31.05.21
Annual Reports
Annual Report 2020
In 2020, as governments hid their human rights violations behind the Covid-19 pandemic, the OMCT provided emergency assistance to 406 victims of torture in nine countries. The OMCT adapted to contactless forms of support, freeing 125 Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) from unjust detention.
- The OMCT brought to light the extrajudicial executions of 122 children under the Philippines’ “war on drugs.”
- Thousands of people were tortured in Belarus following the 9 August presidential elections. “We stopped talking altogether so as to save the little air we had,” said Vitaly Prokopiev on the conditions faced by prisoners. He was one of over 30.000 Belarusians detained on made-up charges. Read Vitaly’s story here.
- Actions taken by the OMCT resulted in the release of 47 children who had been kept in inhumane conditions in the Philippines and Togo. Read more about the OMCT’s work with children in 2020 here.
As the Covid-19 pandemic raged on, the OMCT highlighted alarming increases in police violence, unhygienic detention, and attacks on marginalised communities.