REDRESS is a human rights organisation that helps torture survivors obtain justice and reparation. REDRESS works with survivors to help restore their dignity and to make torturers accountable.

 

ECtHR orders Greece to compensate torture victim

17 January 2012 - The European Court of Human Rights has found that Greek coastguards tortured Necati Zontul, a British/Turkish dual national, when he was raped in detention at the port of Chania, Crete, in 2001. It ordered Greece to pay him €50,000 in compensation.

The judgment in Zontul v. Greece confirmed that Greece breached Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture) on account of the actions of the coastguards as well as the failures of the Greek authorities in the internal investigations and the criminal proceedings against the officials. The Court considered that the rape of a detainee by an official of the State was an especially grave and abhorrent form of ill-treatment, amounting to torture in this case.

Necati, a client of REDRESS, was in a boat travelling to Italy when it was intercepted by the Greek Coastguard and towed to Hania Harbour in Crete. Once there, the migrant detainees were kept in poor conditions of detention, with severe overcrowding and limited access to basic amenities. A coastguard trapped Necati in the toilets and forced him to remove his clothes. He then raped him with a truncheon.

The Greek authorities were heavily criticised for their internal investigation of the incident, where they falsified the Applicant's evidence, recording the rape as a "slap" and "use of psychological violence". The Court also found that the criminal penalty imposed on the perpetrator of the rape, a suspended sentence commuted to a small fine, was insufficient.

Click HERE for the ECtHR's decision (in French).

Click HERE for the Court's English summary.

Click HERE to read our press release.

Click HERE to find more information about the case.

 

 

Latest news

Europe's highest Court considers REDRESS's submissions in first rendition case

16 May 2012 - The European Court of Human Rights today heard the first case involving a victim of the CIA rendition program. The Grand Chamber of the ECtHR heard detailed evidence of Macedonia’s alleged central role in Khaled El-Masri’s illegal detention, torture and extraordinary rendition to Afghanistan more than eight years ago.

El-Masri is represented at the hearing by a team of lawyers from the Open Society Justice Initiative. REDRESS submitted observations as a third party on international law guaranteeing the rights of victims of extraordinary rendition to an investigation, remedy and reparation, including the disclosure of the truth of what happened. It also provided the Court with an expert report on how the provision of a remedy, and identifying the perpetrators, can be crucial to victims' psychological recovery.

The Grand Chamber will now consider the case, before delivering its judgment later in the year.

Click HERE to find all our submissions to the ECtHR

Click HERE to read our press release

Click HERE to watch the hearing

Click HERE to wath Carla Ferstman, director of REDRESS, on Al Jazeera

For more information, contact Eva Sanchis, Communications Officer, on +44(0)2077931777 and eva@redress.org 

Photo by Joy Garnett.

REDRESS' concerns over proposed secrecy provisions are shared by UK Human Rights Committee

 
   
 

REDRESS wins prestigious MacArthur Award

REDRESS was delighted to receive this year the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The organisation received a $500,000 grant from the American philanthropic foundation to support its work seeking justice for the victims of conflict-related violence in countries around the world.
REDRESS fights against torture by using the law to hold perpetrators and complicit governments accountable, promoting compliance with international law, and helping victims gain greater involvement in national and international justice processes including the International Criminal Court. Conflict-affected countries where we have intervened on behalf of vulnerable people include Sudan, Nepal, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Robert Gallucci, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, said of the winners: “These exceptional organisations effectively address pressing national and international challenges and they have had an impact that is disproportionate to their small size.
 

REDRESS is recruiting!

REDRESS is always inviting applications from recent law graduates and LLM students with a strong background in international law as part of its legal internship programme. REDRESS legal interns will work with REDRESS programme staff on a variety of assignments, including work on individual cases, background research for reports and submissions and other related projects.

See our VACANCY PAGE for information on other openings.


Survivors' Stories

Patson Muzuwa
Zimbabwean

I was electrifed, put in a drum of cold water and beaten under the foot uncountable times.

Read more of Patson's story

Criminal Law Reform in Sudan Victims Rights Working Groups Blog 

REDRESS marks 20 years seeking justice for survivors

25 April 2012 - Our 20th Anniversary Literary Evening on the 24th April was a great success! Huge thanks to our speakers, our clients, our donors, our supporters, our staff and our volunteers! 

We feel fortunate to have the support of such great people like British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who celebrated with us 20 years of ending torture and seeking justice for torture survivors.

Find more information and pictures of our event on our Facebook page.




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