Reparation

We deliver remedies and reparation for survivors

All survivors of torture must receive effective reparations for the suffering inflicted on them. This can take the form of compensation or the implementation of practical measures to fulfil international standards for reparation.

Such measures can include restoring their freedom, the return of illegally seized property, or public acknowledgement of the perpetrators’ wrongdoing in order to return the victim to their original standing in the community.

REDRESS uses litigation and policy advocacy to develop and implement national legal frameworks that deliver reparations to both individuals and communities. This work includes a novel project on asset recovery and sanctions as a way to deliver reparations, promoting reparations in specific tribunals including the International Criminal Court, and implementing influential international standards on reparations such as the UN Basic Principles on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation.

REDRESS secures effective reparations for survivors through projects including:

  • Asset Recovery. We use legal and advocacy avenues to challenge the financial impunity that some high-profile perpetrators of torture enjoy, by taking action to seize their corrupt assets and, where possible, using them to provide reparations to their victims.
  • Magnitsky Sanctions. We encourage NGOs to use the new UK system for human rights sanctions against perpetrators of torture.
  • Reparations for Ukraine. We are working with partners in Ukraine and around the world to explore potential legal routes for financial accountability and the delivery of reparations to victims affected by the conflict in Ukraine.
  • Delivering Reparations in Practice. We work with national partners around the world to deliver effective reparation in practice to ensure that survivors of torture receive the different forms of reparations that they are entitled to.
  • Reparations Guide. We have worked with partners at Queens University Belfast to develop a guide to reparations in international law.
  • Anti-Torture Laws in Africa. We are conducting a review of anti-torture laws and standards in key jurisdictions to support ratification of the UN Convention against Torture.
  • Istanbul Protocol. We supported the process to update the UN guidance on the investigation of torture, a key element of reparation. The updated version of the Istanbul Protocol was published on 29 June 2022.

Photo credit: On 28 August 2013, the Inter-American Court issued a landmark ruling, upholding the right to justice and to reparation for Mr García Lucero and potentially impacting on the many other exiled torture survivors from the Pinochet-era.