Support to Victims

On 11 November 2024, the United Against Torture Consortium (UATC) held a private thematic briefing with the UN Committee against Torture, to underscore the importance of promoting the active involvement of torture victims and survivors in the work of international anti-torture bodies. Several survivors were featured among the speakers.

OMCT places a strong emphasis on supporting survivors of torture and their families when State institutions fail to recognise them and provide justice and reparation. When members of the SOS-Torture Network and other partners lack the resources to respond, they refer cases to OMCT, which provides assistance through the Victims’ Fund.

OMCT offers comprehensive support to these victims, including legal and advocacy interventions, designed to encourage positive progress in their pursuit of justice. These targeted interventions can also drive broader systemic changes, such as reinforcing preventive measures against torture or abolishing unlawful laws and practices.

In 2024, SANAD, OMCT’s direct and multidisciplinary assistance program for victims of torture and ill-treatment in Tunisia, continued to provide holistic support to victims of institutional violence in Tunisia.

Zouhour, 29, has endured terrible hardships, marked by an early divorce, isolation, descent into a trafficking network in Libya, where she was subjected to violence and deprived of her freedom for six years. Upon her return to Tunisia, she spent two years in detention under difficult conditions, further exacerbated by severe health problems.

Hopeless, she found refuge with SANAD, which provided her with legal, psychosocial, and medical support. Through psychiatric, medical, and professional follow-ups, she gradually regained confidence and stability. SANAD assisted with her professional reintegration by helping her return to her hairdressing profession through training and providing the necessary equipment. After a year of support, Zouhour is embarking on her new life with optimism.

Makrem, a 16-year-old teenager, was violently assaulted during a police raid at his high school, receiving several slaps to the face. The attack had serious consequences for his right eye. Already equipped with a retinal prosthesis to partially regulate his vision, regional ophthalmologists concluded that, because of the assault, Makrem would now suffer from irreversible total blindness in that eye. However, SANAD did not give up and sought the best possible treatment. Given the trauma he experienced, psychological support was set up for him and his parents. SANAD covered the costs of obtaining photochromic optical glasses to strengthen Makrem’s healthy eye and provided a prosthetic contact lens to improve the appearance of his injured eye. These interventions allowed the teenager to resume his studies under adapted conditions despite the lasting consequences of the assault.