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Over 40 percent of 21,000 respondents from around the world, told Amnesty they believe they won't be safe from torture. The use of torture is widespread 30 years after the United Nations adopted a convention outlawing the practice, Amnesty International has said. In Africa, the reports says Governments are betraying their commitments to stamp out torture. A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday by Amnesty International said the practice was rampant across the continent, which lags behind the rest of the world in criminalizing it. It said only 10 African nations had adopted domestic legislation outlawing torture, despite the fact that the African Charter on Human and People�s Rights ratified by all but one African Union state expressly prohibits the practice. The statement quoted Mr Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International�s Research and Advocacy Director for Africa as saying �African governments have yet to acknowledge the problem, let alone begin to rectify it�. �The lack of strong national laws prohibiting torture in the majority of African countries allows torture not just to survive but to thrive,� he added. It said the two-year campaign, Stop Torture, launched with a new media briefing, Torture in 2014: 30 Years of Broken Promises, provides an overview of the use of torture in the world today. The statement said Amnesty International has reported on torture and other forms of ill-treatment in at least 141 countries from every region of the world over the past five years virtually every country in which it works. �In 2014, 30 years after the UN adopted the 1984 Convention against Torture - which commits all governments to combatting the abuse - Amnesty International observed torture in at least 24 Sub-Saharan African countries. Given the secretive nature of the abuse, the true number is likely to be far higher� it said. It said in a number of African countries the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is routine and accepted by many as a legitimate response to high levels of violent crime. It said �a worldwide Globescan survey commissioned alongside the briefing for the launch found nearly half 44 per cent of respondents � from 21 countries across every continent - fear they would be at risk of torture if taken into custody in their country. The statement said in Africa, at least half the respondents in Kenya, 58 per cent, and Nigeria, 50 per cent, feared they would be at risk of torture if taken into custody. It said the survey indicates nearly three quarters 73 per cent of Nigerians and more than fourth fifths 84 per cent of Kenyans agree that clear rules are needed to fight against torture. It said Amnesty International has documented various forms of torture used across Africa, adding that in prisons and detention centres torture is routinely used as a means of extracting �confessions�. � Detainees are beaten, tied in painful positions, held in extreme weather conditions, suspended from ceilings and sexually abused in countries including Ethiopia, the Gambia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Zimbabwe� it added. According to the statement allegations of abuse in South Africa, including the use of electric shocks and beatings, emerged in the past year from a privately run prison at Mangaung�s high security prison. It said in Mauritania, courts had declared that �confessions� extracted under torture or other forms of ill-treatment are admissible as evidence, even if they are subsequently retracted. It added that in Nigeria, police and military personnel use torture as a matter of routine, �When Moses Akatugba was arrested by soldiers in 2005 he was 16 years old�. According to Moses, he was then transferred to the police, who hanged him by his limbs for hours at a police station. Moses said he was tortured into signing a �confession� that he was involved in a robbery. The allegation that he confessed as a result of torture was never fully investigated. In November 2013, after eight years waiting for a verdict, Moses was sentenced to death. The statement said torture in Sudan included the use of amputation as a punishment, adding that in April 2013 three men had their right hands cut off after being found guilty of stealing cooking oil following a trial in which they did not have a defence lawyer. It said prison conditions were extremely inhumane in many countries in Africa, with severe overcrowding and chronic lack of sanitation. �In Liberia, Amnesty International witnessed severe overcrowding, lack of running water and very poor sanitation. Cells are so small that inmates have to take turns to sleep�. It said Amnesty International is calling on all African governments to immediately take steps to criminalize torture. The organization called on governments to implement protective mechanisms to prevent and punish torture. These include proper medical examinations, prompt access to lawyers, independent checks on places of detention, effective investigations of torture allegations, the prosecution of suspects and proper redress for victims�.