Publications

Advocacy Forum and REDRESS have submitted an update on the implementation of recommendations made by then-Special Rapporteur, Professor Manfred Nowak, after his mission to Nepal in 2005. The information provided in this submission is based on Advocacy Forum’s work in Nepal monitoring places of detention, and (in partnership with REDRESS), its work with victims of torture and other serious human rights abuses to combat impunity and achieve justice through legal proceedings, legislative reform, and advocacy. We welcome the opportunity to further discuss these issues with the Special Rapporteur.

This joint submission to the UN Committee Against Torture aims to provide further information concerning the Committee’s list of issues to be considered during the examination of the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Sri Lanka. Co-authored by the Asian Legal Resource Centre, the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, and Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, this report seeks to identify the systemic problems in legislation and practice in Sri Lanka in response to the critical points highlighted and the questions posed by the Committee in the List of Issues and Conclusions and Recommendations on Sri Lanka’s second (previous) periodic report.

REDRESS has submitted the present comments in response to the list of issues published by the Committee against Torture concerning Sri Lanka’s combined third and fourth state party reports. The submission focuses on violations alleged to have been committed, and responses thereto, during the final phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka. It elaborates on the relevant parts of a joint submission submitted separately to the Committee against Torture that sets out concerns in relation to Sri Lanka’s record of compliance with the Convention against Torture, both in the law enforcement context and in the course of conflict.

This report details the findings of the 1 day conference - co-organised by Redress and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies - that sought to consider the implementation of the reparation mandate of the International Criminal Court. The conference, entitled 'First Reparations before the International Criminal Court: Issues and Challenges', brought together numerous stakeholders ranging from victims and their legal representatives, civil society organizations, academics, Court officials and States Parties to the Rome Statute, to explore the issues and challenges ahead, and to ensure that reparations proceedings are adequately prepared, well-executed and affirming for victims both in terms of process and result.

In this submission to the UK Foreign Affairs Committee Inquiry, Redress calls for the UK to maintain a foreign policy in the Middle East which reflects international anti-torture obligations, while supporting the transition to civil society and helping institutions in this region. The UK’s foreign policy should be based on scrupulous adherence to international human rights standards; it must avoid being seen to condone torture by breaching its non-refoulement obligations, by being complicit in torture, or by allowing the UK to be a safe-haven for torture suspects. The UK should play a constructive role to assist states in the process of addressing legacies of torture in times of transition by supporting civil society and helping institutions to function within states’ clear obligations contained in the UN Convention Against Torture.

This report aims to provide local, national and international human rights defenders and decision makers with a comprehensive analysis of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which has been in force in several parts of India for more that 50 years. This report examines the legality of the Act in regard to India's human rights obligations under the Constitutional mandates of India and international law sources, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, with a view to providing lawmakers with the information needed to consider the future of the Act, including its repeal. It also provides a tool for victims of violations and their lawyers who litigate cases relating to the Act, and to national or international human rights bodies or courts considering its lawfulness.

This publication, written in association with Uganda Victims Foundation, seeks to provide insight into the barriers faced by Ugandans in seeking redress following the terrible impact of the Lango War. The report details the treatment of these cases within the International Criminal Court, the response of the Ugandan government to these cases, and the current problems facing Uganda's socio-economic programmes in the greater north, including programme such as NAADS, NUSAF 1, PRDP and NUSAF II.

This briefing paper - co-authored by Redress and several partner organisations - raises serious concerns about Clause 154 of the Police Reform and Social Bill, which would require the Director of Public Prosecutions’s (DPP’s) consent before an arrest warrant could be issued for an international crime such as torture, war crimes or crimes against humanity. Not only would this undermine the criminal justice system to hold accountable perpetrators of such crimes who live in or visit the UK, it would signal to the international community that the UK is no longer committed to ending impunity for international crimes. If the House wishes to give the DPP a greater role in the arrest warrant procedure, we recommend the amendment to Clause 154 proposed by Baroness D’Souza, Lord Lester of Herne Hill and Baroness Tonge. This would give the DPP the opportunity to advise the court upon the issuing of the warrant but would not require his consent to its being issued.