Annual Report 2023
12
In the media
In 2023, the OMCT was quoted in numerous media worldwide, spanning different languages. Here is a selection of stories about our work and that of our SOS-Torture Network members, who are at the heart of the human rights movement committed to ending torture.
Iranian Peace laureate Mohammadi: 'lioness' locked up for challenging Tehran
Reuters (United Kingdom), October 2023: She has been charged with spreading “propaganda against the system”, activity against national security and civil disobedience, among other charges, according to the World Organisation Against Torture, a coalition of rights NGOs.
UN torture body’s disappearing act for women
Geneva Solutions (Switzerland), June 2023:
“The Convention defines torture very clearly as pain or suffering inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity,” said Carin Benninger-Budel, anti-torture programme director at the World Organization Against Torture, one of the Geneva-based NGOs to issue the statement. “Of course, not all domestic violence is a form of torture. But It becomes a form of torture when the state does not act with due diligence to prevent and respond to violence against women in their country.”
When Force-Feeding Is Torture
The Nation (United States of America), March 2023: Gerald Staberock, an attorney and the secretary general of the World Organization Against Torture, pointed out that whether or not an act of force-feeding legally constitutes torture, it still violates international law. “If you are a prisoner, you still have the right over your body; you have the right to take a decision not to eat, and that needs to be respected,” he said. But after reviewing footage of Salameh’s force-feeding, Staberock told me that he believed the video revealed an abusive intent: “If you look at the environment here, it’s coercive from A to Z. And it is torture.”
The Etilaat Roz documentary wins OMCT’s award of FIFDH festival
KabulNow (Afghanistan), March 2023
“It reminds us that brave people fighting for human rights are still under threat in Afghanistan. Let’s not forget them,” the OMCT said about the film, describing it as “an immersive documentary” in a newsroom at the time of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.
Headlines and front lines: How US news coverage of wars in Yemen and Ukraine reveals a bias in recording civilian harm
The Conversation (United States of America), August 2023: In contrast, the Saudi-led coalition’s blockade, despite being the primary driver of the famine and even equated to torture by the World Organisation Against Torture, was rarely afforded this intent. Coverage of the hunger crisis often did not mention the coalition at all, such as in this March 31, 2021, headline: “Famine Stalks Yemen, as War Drags on and Foreign Aid Wanes.”
OMCT writes to Stalin on Ambasamudram custodial torture
The Hindu (India), April 2023:
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), a network of civil society organisations fighting against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions, has written to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, expressing serious concern over cases of custodial torture reported from the Ambasamudram police sub-division.
Rights groups welcome early prison releases of Vietnamese environmental activist
Radio Free Asia (Vietnam), May 2023: Last June, after Khanh’s first-instance trial, the International Federation for Human Rights, or FIDH, and the World Organization Against Torture, or OMCT, issued a joint statement, calling on the international community raise concerns over her cases and those of three other Vietnamese environmental activists — Dang Dinh Bach, Mai Phan Loi and Bach Hung Duong — also detained on tax evasion charges.
‘One step forward is more important than two steps back’: pushing for women’s rights in Iran and Pakistan
Geneva Solutions (Switzerland), March 2023: Mohajerin from Iran and Jilani from Pakistan were in Geneva for International Women's Day, an event organised by OMCT. Geneva Solutions spoke to the activists about the challenges women face in their countries and the lessons they can draw from each other.
Stop excessive use of force to suppress protests, international rights organisations urge Bangladesh government
New Age (Bangladesh), November 2023:
The organisations, in a joint statement posted on the website of the World Organisation Against Torture on Monday, also urged the international community to monitor the situation in Bangladesh closely and to engage with the government to ensure that these human rights violations are brought to an end.