Publications

This submission responds to a call for input from the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture on the challenges preventing effective accountability and justice for victims and survivors of torture, and good practices on the duty to investigate crimes of torture. REDRESS’s submission identifies: Inadequacies in national legal frameworks against torture, including the failure to properly criminalise torture, and procedural barriers to accountability; Obstacles to national investigations and prosecutions of torture, in particular illustrated by the case of Sudan; Specific challenges for the investigation of discriminatory torture, in particular torture against LGBTIQ+ persons and human rights defenders, and opportunities to strengthen mutual legal assistance in the investigation and prosecution of torture as an international crime.

This Workshop Manual provides an overview of UNCAT anti-torture standards related to the issues covered in this Workshop, and examples of legislative provisions of other common law African States. It was designed to ensure the Workshop is conducted in a manner that is informed, engaging, practical, and realistic. This Booklet is comple- mented by additional CTI and REDRESS material.

On 13 May 2022, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted the Guidelines on Enforced Disappearances in Africa (EDA Guidelines) at its 71st Ordinary Session in Banjul, The Gambia. This Q&A addresses the key concepts and terminology, the main contexts in which enforced disappearance (ED) happens in Africa, the rights infringed upon by this crime, the main obstacles faced by victims seeking justice, and the States’ obligations.

REDRESS and the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) made this submission to draw the Committee against Torture’s attention to the issue of discriminatory violence affecting individuals identifying or perceived as LGBTIQ+ in Malawi. This submission is based on our extensive experience working against torture and on LGBTIQ+ issues in Malawi.

This briefing highlights the urgent need for legal reforms in Sudan prohibiting the use of information tainted by torture in any judicial proceedings, as required by article 15 of the Convention against Torture. The briefing also shows that many cases move through Sudanese courts in which allegations of torture have been raised by defendants, including in ongoing proceedings against four men accused of killing a police brigadier general during protests that took place in January 2022.

This briefing paper, jointly prepared by REDRESS, the Sudan Human Rights Monitor (SHRM), and the SOAS Centre for Human Rights Law, is based on 35 interviews conducted by SHRM in Khartoum, Sudan, and provides first-hand evidence of the nature and consequences of ongoing human rights violations for direct and indirect victims and the wider community. The findings document what has become a centrally planned and systematically implemented assault on the young and the future of Sudan. It has already taken an immense physical and psychological toll on the immediate victims, their friends, families, and whole communities. Notably, some of them have lodged complaints and pursued legal remedies. However, the lack of responsiveness of the authorities, and indeed ongoing commission of serious violations, demonstrates the complete lack of justice and accountability in Sudan.

This research paper from REDRESS and the SOAS Centre for Human Rights Law situates Sudan’s current political and human rights crisis within the broader historical context, demonstrating that the cyclical nature of Sudan’s post-independence, post-coup politics is closely linked to the absence of respect for the rule of law, human rights protections, and justice for past violations.

In a letter ahead of the Council’s 50th session (13 June to 8 July 2022), REDRESS joined other non-governmental organisations in calling on the UN Human Rights Council to support the adoption of a resolution that ensures continued attention to Sudan’s human rights situation through enhanced interactive dialogues at the Council’s 52nd and 53rd regular sessions.