1. „Atlas of Torture“ Website Launch of Beta Version 29 April 2009

2. Why a Website on Torture? Torture is not a phenomenon of the middle ages, but continues to be a widespread practice at the beginning of the 21st century. Torture remains largely unacknowledge in its severity, extend and structural causes; torture continues to be trivialized for political purposes Country specific information is often dispersed among various sources The existing international legal framework has been fundamentally challenged by recent attempts to undermine the absolute prohibition of torture in the fight against terrorism

3. The Purpose of the Website is to raise awareness of the continuing practice of torture in the world and its underlying causes offer a useful source of information for research & advocacy addressed to human rights professionals, academics and the interested public compile information from various sources and provide analyses with a thematic and geographical focus track the latest legal and political developments relating to torture and ill- treatment

4. Media review Thematic analysis Country situation Glossary & further resoures About this project Cross-cutting issues

5.  Access to country profiles via the interactive world map to find information on political backgound situation of torture documents  Information on country missions by international monitoring bodies.

6.  In formation on the political context, the general human rights situation and other key facts

7.  Synopsis of the legal framework and the situation of torture & ill-treatment, based on most recent information from UN bodies

8.  Compilation of relevant documentation from UN bodies Regional monitoring bodies Jurisprudence  Links to relevant national and international human rights organisations and reports from leading NGOs

9.  Analysis of various legal issues related to the fight against torture.  Written with the aim to provide a concise overview, a focus on contemporary challenges and introduction to specific fields of research.  Linked to excerpts of OUP‘s Commentary on Convention against Torture, and other relevant documents  Regularly updated in order to cover new legal developments.

10.  Selection of most relevant news coverage on legal and political developments  Newspaper articles, audio and video files are included

11.  Glossary on relevant international conventions, monitoring mechanisms and basic terminology  Further features:  FAQs  Linklist to online resources

12. We look forward to receiving your feedback: contact@atlas-of-torture.org