Annex V Joint Declaration for the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture 26 June 2000 The Committee against Torture, the Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (the Fund), the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Recalling the decision of the General Assembly to declare 26 June United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Taking note of resolution 2000/43 of the Commission on Human Rights adopted on 20 April 2000 which called upon all Governments, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations bodies and agencies, as well as relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to commemorate, on 26 June, the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, this year with particular emphasis on reparation for torture victims, Recalling the joint declarations they adopted on 26 June 1998 and 26 June 1999, Recalling also the continued regular exchange of views between the Board of Trustees of the Fund, the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture with regard to their common mandate to assist victims of torture, and taking note of the need, stressed by the General Assembly, for further exchange of views with other relevant United Nations mechanisms and bodies, as well as for the pursuance of cooperation with relevant United Nations programmes, notably the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme, with a view to enhancing further their effectiveness and cooperation on issues relating to torture, inter alia by improving their coordination, Recalling the appeals against torture made by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in which, inter alia, all Governments were exhorted to defeat torture and bring to justice torturers everywhere and reminded that ending torture was a beginning of true respect for the most basic of all human rights: the intrinsic dignity and value of each individual, Reaffirming that torture is one of the vilest acts to be perpetrated by human beings upon each other, Concerned that requests for assistance to the Fund for victims of torture and members of their families are constantly increasing, Recalling that torture is prohibited by article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as by specific provisions of international human rights treaties adhered for by the majority of States, Recognizing that torture is a breach of a non-derogable human right which cannot be justified under any circumstances and that its systematic or widespread practice is characterized as a crime against humanity under international law, in particular, article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Conscious of the necessity to place emphasis on prevention of torture, as recommended by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, 48