MPs to stand up on torture – at home and abroad

1 March 2017

Cross party MPs will debate UK policy on torture in Westminster on Thursday 2 March, stressing the urgent need for the UK to stand up against torture at home and abroad. The debate will cover UK policy on the problems faced by torture survivors seeking asylum in the UK as well as the need to reaffirm the UK's position as a champion for the absolute prohibition of torture globally, in light of President Trump’s comments that it “absolutely” works.

It is expected that the discussion will draw on research by Freedom from Torture which shows that medical evidence of torture is being routinely mistreated, misinterpreted or ignored by caseworkers at the Home Office when processing asylum claims. As a result, many torture survivors’ applications for asylum are being rejected and many are being forced to spend months or years appealing the decision, at a huge cost to themselves and to UK taxpayers.

The debate will be led by Dr Tania Mathias - MP for Twickenham and a medical doctor who has worked with refugees in Africa - and it is hoped that speakers will join from across the UK and all major political parties, with a government minister responding to MPs following the debate. On the day of the debate, Dr Mathias will be joined by torture survivors from Freedom from Torture’s Survivors Speak OUT Network to present a petition to the Home Office, signed by over 40,000 people, demanding a fair asylum process for people fleeing torture.

Freedom from Torture’s Proving Torture report, launched as part of a wider campaign in November 2016, analysed 50 cases and found that existing Home Office policy guidance was not being followed and that expert medico-legal reports were poorly handled. The research found that in 74% of the cases, asylum caseworkers replaced the expert opinion of a medical doctor with their own speculation about clinical matters.

The debate can be watched live on Thursday 2 March at 2.30pm on Parliament TV.