Publications

A joint letter to all States parties to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on the 2025 elections to the United Nations Committee against Torture. The letter emphasises the importance of taking action to promote a balanced gender representation within the Committee, and lays out key criteria for selection of candidates to this election.

This briefing outlines how the UK's Crime and Policing Bill presents a critical opportunity to reform the UK’s approach to prosecuting international crimes and strengthen its universal jurisdiction laws. The UK currently lacks a robust legal framework to hold perpetrators of international crimes accountable, reflected in the fact that there have only ever been three successful prosecutions of international crimes in English courts. In 2023, REDRESS and the Clooney Foundation for Justice published a report highlighting important gaps in the UK’s legal system and proposing two straightforward legal changes to close these loopholes by amending the International Criminal Court Act 2001. These reforms would ensure that perpetrators can no longer visit or reside in the UK without fear of prosecution, allow for more prosecutions under universal jurisdiction, and prevent the UK from being a ‘safe haven’ for perpetrators. As this briefing outlines, the Crime and Policing Bill provides an ideal platform for these reforms.

The 11th edition of our bulletin highlights our recent work securing justice and reparation for survivors. It includes our ongoing efforts to urge the UK government to re-prioritise its anti-torture strategy and place survivors at the centre of its policies on justice and reparation, as well as our continued advocacy for the repurposing of frozen Russian assets to support victims of the war in Ukraine. The bulletin also features an interview with Claude Heller, Chair of the UN Committee Against Torture, reflecting on four decades of progress since the adoption of the Convention against Torture. We also celebrate the winners of the Innovative Lawyers Awards, which honour anti-torture champions driving bold, cutting-edge work across the movement.

In anticipation of the Seventy-sixth Session of the International Law Commission beginning on 28 April 2025, members of the Global Initiative Against Impunity for International Crimes and Serious Human Rights Violations (GIAI) write to provide comments to the Commission on article 7 of the draft articles on immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction.

REDRESS, CEDEP, and nine Malawian organisations under the Human Rights Grants make this submission as part of the 4th Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to highlight the issue of discriminatory violence, including torture, affecting individuals who identify as or are perceived to be LGBTIQ+ in Malawi. This submission identifies patterns of violence, intimidation, extortion, and harassment by law enforcement officers against the LGBTIQ+ community..

This Q&A is designed to answer frequently asked questions about the case of top former Salvadoran Military Officers for the 1982 murder of four Dutch reporters in Chalatenango. The Nuhanovic Foundation and REDRESS collaborated with Fundación Comunicándonos and ASDEHU. The Nuhanovic Foundation and REDRESS are supported by the United Against Torture Consortium.

The Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review 2025 examines criminal investigations into international crimes—such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, and enforced disappearances—brought under extraterritorial jurisdiction. Focusing primarily on cases initiated under universal jurisdiction, it also covers those based on active and passive personality principles. The report highlights new investigations opened or made public in 2024, excluding cases dismissed or not pursued by judicial authorities. Published by TRIAL International in collaboration with the Center for Justice and Accountability, Civitas Maxima, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights and REDRESS.

This briefing paper was prepared for parliamentarians on the Crime and Policing Bill. It recommends that MPs should seek to amend the Crime and Policing Bill to include provisions allowing instrumentalities, proceeds or property confiscated under POCA to be used for “public interests or social purposes”, where appropriate.