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An opportunity to address torture in South Africa?
The nearly 20-year-old democracy has yet to make torture a criminal offense Almost 200 affidavits have been taken from arrested miners alleging they were tortured by police in detention facilities in...
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Impunity continues in US
US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Thursday that the Justice Department has decided not to pursue criminal charges following their investigation of the CIA torture programme. Photo by USDAgov,...
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Bahrain jailing human rights defenders
Nabeel Rajab, co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (at right), and Zainab Al-Khawaja (at left), a Bahrain human rights activist. Photos by Conor McCabe; available via Flickr through...
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News update: Justice for crimes of torture
Of course, the nature of anti-torture work is often a sea of depressing news. However, in this news update, we would like to highlight that sometimes things can change for the better. Impunity can...
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Dangerous delays in Denmark
Today Danish lawyer Christian Harlang filed a further two cases in which Danish troops are accused of complicity in torture during the ill-fated invasion and occupation of Iraq by western forces. The...
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Video corroborates claims that Danish troops knew of likelihood of torture
Danish troops did in fact witness abuse of civilian detainees at the hands of Iraqi troops during the conflict. This has been verified by a video tape released yesterday in Danish media, provided by a...
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Coming together to take a stand against torture
Today the IRCT released a report on activities around the world to mark 26th June – the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The day saw an unprecedented number of...
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2012 – A Year in Human Rights
Happy New Year! We have just returned from the year-end holiday. But before we look forward to 2013, let’s take a look back at 2012 and the events, successes, tragedies and changes in human rights...
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Zero Dark Thirty is fiction; the reality is worse
US-based Witness Against Torture and others protest against the nomination of John Brennan to head the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Brennan has outspokenly condoned the use of rendition and...
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Ireland’s abused wait in hope
Victims of ill-treatment and torture of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland may soon receive redress and compensation for the abuses they endured. Today, the government of Ireland received – and will...
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Beneath the Blindfold: an inspiring documentary on torture and rehabilitation
Editor’s Note: Beneath the Blindfold, a documentary by Ines Sommer and Kathy Berger, follows the stories of four survivors of torture as they rebuild their lives. We were given the unique opportunity...
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Chile: Marking 40 years since Pinochet coup
One of the many protests against Pinochet’s regime(courtesy of everystockphoto.com) When the heart attack came on 3 December 2006, Augusto Pinochet probably feared the worst. At 91-years-old he must...
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Torture theme hits the big screen in Toronto
A still from the trailer of The Railway Man(courtesy of Lionsgate FIlms) Every September the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) sees thousands of film fanatics and cinema experts alike convene...
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The disappeared: shedding light on a secret crime
Mother of Plaza de Mayo, Argentina, began marching in 1977 to find out what happened to their children and grandchildren during the regime. Photo by lazy tired, available on Flickr through Creative...
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“A lot has changed”: A journalist’s view from Egypt
Tom Rollins (right) interviewing Abdullah al-Ashaal, former presidential candidate Working in the Middle East was always an ambition for 24-year-old journalist Tom Rollins. The region is a far cry from...
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Digging for truth – Journalist Ian Cobain speaks about reporting on torture
Ian Cobain If you define Britain by its oft lauded stereotypes, one may assume a peaceful, upstanding nation which obeys rules, regulations and notions of fair play. Yet for 30 years Ian Cobain has...
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Apologising for torture is never enough
Jon Burge (picture courtesy of jailjonburge.org) ‘Sorry’ is such a short word but has so many long and deep meanings attached to it. You can apologise for an argument, a disagreement, an accident...
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Middle-East’s blind spot: for how long can we ignore Bahrain’s “inconvenient...
Amidst the Copenhagen bustle sits 26-year-old Bahraini human rights defender Maryam al-Khawaja who, on the face of it, appears to be oblivious to her anxieties. These are perhaps the only two minutes...
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Google on torture: the world is still divided
A poster promoting the UN Women ad campaign investigating sexism on Google (image supplied by UN Women) Inspired by the brilliant but appalling UN Women ad campaign we’ve decided to find out what...
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The need for better treatment of refugees fleeing torture
Thousands of displaced people fleeing eastern Congo (courtesy of AP Photo/Jerome Delay and kingdomnewtestament.wordpress.com) The fight to find safety away from persecution and torture is tough enough...
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