Publications
REDRESS’ publications are also available in hard copy format. Please contact us for further information on [email protected].
Victims, activists and policymakers from different countries gathered in The Hague on 17 October 2019 to participate in the international conference Victims: Front and Centre, co-organised by Impunity Watch and Redress. Discussions focused on how to engage victims and ensure their meaningful and effective participation in transitional justice processes, particularly in the context of Guatemala and Uganda. The victims of the armed conflicts described how they had turned their pain into activism. The event also highlighted the importance of victim agency and empowerment through victims networks and other forms of support. Other experts brought perspectives from different contexts including Syria and Bosnia, reinforcing the importance of victim participation in shaping and strengthening transitional justice processes.
This report examines the success of litigation in pursuing justice for child victims of sexual abuse by peacekeepers looking at cases in which victims and their representatives have turned to the courts to seek accountability and redress. Done jointly by human rights organisations Redress and the Child Rights International Network, the report concludes that child sexual abuse usually goes unpunished and few victims secure reparations. Drawing on 30 interviews with lawyers and experts around the world, the report identifies key obstacles that prevent the perpetrators of peacekeeper child sexual abuse from being held to account, and that prevent victims from obtaining redress. These include: the quality of investigations; immunities and the exclusive jurisdiction of troop-contributing countries; a lack of transparency in prosecution processes, particularly in military court martial processes; and the absence of a victim-centred approach. The report recommends a series of reforms to policies, practices and legislation in troop-contributing countries and the UN. It also identifies opportunities for future strategic human rights litigation.
On 20 January 2020, REDRESS and 12 other NGOs including FIDH, ECCHR, the International Commission for Jurists and Amnesty International sent a joint Letter to the Core Group and Co-Sponsoring States of the initiative for the creation of a new multilateral treaty on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes (Mutual Legal Assistance Initiative). The letter was sent in advance of the Informal Consultations that will be held in The Hague, next week, between 27-29 January 2020. The main issues we address relate to (1) the scope of the draft treaty - the crimes of torture and enforced disappearance which should be included in the main draft treaty as stand-alone crimes and not just as crimes against humanity or war crimes; (2) an enhanced role for victims and their rights; and (3) clarifying issues relating to asset recovery and disposal.
This Report Summary summarizes the key findings of a joint report by the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and REDRESS, A Way Forward? Anti-torture reforms in Sudan in the Post-Bashir era. At a critical juncture in Sudan's history, the report identifies priorities for change and key reforms to end the systematic practice of torture in Sudan, punish the perpetrators and provide reparations for the victims.
At a critical juncture in Sudan’s history, this joint report from the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and REDRESS identifies priorities for change and key reforms to end the systematic practice of torture in Sudan, punish the perpetrators and provide reparations for the victims.
REDRESS jointly with seven other human rights organisations has published an open letter following a joint investigation by BBC Panorama and Sunday Times which found evidence that the Ministry of Defence and some elements within the Armed Forces had allegedly covered up evidence of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The letter from REDRESS, Freedom from Torture, Liberty, Rights Watch UK, Human Rights Watch, ECCHR, and the Rendition Project was sent on 20 November 2019 to the main UK political parties.
Our Annual Review 2019 sets out what REDRESS has achieved from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. This has included a timely report on reparations at the International Criminal Court on victim participation, responding to the situation in Sudan, and organising a broad coalition of NGOs to prepare a report on torture and ill-treatment in the United Kingdom for the UN Committee against Torture. It has also included addressing the need for effective consular protection for dual nationals detained abroad, including obtaining for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe the status of diplomatic protectionfor the first time in a human rights case . In fighting discriminatory torture, we have highlighted the problem of torture in the context of migration and LGBTI rights, and brought the landmark case of Azul Rojas Marin before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Our post-conflict work in Uganda has led to the creation of the first national platform for victims of the armed conflict, the Uganda Victims and Survivors Network, and our projects on SGBV enabled national NGOs to engage effectively on the issue. We also advanced universal jurisdiction cases in several jurisdictions.
