Publications

This submission is in response to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s invitation for submissions of evidence in respect of its inquiry announced on 17 April 2013 into “Human Rights and Democracy: The 2012 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Report”. REDRESS's submission addresses two issues in particular: the FCO’s efforts to strengthen the ability of states to counter terrorism whilst working to protect human rights in those states; the declaration by G8 Foreign Ministers on the prevention of sexual violence in conflict, and the impact of the FCO’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative. Other aspects covered include human rights for British nationals tortured abroad; the UK as a safe haven for suspected perpetrators of human rights abuses; torture prevention and reparation; and countries of concern.

From 23-24 April 2013, representatives of 13 Palestinian, Israeli, and international organisations, and a number of international lawyers and legal experts, came together in Malaga, Spain, to discuss the critical situation facing Palestinian victims who attempt to seek compensation for death, injury, and destruction of property. In this statement, the organisation call on the international, Israeli and Palestinian legal communities to confront these challenges and help to remove the obstacles to justice and redress for Palestinian victims.

This submission, authored by REDRESS, Advocacy Forum-Nepal and the Association for the Prevention of Torture, was made in relation to the pre-sessional meeting of the country taskforce on Nepal during the 108th session of the Human Rights Committee that took place from 8 to 26 July 2013. This submission sets out the organisations' main concerns in relation to Nepal's implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), including the widespread impunity for past and ongoing human rights violations.

In this submission, REDRESS comments on some of the Issues for consideration of the Committee against Torture in its examination of the UK’s 5th State Party Report. Some of REDRESS' concerns are direct consequences of the UK’s counter-terrorism policies, particularly the role of the security services, along with the conduct of the armed forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan, which have damaged the UK’s credibility as a State committed to the eradication of torture, and risk undermining the positive steps it has taken to advance the anti-torture agenda worldwide.

From 13-14 April 2012, in the margins of the NGO Forum preceding the 51st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), lawyers and other experts met in Kololi, The Gambia, to discuss victims’ experiences of accessing justice and seeking reparation. Participants included lawyers and experts from Algeria, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Participants explored challenges and potential solutions in accessing justice at the national, (sub-) regional and international levels. Their presentations and discussions form the basis of this paper.

This report considers torture and ill-treatment in Bahrain after the implementation of the reforms that were recommended by the Bahrain International Commission of Inquiry (BICI) following serious human rights violations committed by State agents after the February protests of 2011. The report draws on the past experiences of REDRESS and IRCT in the country and their joint mission to Bahrain in April-May 2012, which involved the medical documentation of cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment. The report concludes that torture and ill-treatment continue, and that obligations towards victims have not been met.

Our annual report for 2013 provides an overview of the work that REDRESS undertook from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013.

Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL), REDRESS, DIGNITY and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) provided these preliminary comments on the Draft Law Criminalising Torture, Enforced Disappearances and Torture in Libya, which was approved on 9 April 2013. The Draft Law attempts to criminalise three distinct crimes either fully (the first two) or partially (the third) recognised in international treaties: torture, enforced disappearances and discrimination. An issue of concern for the organisations is that by attempting to address these three significant human rights crimes in one piece of legislation, the law risks confusing or oversimplifying the specific obligations they impose. Another shortcoming in the law is the narrow definition of torture in it, which is not in accordance with the UN Convention Against Torture, to which Libya is a State party.