Thirty years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention Against Torture. Three years later, on this very day, the Convention entered into effect, memorializing the international community’s condemnation of this practice. From the first days of his Administration, President Obama has made his position on torture clear: it is abhorrent, an instrument of repression, and a brutal assault on human dignity. It weakens those that use it by affording their enemies a tool of recruitment. Today, we reaffirm our solemn commitment to the Convention and our obligations under it. We honor those who have faced the horrors of torture, remember those who have lost their lives in the face of it, and renew our pledge to the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world. To the governments, civil society organizations, survivors, and others working worldwide to combat torture’s horrors, we share our gratitude for your efforts and assurance of our lasting partnership. The United States will continue to strive with you to achieve the Convention’s noble aspirations, so that we may all come to live in a world without torture.