The Italian council for refugees will present a series of exhibitions and performances in Rome to mark the United Nations (UN) day for the support of torture victims on 26 June.

There will be an exhibition entitled Linfame verit dalla tortura legale al reato di tortura (the infamous truth from legal torture to the crime of torture), a documentary-style exhibition which traces the history of torture using documents from judicial archives and library sources from the citys state archives.

A documentary entitled 9-18, recounting a typical day in the life of two asylum seekers in Rome, will also be shown.

There will also be a performance of the work Il verbo degli invisibili by Nube Sandoval and Bernardo Rey based on a Sufi legend, describing a birds continuous search for an ideal nesting place.

The event has been organised with the collaboration of the video and theatrical laboratory VI.TO members of which are refugees seeking asylum, and survivors of torture and the Archivio di Stato di Roma. It will take place in the courtyard of the church of S. Ivo alla Sapienza at 21.00.

According to the UN, half of the worlds population lives under governments that carry out torture, with a third of the worlds refugees having been subjected to torture of some kind.

Admission is free. Archivio di Stato di Roma. Chiesa S. Ivo alla Sapienza, Corso Rinascimento 40. 21.00. For more information tel. 0669200118.