VIDEO: LANDMARK CASE OF CHILEAN TORTURE SURVIVOR FROM PINOCHET-ERA BEFORE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Success stories

Vivienne Westwood, Nigel Rodley and Manfred Nowak join REDRESS as Patrons

REDRESS is pleased to announce that designer Vivienne Westwood and distinguished professors Nigel Rodley and Manfred Nowak have joined REDRESS as Patrons. Westwood is one of the most influential British designers of our time and a champion of civil liberties. Rodley and Nowak are renowned world experts in the field of human rights and former UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture, the UN independent experts responsible for monitoring torture violations around the world. Their addition brings to three the number of former Special Rapporteurs on Torture among our Patrons, which includes longtime Patron Professor Theo van Boven.

Greece ordered to compensate survivor

The European Court of Human Rights ordered Greece this year to pay Necati Zontul, a client of REDRESS, €50,000 in compensation for the rape he suffered at the hands of Greek coastguards in 2001. The Court found that the rape of a detainee by a State official was an especially grave and abhorrent form of ill-treatment, amounting to torture in this case.

REDRESS wins MacArthur award

REDRESS has received the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The $500,000 grant from the American foundation supports our work seeking justice for the victims of conflict-related violence around the world. Robert Gallucci, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, said: “These exceptional organisations effectively address pressing national and international challenges and they have had an impact that is disproportionate to their small size.

Latest news

Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights joins REDRESS as Patron

10 May 2013 – REDRESS is pleased to welcome as a Patron distinguished former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Canadian Supreme Court justice and a passionate advocate of human rights, Mme Louise Arbour. Mme Arbour has had an illustrious career devoted to promoting the principles of justice and universal human rights. She was the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, from 1996 to 1999. She then took up an appointment at the Supreme Court of Canada until 2004, and subsequently served as the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights from 2004 to 2008.

Read our press release

UN photo by Ky Chung

Time for universal rejection of torture!

7 May 2013 - Today marks the 25^th anniversary of the UN Committee against Torture, the guardian of one of the most widely accepted international human rights conventions. In a campaign for universal ratification of the Convention against Torture, several leading human rights organisations now call on the remaining 42 countries to join the treaty and recognize the full competence of the Committee against Torture.

Read our press release

States that have yet to ratify the UNCAT

REDRESS' speech on the 25th anniversary of the UNCAT

Survivors' Stories

Les Walker
British

One thing that really hurt was catching sight of ‘Made in England’ on the handcuffs.

REDRESS 20th anniversary films now available

As part of REDRESS' 20th anniversary celebrations, two short films documenting REDRESS' history and achievements over our 20-year existence were released. Both films were produced by award-winning producer/director Fiona Lloyd-Davies.

Watch the films here and here.