Publications

REDRESS and the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) have brought to the attention of the UN Human Rights Committee the "serious, ongoing human rights crisis" in Sudan, marked by widespread and ongoing human rights violations. In a report submitted to the Committee, which will be reviewing Sudan's human rights record on 8 and 9 July 2014, the organisations document the continued use of stoning, amputation and whipping in Sudan in violation of Sudan’s human rights obligations. They also draw attention to the killings and torture of hundreds of students, activists, journalists and human rights defenders by the intelligence and security forces, and the gross violations being carried out in armed conflicts in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.  

The Project for Criminal Law Reform (www.pclrs.com), a joint initiative by REDRESS and the Sudanese Human Rights Monitor, has identified a series of shortcomings in Sudan’s legal system, particularly in respect of Sudan’s international human rights obligations, and advocated reforms over the last seven years. This Compilation of Advocacy Briefings, which covers four briefings published in the period May 2013 to January 2014, highlights a number of key areas of concern:  torture, immunities as a barrier to justice and the right to protest. In addition, it draws together the multiple recommendations made by regional and international human rights bodies.    

In this letter addressed to the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Africa, REDRESS and other human rights groups that provide medical, psychological or legal assistance to victims of torture or ill-treatment discuss how to further strengthen the rights of victims of torture and ill-treatment in Africa, including through the adoption of a General Comment on part III of the Robben Island Guidelines. They also outline the work of their  Pan-African Right to Reparation Initiative.

The report explains how regional human rights mechanisms, in particular the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, play a key part in upholding the rights of victims, including the right to reparation. The report finds that while significant progress has been made, more could be done to ensure “a holistic, victim-centered approach on reparation for victims of gross human rights violations in Africa”.    

Cette communication résume les préoccupations de REDRESS et de SAJ (Synergie pour l’assistance judiciaire aux victimes de violations des droits humains au Nord Kivu) quant aux manquements de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) concernant la mise en œuvre de certaines de ces recommandations (numérotées sur la base du Rapport du groupe de travail) dans le domaine de la lutte contre l’impunité, l’accès à la justice et à la réparation pour les victimes de violences sexuelles commises en période de conflit armé, dans le cadre du second cycle de l’examen de la RDC.

In this letter, REDRESS and other human rights groups urge the Permanent Representative Member and Observer States to the UN Human Rights Council to ensure that serious and widespread violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Sudan are adequately addressed by the Human Rights Council during its 24th session that took place in Geneva from 9-27 September 2013.