Publications

This briefing was prepared by Protection Approaches, Waging Peace and REDRESS ahead of a debate on a Westminster Hall debate on October 15th on the June massacres in Sudan and the UK’s support for Sudan’s democratic transition. Our briefing highlights how at a critical moment in Sudan's transition towards democracy, the risk of violence and atrocities remain high. This presents an important opportunity for the UK to reprise its role as Sudan's "critical friend” to support an inclusive and sustainable transition process for Sudan.

In this letter, REDRESS and 9 other civil society organisations welcome a number of improvements made in the March 2020 version of the Draft Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes (MLA Draft Convention).

Ahead of the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council, and at a critical juncture for Sudan, 23 civil society organisations have written to the Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council to highlight the need for their delegations to support the Council’s ongoing contribution to systemic human rights reforms in the country. As Sudan’s political transition remains fragile, the Council has a responsibility to both support national authorities and actors and maintain the monitoring and public reporting capacity of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced a second trial against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on 8th September 2020. The second court case repeats the numerous violations of her rights under international human rights law and Iranian law that occurred in her first conviction as outlined in this briefing note.

En 2018, le Comité des droits de l’Homme a décidé lors de sa 122ème session de suspendre le dialogue avec les autorités algériennes ainsi que la procédure de suivi, en raison de l’absence de coopération de la part de l’Algérie. Depuis, certaines victimes de disparitions forcées et leurs familles ont vu leur situation s’aggraver. La décision de suspendre la procédure de suivi prive les victimes de leur seule possible voie de recours, met en péril la lutte contre les disparitions forcées en Algérie et contribue à un phénomène de « sur-victimisation » et à l’impunité. C’est pourquoi REDRESS, MENA Rights Group, Alkarama, la Coordination nationale des familles de disparus, Mish’al et TRIAL International appellent urgemment le Comité à renouer le dialogue et à reprendre la procédure de suivi avec les autorités algériennes. Les manquements du gouvernement algérien à ses obligations conventionnelles doivent être dénoncés.

This report on our activities sets out what REDRESS achieved from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. Our work was truly international, spanning five continents and over 40 countries. Amongst our many successes: we secured a landmark judgment at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which will help to protect LGBT+ persons in Latin America and beyond from discriminatory torture; we helped to build a new network of torture survivors of the conflict in Uganda, which advocated for the introduction of a new transitional justice law that will finally allow survivors to access effective reparations; we held the UK government to account for failing to support a British citizen detained in Panama, and persuaded the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to introduce changes in how they operate.

REDRESS and 70 other organisations have sent this letter to the UK, US and Canadian governments urging greater coordination between them on the use of Magnitsky sanctions to promote respect for human rights. The UK, US and Canada are the only countries with legislation enabling targeted human rights (‘Magnitsky’) sanctions, which impose travel bans and asset freezes on individuals and entities for human rights abuses. By naming and penalising individual perpetrators, sanctions can serve as a useful tool in deterrence, promoting accountability and prompting behavioural change.