Survivors of serious human rights and international humanitarian law violations have a legal right to reparation, but in practice this is often inaccessible, leaving them without redress. This briefing examines how illicit assets linked to Syria’s civil war could be recovered and redirected to fund reparation for survivors. With a new Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation, a large share of frozen Syrian assets, and a stated commitment to supporting transitional justice as part of state and peace building, the EU and its Member States are well placed to act. The briefing sets out concrete recommendations to facilitate asset recovery for reparation in the Syrian context, informed by consultations with Syrian survivors and civil society.
UK law provides only a narrow basis for using the proceeds of confiscated criminal assets to compensate victims. In practice, victims are rarely allocated any share of the sums recovered, except in “clear and simple cases”. In this briefing, we propose amending the Crime and Policing Bill to empower courts to award compensation for public interest or social purposes, enabling compensation in cases such as sanctions breaches where, despite the offender’s conduct having a clear impact on victims of human rights violations and their communities, it may be difficult for the courts to identify or quantify direct victims.
This report, published by the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB) provides an in-depth mapping of accountability mechanisms capable of addressing serious human rights violations and breaches of international criminal law in Belarus. It distinguishes between mechanisms that address state responsibility, those focused on individual criminal liability, and hybrid approaches that serve both functions.
At present, the UK’s ability to prosecute grave international crimes under universal jurisdiction is limited. The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has criticised the current legal framework for creating “barriers to accountability”. This briefing supports the proposed recommendation from the JCHR and the International Development Committee and outlines the practical consequences if the law is not reformed. Adopting these amendments would close a loophole, empower prosecutors to more effectively exercise universal jurisdiction, and help ensure the UK does not become a safe haven for those accused of international crimes.
An open letter from REDRESS and the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, signed by 22 human rights organisations and 13 individuals, calls on Iran to provide urgent medical treatment to Zeinab Jalalian, the country's longest-held female political prisoner. Zeinab Jalalian, a Kurdish women’s rights activist, was handed a death sentence in 2008, later commuted to life imprisonment, after a deeply flawed trial. She is currently held in Yazd Central Prison, where at least eight prisoners — including one woman — were reportedly executed in the past two months. Despite suffering from several potentially life-threatening illnesses, Iranian authorities have consistently denied Zeinab access to the medical care she urgently needs for proper diagnosis and treatment.
A joint statement by United Against Torture Consortium (UATC) - REDRESS, FIACAT, APT, IRCT, OMCT, Omega Research Foundation - together with AFIA MAMA and our partners from Congolese civil society, delivered to the 60th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In October 2000, BBC journalist Nimalarajan Mylvaganam was assassinated in his home in Jaffna, one of the earliest targeted killings of a Tamil journalist during Sri Lanka’s civil war. His murder became a symbol of the deadly cost of reporting amid ethnic conflict and state-sponsored violence, and of the entrenched climate of impunity that has silenced dozens of journalists. Between 2000 and 2010, at least 44 media workers were killed in Sri Lanka—yet not a single perpetrator has ever been brought to justice.
This joint report by REDRESS and the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) offers a forensic examination of the Sri Lankan justice system’s handling of Nimalarajan’s case. Drawing on two decades of court records, it exposes how investigative failures, political interference, and deliberate inaction ensured that accountability was never possible. While some suspects were detained, politically connected figures evaded justice and even fled abroad. Today, the case remains unresolved, with international efforts stalled by Sri Lanka’s lack of cooperation. The report underscores both the systemic failures that protected perpetrators and the urgent need for renewed action to secure justice for Nimalarajan and other murdered journalists.
This report published by REDRESS, the Academy on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL), and the Latin American Network for Gender-Based Strategic Litigation (ReLeG), exposes how sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has been systematically used as a tool of political and social repression in protests across Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela. The first study of its kind in the region, it highlights how SGBV is deliberately weaponised against women, LGBTIQ+ individuals, and other marginalised groups, coinciding with broader state efforts to shrink civic space through criminalisation of protesters, mass arrests, and impunity for security forces. Survivors often face silence due to fear, stigma, and lack of justice, perpetuating a cycle of violence that demands urgent accountability.
