REDRESS hails landmark decision of the UK Supreme Court to hold the UK Government accountable for its alleged role in human rights abuses overseas

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Remembering Professor Sir Nigel Rodley: REDRESS tribute

Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, a stalwart of human rights and a generous man and mentor passed away on 26 January 2017 in Colchester at the age of 75, following a short illness.

REDRESS Director Carla Ferstman has expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Sir Nigel, ‘All of us at REDRESS are devastated to learn of Nigel's death. He was a patron of REDRESS, but most importantly, our mentor and our friend. Nigel's breadth of knowledge was unrivalled; he was tenacious in his pursuit of the prohibition of torture and other human rights causes he championed. He was also extremely sensitive to the devastating human cost of torture on the survivors. Nigel was hugely sought after for his expertise but he always made time, he was always there to give advice, to help and to keep us and many others in the human rights movement on the right track. To say that he will be missed is a real understatement; he leaves an amazing legacy to learn from and he will continue to inspire our work.’

Sir Nigel will forever remain an inspiration to us all.

See our recommendations on reparations to the ICC state parties

With the ICC conducting its first reparations proceedings in four separate cases, our participation at the annual session of the Assembly of States Parties focused this year on how to best give full effect to the rights of victims as enshrined in the Rome Statute, in particular, their right to participation, representation and reparation. You can read the recommendations made by the Victims' Rights Working Group, a network of national and international experts that advocates for victims' rights before the Court, informally facilitated by REDRESS, in English here and French here. The meeting of states took place in November.

Training for Greek lawyers, medical doctors, psychologists and social workers working with refugees

This month, REDRESS and Human Rights Foundation Turkey conducted a three-day training in Athens, Greece, for professionals that are providing frontline support to refugees. The purpose of the training was to provide guidance on the documentation of torture and ill-treatment in the context of the mass refugee influx in Greece, and to provide practical guidance on how to address the needs of torture survivors. The training took place in the context of a project coordinated by the Greek Council for Refugees. See REDRESS' recent report: "Mass Refugee Influxes, Refoulement and the Prohibition Against Torture", available in English, French, Arabic and Spanish

Case updates

REDRESS brings CIA rendition case against Lithuania to Strasbourg

REDRESS has brought a crucial case before the European Court of Human Rights against Lithuania for its alleged complicity in the secret detention and torture of a Saudi Arabian national, Mr Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Lithuania is one of the European countries that we argue facilitated the torture and enforced disappearance of detainees held by the CIA during the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, but no one has ever been held accountable. Mr al-Hawsawi, now in US custody at Guantanamo Bay, was in secret detention and tortured by the CIA in various locations between March 2003 and September 2006. During this time, he was subjected to water-dousing, beatings, cramped confinement, psychological pressures and sleep deprivation at the hands of the CIA and has developed several serious medical conditions as a result of the torture and ill-treatment that he suffered.

Landmark LGBTI case reaches the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

REDRESS together with two Peruvian NGO partners has taken an eight-year legal battle by a gay Peruvian man, who was raped by Peruvian police officers, before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, one of Americas’ leading human rights institutions. At a hearing last month in Panama City, representatives of Luis Alberto Rojas presented oral arguments on a number of critical aspects of the case. The case will crucially determine whether the alleged rape constituted torture. REDRESS, PROMSEX and La Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos filed their initial petition in 2009 and are now expecting a decision on the merits.

Our full statement is available in English and Spanish.

REDRESS highlights need for legal aid for victims in the Ongwen case

REDRESS has drawn attention to the need to provide legal aid to the 2,607 victims who are participating in the Dominic Ongwen case before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Ahead of the start of the trial of the ex-Lord's Resistance Army commander, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, on 6 December, REDRESS and others outlined these concerns in a letter to the Registrar of the ICC. REDRESS also highlighted the need to do more to provide justice and reparation for victims in a press statement, given that no reparations policy has been developed, adopted or implemented yet in Uganda.

Read our letter to the ICC Registrar

REDRESS intervenes in first ICC case to consider reparation for destruction of cultural property

REDRESS and the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast have intervened in relation to the reparation phase of the Al Mahdi case before the ICC. The case is the first at the ICC to consider reparation in relation to the destruction of cultural, heritage and religious property and relates to the destruction of shrines that took place in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012. Our submission addresses restorative measures for damaged or destroyed cultural property, the impact of the destruction on affected communities and individual victims, and appropriate measures to address the victims’ psychological, moral and economic harm as a result as well as appropriate apologies and acknowledgements of responsibility.