Annual Report 2023
08
Committee Against Torture
0
representatives of civil society groups were supported by OMCT during information meetings held prior to the review of 16 States during the year.
0
reports were submitted to the CAT containing first-hand information on the risk of torture and other ill-treatment in Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Switzerland.
0
missions were carried out to countries due to be reviewed or recently reviewed by the CAT: Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia and Ethiopia.
United Against Torture Consortium
The United Against Torture Consortium (UATC) is an unprecedented partnership that brings together the OMCT, the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), the International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT), Omega Research Foundation and REDRESS, launched on 26 June 2023. Funded by the European Union, the UATC is implementing a collective work programme to strengthen and expand the anti-torture movement and fight. The UATC engaged in multiple actions in 2023, summarised in the chapters on Crisis response and Police violence of this Annual Report.
To introduce the Consortium, we held a briefing with the Committee Against Torture (CAT) and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on 9 November 2023. The main objectives of the new partnership were presented. The dialogue identified synergies and areas for collaboration to strengthen the implementation of anti-torture standards worldwide.
CAT elections
The CAT elections took place on 19 October 2023. Five seats were available. The States Parties had nominated 17 candidates, 14 men and three women, to the UN Convention against Torture. The five members (re-)elected to the CAT as of 1 January 2024 for a term of four years were Ms Ana Racu (Republic of Moldova), Mr Jorge Contesse Singh (Chile), Mr Claude Heller (Mexico), Mr Erdogan Iscan (Türkiye), and Mr Peter Vedel Kessing (Denmark).
Ethiopia
Four years after the last visit of an OMCT delegate to Ethiopia, in February 2019, Isidore Ngueleu, Head of Regional Desk Africa, led a preparatory mission from 20 to 26 February to assist civil society groups in drafting their alternative report. A two-day workshop in Addis Ababa brought together about ten Ethiopian groups from all regions of the country, working in various areas of human rights protection, including the fight against torture, violence against women, child protection, and the protection of people with disabilities.
Mexico and El Salvador
The OMCT organised events in Mexico and El Salvador on 26 June, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The Chair of the CAT, Claude Heller, and the member of the SPT, Marco Feolli, attended the event in El Salvador. At the same time, SPT expert Andrea Casamento joined the event in Mexico.
Global Torture Index
In January 2024, the OMCT organised a two-day expert meeting in Geneva with 15 participants from our SOS-Torture Network from around the world and several independent experts. The meeting was dedicated to the presentation of the Global Torture Index, a new and innovative tool that will measure the risk of being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in any country.