPCAT). The OptionalProtocol provides or both international andnational visiting mechanisms to prevent torture

in places o detention, making it highly importantor the global movement against torture. So ar,only 57 states have ratied OPCAT.

The global ratication and implementation othe UNCAT and its Optional Protocol is criticalin working towards a world without torture.

All organisations participating in the 26 Junecampaign are encouraged to take up theratication theme as part o, or in addition to,the activities they are planning.

Torture and Poverty

Poverty is a root cause o torture, and also aneect o torture, on individuals, their amiliesand wider societies. Providing rehabilitationto survivors, as well as working or justice and

prevention o torture thereore helps break acycle o poverty.

RCTV Memoria:Public action in Moldova incommemoration o 26 June


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Beore you start: Plan your Campaign

Who do you want to reach and why?

Think about torture and its eects on yourcommunity, and consider whose attention youwant to draw to help address the problems. Forexample, you might want to target your eventtoward:

Opinion leaders within your community, iyou want to educate people about torture andhow to help survivors in their community

Health proessionals who can help to identiyand treat survivors

Politicians who can enact laws to helpprevent torture and to prosecute perpetratorso torture

Survivors o torture and their amilies to makethem aware o the services available to themand to honour their strength.

What type o event would work best?

Now that you know your audience and message,think about the dierent types o events andtiming:

Will your event be o short duration or last aull day or more? (Some 26 June campaignsincorporate several events or dierentaudiences spread out over a week.)

What time o day will be best to attract yourtarget audience?

What day o the week is best?

Who else should be involved?

You may wish to invite participants to your eventwho can help to draw media or other attentionto your cause. For example, you may choose toinvite one or more o the ollowing to participateby making a speech or hosting your event:

High prole health or legal proessionals

Torture survivors and their amilies to providetestimonies

Prominent gureheads, e.g. ministers

Human rights activists

Musicians, poets, actors and other artists.

You may also wish to collaborate with schools,activity clubs or other organisations interestedin the cause.

Beore you launch an event or 26 June, consider the ollowing:

Remember:

An event works best when you canattract the most attention to it. Thismay not be on 26 June itsel but onanother nearby day.

Participation:

Find out on page 16 how SOSRACin Indiainvolved torture survivorsand their amily members in all thepreparations or the 26 June campaignin 2010.

What message do you want to convey?

Once you have identied your target audience,consider the message that you want to convey.For example:

That torture survivors live in your communityand can use your moral, social and emotionalsupport

The need or establishment o and unding orrehabilitation services

Increasing awareness o specic groups atrisk o torture (e.g. children; reugees andasylum seekers; the poor; ethnic, religiousand sexual minorities)

The need or increased political will to prevent

torture Ratication o the international conventions

against torture.


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The success o the event depends o your goals.On the one hand, i your initial plan was to raiseawareness among the general public on theissue o torture, then the number o people whoheard your message and/or disseminated it is agood indicator o success. In awareness raisingcampaigns, it is a good idea to communicateclearly what you want the public to learn or do.

In that case, you can always survey the publicand nd out roughly how many learned or didwhat you intended. On the other hand, i youplanned a lecture or a workshop or capacitybuilding aimed at students or medical or legalproessionals, then it is a good idea to ollow upwith attendants ater your session.

What is a successul event and how do I measure it?

CAPS: In Sierra Leone, school children were part o the 26 June celebrations.


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INTERNATIONALDAYINSUPPORTOFVICTIMSOFTORTURE

Tortureisbothacauseandeffectofpoverty

Letsbreakthecycle

International Rehabilitation

Council for TortureVictims

IRCT.ORG/26JUNE

These and other posters and logos can be downloaded romwww.irct.org/26June

Campaign MaterialsYou may wish to supplement your activity with materials providing more inormation about torture,survivors in your community and action that your target audience can take in support o your message.The IRCT has a range o materials that you can download ree o charge and use at your event. Check

them out at www.irct.org/26june.

Posters and Logos

Several posters andlogos are availablethrough the IRCTwebsite both incolour and black &white. The logosare available inseveral digitalormats so thatyou can usethem to makecaps, t-shirts,banners and

stickers.

Global reading

Every year the IRCT releases a statement or aglobal reading on the occasion o the 26 June.Organisations and individuals are encouraged toread the statement or their events marking theday. The more who read it the stronger the impactis. Last year the statement was read in Albania,Armenia, Brazil, Chad, Democratic Republic othe Congo, Hungary, Mexico, the PalestinianTerritories, Sierra Leone, South Arica, Sri Lanka,the United Kingdom,and the United States,among others,reaching thousandso people all over theworld.

TV and radio spots

Several 30-second TV-spots are available in manylanguages. All can be ound on the IRCT websiteand on our YouTube account. You can also e-mailus to nd out more about how to get copies inother ormats to submit to television and radiostations in your area.

Continued...

26JuneUnitedNationsInternationalDayinSupportofVictimsofTorture

InternationalRehabilitationCouncilforTortureVictims

INTERNATIONALDAYINSUPPORTOFVICTIMSOFTORTURE

Tortureisbothacauseandeffectofpoverty Letsbreakthecycle

IRCT.ORG/26JUNE


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Fact sheet collection

The IRCT has a comprehensive collection o actsheets in several languages that you can print

and disseminate to participants at your events.Among the act sheets you can nd requentlyasked questions about torture, inormationabout the rehabilitation o survivors, impunity,and which states have and have not ratied theUNCAT and the OPCAT.

Generic letters and press releases

The IRCT has also developed several genericletters and press releases that you can tailor topublicise the importance o 26 June and yourcampaign.

Photo exhibition

Five IRCT member centres participated in thedevelopment o a photo exhibition and book

Renewing Lives: Torture Survivors and the

Quest or Rehabilitation. The photos illustrate

the eects o torture on the bodies and soulso survivors, and the positive outcomes orehabilitation. At the IRCT website, you candownload a Flash presentation to show at yourevent or print copies o the photo book.

Game

In 2008, the IRCT produced an interactive gameto ght torture. In the style o the 1980s Pac Manarcade game, players navigate through a maze,collecting points and powers to stop torturers,while learning about torture and the IRCT. Thegame can be played online, or you can write [email protected] i you wish to download itand set up your own game booth at your event.

Erase Torture GameFact Sheet Collection


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Ideas or campaign activitiesBelow are examples o activities organisations around the globe have arranged or previous 26 Junecampaigns. We have selected a mix o activities rom organisations that excelled around the world.

Photos: Conerence by FAVL (Armenia), Rally by TIHV-HRFT (Turkey), Dancing perormance by IAN-CRTV (Serbia), Children activities byAssociation Vive ene (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Football match by RCT (Denmark)

Cultural ActivitiesSee page 13

Other Activities See page 19

Activities or ChildrenSee page 17

Political Activities See page 15

Inormational/Educational Activities See page 10


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1. Inormational/Educational Activities

Conerences and seminars are among the most

popular 26 June campaign activities. Oten theseinormational events aim at raising awarenessabout the issue o torture, but they can alsooer a valuable opportunity to present anddiscuss local means o prevention o tortureas well as to present the activities undertakenby governmental and non-governmentalorganisations or the rehabilitation o victims o

Conerences and seminars, workshops and lectures

Examples rom the IRCT membership

In 2010, RCT Zagreb gathered over 200 peoplein a series o activities including workshops orpsychology students at the University o Zagreb,

as well as workshops or schoolchildren. TheBerlin Centre or the Treatment o Torture Victims(bzo) also organized successul workshops on arange o topics including a community therapy

and integration project or emale migrants andinternet therapy or seniors over 65 years oage who were traumatized during World War II.

ASeTTS Australia also chose to organise a publicorum to draw awareness to the occasion and toinvite as many people as possible rom acrossthe spectrum.

torture. Workshops and lectures are an eective

way to educate and share knowledge about therehabilitation o victims o torture.

bzo:One o the workshops organized inGermany on the occasion o 26 June

RCT Zagreb:Workshop or psychology students at the University o Zagreb, Croatia


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6 Tips or successul conerences and seminars, workshops and lectures:

1. Seek partnerships: In 2010 EATIP, in Argen-tina, joined orces with the Argentine Associa-tion o Psychiatrists (APSA) to organize a con-

erence or a wide range o participants. APSAprovided not only coordination capacity but alsopresented ndings at the closing session o theconerence. In Australia, ASeTTS partnered withCurtin University o Technologys Centre or Hu-man Rights Education and Amnesty Internationalto organize a public orum that was attended bymore than 200 people.

2. Invite a well known speaker: it will helpdraw large crowds to your event and media at-

tention. But invite him/her well in advance ashe/she will usually have a busy schedule.

3. Broaden the range o attendees: It is agood idea to target your event to a specic au-dience, but do not limit your possibilities to at-tract a more diverse participation. Among themany potential participants are local and inter-national human rights and social organizations,torture victims and their amilies, human rightsactivists, journalists, judges, lawyers, orensic

doctors, students, artists, political parties, min-istries, embassies, the military and the police.

4. Promote the event: ASeTTS, in Australia,promoted their public orum through local com-munity papers, universities, websites, distribu-tion o fyers, and direct mail, as well as throughagencies and service providers. Have you con-sidered using social media?

We eel we need to move the event to a larger venue as more people

attended than expected.

Pam Clarke, Ofce Manager ASeTTS Australia

5. Seek media attention: Besides getting awell known speaker to your conerence there is awhole range o things you can do to attract media

attention. See next chapter: Raising the prole oyour campaign

6. Dont orget the practical matters: Thereare a number o practical considerations or theorganisation o a conerence, seminar, workshopor lecture.

Venue: It can be rustrating to keep peopleoutside because your room is too small,but a room too big will give the impressionyour event was a ailure. Try to make a goodestimation o the number o participants youwill have at your event and nd a suitablevenue. In a big room make sure people can beheard. You might need to use microphones.It is also a good idea to have a small stall orinormation desk placed outside the room withadditional inormation and ways or people tosupport your work.

Host and timeplan: In a conerence or seminaryou will need someone to host the eventand introduce the speakers. The host shouldbe amiliar with the time plan or your eventto make sure nothing is let undone. It isimportant to dene how long your speakerswill talk, how many and when the breaks willtake place, and when and or how long theparticipants are allowed to ask questions.

Visual materials: Make sure your organisationslogo and other visual campaign materials arevisible across the room.


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Social Media

The goal was to ght apathy. For this reason theIRCT created the online campaign World WithoutTorture (WWT) to enable citizens around the worldto engage directly in combating torture. Thecampaign was launched on Facebook and Twitter two o the worlds most popular online social

The IRCT experience: World Without Torture

Social media include blogs, and sites including Facebook and Twitter. The potential o the internet ingeneral and social media in particular is enormous when it comes to spreading a message. And thebest: it is easy to set up, ree and usually open to all.

platorms. Personal stories rom torture victims,global torture ghters and those who have beentouched by torture have been regularly eaturedon the sites as well as actual inormation ontorture, and relevant news items.

WWT was launched on Facebook on the 26th o May 2010 at 10:00 and this is how it grew:

ater 1 hour: 27 ans

2 hours: 213 ans

3 hours: 249 ans

6 hours: 350 ans

7 hours: 400 ans

24 hours: 740 ans

2 days: 985 ans and

On the 31 May (ater 5 days): 1300 supporters!

Ater nearly 10 months, WWT counts over 4500 supporters and keeps growing.

Tips or successul social media campaigns:

Make it visually appealing: Using an attractivelogo helps. Why not use one o the posters IRCTcreated or the 26 June campaign as your Face-book campaign logo?

Use a clear and unique message: Facebook

users are exposed to a multitude o messagesrom people, companies and other organisationstrying to get their attention. Make sure your mes-sage is simple and unique enough to get theirattention.

Post updates regularly and interact withyour supporters: Without updates, your pagewill stagnate. Be active and encourage activityon your page to keep the momentum going.

Inorm us about your eorts: We can help youdisseminate your Facebook campaign via theWorld Without Torture page.

World Without Torture: The IRCT Campaign on Facebook has more than 4500 supporters


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2. Cultural Activities

Many organisations around the world choose to

celebrate 26 June with cultural perormances.In general, cultural perormances attract greatinterest rom the general public giving morevisibility to the message being conveyed.However, you should discuss among yoursta whether theatre, dance and/or musicalperormances are the best way to get yourmessage conveyed and understood.

Theatre, dance and/or musical perormances

Example rom the IRCT membership

The theatre perormance organized by the

Italian rehabilitation centre CIR-VI.TO. was not atraditional cultural event. It was in act the resulto a 5-month long psychosocial rehabilitationworkshop that has taken place every year since2002 within their rehabilitation project. At acertain point CIR-VI.TO. decided to add a culturaland public meaning to the experience and to theprocess o rehabilitation, turning the theatrerehabilitation project into a 26 June public event.The results couldnt have been better. In 2010,the perormance was attended by more than 600

people. Many press articles have been publishedand the perormance has been broadcasted byradio and TV programs across Italy.

The workshop organised by CIR-VI.TO. givesthem the opportunity to speak out about torture

CIR-VI.TO.: Theatre perormance organized by the Italian rehabilitation centre

using the voices, the aces and the stories o

the reugees involved. The resulting images andthe theatre perormance are a very conveyableproduct, easy to sell to TV and press.

According to Fiorella Rathaus, Project manager atCIR-VI.TO., the experience has been particularly

strong in terms o empowerment o the reugees

participating in the workshop and has enabled

them to transorm rom survivors into active

witnesses.

The public event is defnitely an added valueto our communication activity.

Fiorella Rathaus, Project Manager at CIR-VI.TO

The theatre perormance is a symbolic processgiving the opportunity to speak about tortureand its consequences without speaking directlyo torture. By doing so, CIR-VI.TO. managed toinvolve the public on the dicult and ratherrepulsive issue o torture which otherwisenaturally activates a deensive reaction, saidFiorella. Moreover the theatre is attractive itseland brings visibility to the issue reaching andsensitising a broad public not directly involvedwith the issue.


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The perormance, together with other events organised around June 26,

attracted signifcant attention o the media and as the result there were

29 media appearances. So we may say that we have succeeded in raising

awareness regarding the issue o torture.

Gordana Stankov Stojilovi, IAN CRTV Programme Coordinator

IAN CRTVin Serbia held a street dance and music perormance (Capoeira: a Brazilian practice thatcombines elements o martial arts and music) symbolizing the ght against torture and its perpetrators.Besides the symbolism, this type o perormance was chosen because o its appeal to passers-by.

Choose a popular venue: IAN CRTV in Serbiachose one o Belgrades most visited tourist at-tractions the Kalemegdan ortress or theirdancing perormance. But make sure you getthe permission rom local authorities to use thespace. The Italian CIR-VI.TO. placed extra eorts

in obtaining a public space or a very well knowntheater to add solemnity, visibility and attrac-tiveness to the event.

Choose an unusual cultural activity: some-thing that people usually do not have opportu-nity to see.

Weather conditions: I you are planning an out-door activity, it is a good idea to have a backupplan due to unpredictable weather conditions

Educate the audience: use the opportunity toeducate the audience about the issue o torture.IAN CRTV distributed 300 educative fyers relat-ed to the issue o torture, availability o servicesor victims and obligation o the state accordingto the OPCAT. They also placed sta members at

the perormance location to speak with the inter-ested citizens and answer their questions.

Promote the event in the media: The Capoeiraperormance organized by IAN CRTV was promot-ed through a press release sent to the local printand electronic media, as well as on their websiteand Facebook page. Furthermore, IAN activistswere guests on several TV programmes wherethey had the opportunity to promote the event.

Tips or successul cultural events:


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3. Political Activities

There seems to be a tradition or the organisation

o rallies and marches among IRCT membercentres and other human rights organisations inIndia.

Both SOSRAC and CCTV shared with us theirexperience with the organisation o successulstreet marches. SOSRAC has been organisingmarches or the past three years. The resultshave been so positive that they will be doinganother one this year, this time bigger. Accordingto CCTV, the sound o drums makes people awarethat something is happening and pulls them out

to join the march. This is one o the typical waysto reach more people in West Bengal. Increasedawareness, interest and support rom the localcommunity and media, both print and electronic,as well as a positive response rom torturevictims are the main positive results highlightedby Dr Agrawal, rom SOSRAC.

Both organisations managed to deliver the 26 June message broadly, as well as to contributeto the wellbeing o torture victims. Victims, theiramilies and people rom the local community

Street marches and demonstrations

Ater the march, the local community visited

our centre to enquire about our activities and

how they could contribute to our movement

Dr Pradeep Agrawal, SOSRAC

joined the march together, helping victims

reintegrate into society with dignity, andbringing them condence to talk about theirtorture experience to the community and media.

In Sierra Leone, singing and dancing are alsoimportant ways to celebrate an exciting event.CAPS has organised several singing and dancingparades because it promotes the healing

o survivors o torture and other organisedviolence and can motivate isolated members othe communities to participate. Besides, suchevents have the benet o attracting the interesto the general populace thereby improving theoutcome o the commemorations.

Street demonstrations in India by CCTV (above) and Philippines by MAG (below)


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1. Start well in advance: the organisation o amarch or parade requires a lot o groundwork andpreparation. Discuss among your sta whether itis easible.

2. Seek participants and involve your com-munity: First, SOSRAC met with the torture vic-tims to discuss the benets o the march and theimportance o their participation. Second, theyapproached community leaders and the localmunicipal counsellor and secured their partici-pation. Engaging infuential people will increasethe impact o your march. Finally, SOSRAC con-

tacted a local secondary school and got a teach-er and his class interested in participating in themarch. In uture, SOSRAC will seek even more

Tips or successul marches and parades

participants: national politicians, more schoolsand other human rights organisations.

For their singing and dancing parade CAPSorganised a series o meetings with dierentstakeholders, NGOs, Community-basedorganisations, ministries and schools toinorm them about the 26 June and to shareCAPS parade plans, as well as to assign roles

and responsibilities. In addition, a number oinvitation letters were sent out.

To promote the march, SOSRAC distributedpamphlets and displayed posters in the localcommunity and nearby shopping centers. Thelocal community leaders and the school teacherthat had been contacted helped greatly inspreading the message about the march. Tworickshaws helped spread the message urtheraround the community. Finally, a press briengorganised the day beore by SOSRAC gave wide

publicity to the event.

3. Get the media involved: SOSRAC organiseda meeting with local media, both print and elec-tronic, where they had the opportunity to discussthe 26 June and the goals o the peace march.In the uture, SOSRAC will seek media coveragemore intensively. See the next chapter or moreinormation on seeking media attention.

Involve the victims and their amilies: First, youshould nd out how victims eel about a publicmarch, as they might raise saety concerns.At SOSRAC they turned out to be very excitedabout the idea o a public march and accepted toparticipate. Sta involved them and their amiliesin the preparation o the leafets and bannersthat participants carried while marching, andinvited them to press briengs.

4. Make sure everyone knows about key in-ormation: It is very important to share with theparticipants the starting time, gathering point,the route and nal destination o the parade.

5. Seek permission rom local authoritiesand engage the police and the military or secu-rity clearance and participation during the pa-

rade.

6. Be loud and visible: CAPS advises the use obrass instruments and singing and dancing romthe start to the end o the parade; display visualelements like placards or banners and distributeattractive T-shirts. CAPS arranged meetings witha brass band and together developed simplesongs with strong messages on torture. They didtraining sessions with the band and used localmedia to help publicise the tune and messages

throughout the community. CCTV suggests youto put emphasis in conveying your messages in aclear and understandable way.

Ater the parade people became more aware about their rights. Now they

know that in time o need, they would get our support against this atrocity.

Furthermore, authorities also became more aware about the issue o

torture. As a result, their actions are more rational, a positive sign or us.

Ms. Minakshi Chaudhuri, CCTV India

by SOSRAC (India), CCTV (India) and CAPS (Sierra Leone)


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7. During the parade: Provide rereshments,caps and general assistance to the participantson hotter days. CCTV usually delivers speeches

throughout the rally and at the road junctions,helping them to spread their messages urther.

4. Activities or ChildrenEssay, poetry and art competitions

Many schools, youth clubs or childrens campshold essay or art exhibitions o works done bytheir students to encourage them to understand

the problem o torture and its impact. Pictures,sculptures and texts are very good tools orencouraging children to express their ownthoughts and eelings about a dicult issuesuch as torture.

In post-confict countries, writing essays andcreating art have helped children who havebeen exposed to torture and trauma to conronttheir eelings in a positive way. In many western

countries, essay writing and art have helpedchildren o all ages to better understand the needor tolerance and understanding o reugees andasylum-seekers.

Suggested topics or essay/poetry competitionsYou may wish to adapt the questions and essay length to best suit your countrys situation and the agegroup you are involving.

1. How would you help a new student whohas experienced torture?

Imagine that one day a new student starts inyour class. He or she is a reugee who has beenallowed to stay in your country. Your teacher hastold you that the new students amily has been

exposed to torture and violence in their homecountry. That is why they had to fee to anothercountry. Describe how you and your classmatescan help the new student to eel welcome in theirnew school and country.

2. How can we create a world without tor-ture?

Describe what the United Nations and thegovernment o your country should do to make

sure that torture no longer takes place. And whatyou and your riends can do. Do you think it is

possible that, one day, torture will no longer takeplace anywhere in the world, including in yourown country?

3. What would you say to someone who tor-tures?

I you were able to speak with someone who hastortured, what would you say?

4. Why is it important to punish people whotorture?

In many countries, people who torture are notalways punished or their crimes. Imagine thatone o your riends has been tortured and theperson who did it was not punished. How doyou think your riend would eel? How would you

eel? Why is it important that people who committorture are punished or what they have done?


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Suggested topics or art competitions

The ollowing topics are suggestions orpainting, drawing or sculpture competitions.

You may wish to adapt the themes to best suityour countrys situation and the age group that

you are involving. One popular theme is to getchildren to colour in the WWT logo with positiveimages o a torture-ree world.

1. The eelings o torture survivors whenthey remember their suering

Try to imagine the eelings that a survivor otorture has when thinking about the torture he orshe has suered. Does he/she eel anger, guilt,sorrow, pain, or all o these? Or is he/she justhappy to be alive? Can you illustrate, through a

drawing, a painting, a sculpture or similar, whata girl, a boy, a woman or a man who has beentortured eels? And perhaps what their amilyand riends eel?

2. Lets erase torture

On 26 June, people join together against torture,organising special events to show their supportor victims o torture and their common wish or

a world without torture. Can you design an imagethat illustrates the idea that we can all play a partin erasing torture rom our world?

3. A world without torture

In many countries around the world tortureis widespread, harming countless ordinarypeople, both the direct victims and their loved-ones. Those in power oten say that torture isnecessary to maintain peace and security. But

in reality torture undermines peace and security,creating ear and hatred among ordinary people.Can you illustrate through painting, drawing orother visual media what a world without torturewould look like?

Among many other 26 June activities organised by SOSRAM-CASRAin Turkey, childrenparticipated by producing drawings and releasing balloons to protest against torture.


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5. Other Activities

In order to take advantage o the public interestaround the World Cup in 2010, RCT decided tohold a mini ootball tournament to celebrate 26

June. Anders Bernhot, who was in charge o thecampaign, recommends you:

Get relevant individuals to participate: Seekparticipants who have public appeal or are di-rectly related to the issue o torture. RCT got bothgroups involved in their tournament. The teamsparticipating o the event were composed o

politicians, comedians, proessional soccer andhandball players, the police and RCT personnel.

Anders Bernhot strongly recommends thatall the interested organisations place mosto their eorts in this particular aspect o the

Sporting events, matches or races

Street soccer tournament in Copenhagen by the RCT (Denmark)

event organisation. Getting the right people toparticipate is denitely the hardest part (do notexpect answers to all the requests you will sendout) but also one o the most critical aspects. Itcan mean the dierence between great publicand media interest and a regular, unnoticedootball match among riends.

Teaming up with larger organisations mighthelp you persuade amous people to join yourcampaign.

Choose a popular public venue: It will helpyou draw attention to the ootball tournamentand consequently to the message o your cam-paign. RCT chose one o the central squares inCopenhagen. Ater deciding upon the location ora set o locations, seek permission rom the lo-cal authorities, such as the city council or localpolice.

Get in touch with national ootball edera-

tion and local ootball clubs: One o the ob-vious practical requirements is to get all thenecessary equipment (goals, clothing, ootballs,scoreboard, ence, etc). RCT rented all that mate-rial. However, it is a good idea to contact yournational ootball ederation and local ootballclubs and ask them to lend you all the necessaryequipment.

Other practical matters: Besides ootballequipment, you will need to set up acilities

or the general public such as benches, maybea tent, and some rereshments or the partici-pants.

RCT: Politicians, comedians, proessional soccer players, among many others, joined the mini streetootball tournament in the centre o Copenhagen, organised by the Danish member centre RCT.


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Inormational/educational activities:

Distributing inormational materials

Testimonies by torture survivors Radio quizzes

Film screenings

Open houses

Cultural activities:

Book launches

Candlelight vigils

Exhibitions

Political activities:

Human chains in ront o public buildings

Petitions or letter writing campaigns

Events or children:

Kite fying

Puppet shows Drama or street perormances

Others:

Sponsored walks

Mobile clinics

A moment o silence

Religious or prayer ceremonies

Tree planting Releasing pigeons/doves

Visits to prisons

Auctions o donated items

Besides the activities described in this guide, there are many others you can organise.A ew examples are:

Vive ene: concert with the band "Zgate and Fetus" was held inBosnia and Herzegovina to commemorate 26 June.


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Raising the profle o your campaign

Drawing media to your event has the potentialto spread your message urther, and to bringin more supporters or your cause and oruture events. While a press conerence may beuseul i you are planning a large activity withprominent guests, there are other ways to bringin the media with ewer demands on your timeand resources. For example:

Invite a ew journalists to your event. It is bestto identiy those journalists you have contactwith already or who have a special interestin your work. Be sure to give them plentyo advance notice about the event and oerto send them supplementary inormationalmaterial.

Approach a local radio or TV current aairsprogramme to suggest they broadcast aeature programme on 26 June. Provide anoutline o a possible story and list interestingpeople who could be interviewed.

Submit a Letter to the Editor to localnewspapers and magazines or publicationon 26 June. Letters are widely read and

provide a good opportunity to promote acause and/or organisation. Letters should beshort and concise aim to make one main

point and end on a challenging note, with acall to action. Letters also can be signed bya number o signatories, which may increasetheir impact.

Seek out ree advertisements in newspapers,magazines, radio or television. An ad caneither promote your event or draw attentionto the importance o 26 June.

CIR-VI.TO., in Italy, used the 26 Junecampaign to give several interviewsor national TV and radio on theneed or public support againsttorture. As a result, their activitieswere attended by over 600 people.CRAT, in Cameroon, had their 26 June events covered by 16 print andaudio-visual media, and many otherorganizations have been realising

the importance o media in thesuccess o their events.

IAN CRTV, Serbia FAVL, Armenia


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I you are preparing a press conerence, RCTV (Moldova) recommends:

Organising a press conerence

A press conerence has the potential to drawgreater attention to your message, but pressconerences also require a lot o planning beore,during and ater the event. Press conerenceswork best when you organise them to:

Showcase a newsworthy story (your 26 Juneevent).

Provide new inormation relating to a bigstory being ollowed by the media.

Make a statement on a controversial issue.

Utilise high prole speakers or celebrities toback your cause.

Release important new ndings or researchdata.

Launch a major new initiative.

Announce something o local importance.

To maximise the impact o your press conerence(and to pool resources), consider joining orceswith other NGOs, rehabilitation centres, etc. toco-host an event.

There are many online resources that providestep-by-step guides on how to organise apress conerence. Here are two we recommendrom Aim higher (http://bit.ly/kzwle1) and theEuropean Commission (http://bit.ly/llqRAZ).

Join orces with similar organisations: Iden-tiy other human rights organisation with whomyou would like to organise the press conerenceand drat the basic common message o thepress conerence.

Speakers: each organisation shall delegateone speaker. Usually RCTV motivates and invitestheir beneciaries to participate as a speaker atthe conerence. By doing so, the general publicand journalists are sensitised and more willingto attend and pay attention to the event.

Schedule date and time: One o the main ele-ments that can ensure success or ailure o theconerence is the date on which the conerencewill be held. In setting the date o the event,RCTV always takes into account the unavourable

periods to avoid some eventual overlaps; in thiscase, usually they work with press agencies. Thetotal duration o the RCTVs conerences do notexceed 30-40 minutes, including questions andanswers.

Prepare a press older: each organisation in-volved in the press conerence shall provideinormative materials such as brochures abouttorture, the rehabilitation o torture victims, theactivities provided by organisation, etc. It should

also include a text that you would like to havepublished in the media, with some concrete

data, inormation on the benets o rehabilita-tion, concrete examples where torture occurs,and proposals o steps that need to be under-taken.

Attract attention by writing and deliveringa press release: The press release should in-clude inormation about WHY the conerence isorganized, WHO the speakers are, and WHEREthe conerence will be held. Send it press agen-cies/media outlets and place it on your website(i you have one) and other news sites at leasta week beore the press conerence. Resend theinvitation and press release one day beore theconerence.

Confrming attendance: Call the journalistsyou personally know. I you do not have a PR

service it is good to engage a PR agency to makesure that the journalists will come to the coner-ence.

Prepare visual aids: place banners behindthe speakers which help you get the messageacross.

Measure the impact: Ater the press coner-ence remember to gather press clippings o thecoverage you got. It is a way o assessing the im-

pact o you event.


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Share your activities and ideasEvery year the IRCT publishes Together againstTorture - a global report on the activities heldaround the world in commemoration o the 26

June. The IRCT welcomes submissions o reports,

photos and other materials rom your 26 Juneactivities to be included in the 26 June report,campaign kit and other materials produced bythe IRCT.

We also encourage you to send an e-mail [email protected] with your ideas to help usimprove this guide.

www.irct.org/26june

[email protected]


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International Rehabilitation Council or Torture Victims (IRCT)Borgergade13P.O.Box90491022CopenhagenKDenmark

Tel.:+4533760600Fax:+4533760500E il i t@i t htt // i t

Other guides by the IRCT:

Website creation: Easy ways to build a website at no or very little cost, 2010 (English and Spanish)

Guide to Advocacy, 2007 (English, Spanish, French and Arabic)

Guide to Fundraising, 2007 (English, Spanish, French and Arabic)

How to work with the media (Online guide)

Related publications by the IRCT:

Together against Torture: Global Report on the 26 June 2010 Campaign

campaign+kit web version

Documents