World Organisation Against Torture
Encyclopedia
The World Organisation Against Torture (Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture, OMCT) is the world’s largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture
, summary
and extrajudicial executions, forced disappearance
s and other forms of violence
. The global network consists of almost 300 local, national and regional organisations, which share the goal of eradicating torture and fostering respect of human rights
for all.
The OMCT's Prevention of Torture programme helps its members prevent and report torture by strengthening their capacity through the SOS-Torture network to use United Nations
human rights
mechanisms. The programme submits alternative reports to UN Committees in collaboration with local NGO
s, provides support for individuals and organisations wishing to challenge torture practices in international legal fora and publishes a practical guide on international and regional conventional mechanisms relevant to torture. OMCT is also mainstreaming
women’s and children’s issues into the UN human rights mechanisms.
On 4 October 2007, former United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
became the new president of the OMCT Supporting Foundation.http://www.omct.org/index.php?id=&lang=eng&actualPageNumber=1&articleId=7286&itemAdmin=article&PHPSESSID=9d4fce0157f23ed08fa9ee8354df5124
(HRC) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child
(CRC), working with local NGOs.
Reporting activities are designed to encourage national NGOs to report torture and follow up reports of torture through:
Many NGOs are not fully aware of how to use UN procedures to support their work in protecting victims from torture. OMCT hopes to encourage and assist partner NGOs that are already active in the struggle against torture to present individual complaints and other relevant information to the CAT, the HRC, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, summary
Summary execution
A summary execution is a variety of execution in which a person is killed on the spot without trial or after a show trial. Summary executions have been practiced by the police, military, and paramilitary organizations and are associated with guerrilla warfare, counter-insurgency, terrorism, and...
and extrajudicial executions, forced disappearance
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
s and other forms of violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
. The global network consists of almost 300 local, national and regional organisations, which share the goal of eradicating torture and fostering respect of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
for all.
The OMCT's Prevention of Torture programme helps its members prevent and report torture by strengthening their capacity through the SOS-Torture network to use United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
mechanisms. The programme submits alternative reports to UN Committees in collaboration with local NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s, provides support for individuals and organisations wishing to challenge torture practices in international legal fora and publishes a practical guide on international and regional conventional mechanisms relevant to torture. OMCT is also mainstreaming
Mainstreaming
Pilot or policy Mainstreaming is the act of broadening the application of a change or innovation from a small-scale pilot to the whole of a programme or policy domain. It involves recognising that the results of an experiment are positive and the learning deserves to be applied more widely...
women’s and children’s issues into the UN human rights mechanisms.
On 4 October 2007, former United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
became the new president of the OMCT Supporting Foundation.http://www.omct.org/index.php?id=&lang=eng&actualPageNumber=1&articleId=7286&itemAdmin=article&PHPSESSID=9d4fce0157f23ed08fa9ee8354df5124
Reporting
OMCT submits alternative reports to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), the Human Rights CommitteeHuman Rights Committee
The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,...
(HRC) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child
Committee on the Rights of the Child
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is a body of independent experts that monitors and reports on implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child by governments that ratify the Convention...
(CRC), working with local NGOs.
Reporting activities are designed to encourage national NGOs to report torture and follow up reports of torture through:
- the participation of local NGOs in drafting alternative reports and actively including them in relevant Committees’ sessions, with the possibility of a follow-up meeting in the field;
- an integrated approach to questions relating to protection from torture and other ill-treatment of women and children, by involving organisations specialised in these issues in drafting alternative reports and in relevant Committees’ sessions;
- greater dissemination of reports and of the Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committees in English and in the preferred language of the relevant country, through the publication of the reports that have been submitted.
Legal support
OMCT supports individuals and organisations wishing to challenge torture practices in international legal forums. Complaint mechanisms can be used to achieve a number of different objectives including:- protection for victims or persons under threat;
- obtaining reparationsReparation (legal)In jurisprudence, reparation is replenishment of a previously inflicted loss by the criminal to the victim. Monetary restitution is a common form of reparation...
and compensationDamagesIn law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
for victims; - putting pressure on governments to end impunityImpunityImpunity means "exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines". In the international law of human rights, it refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itself constitutes a denial of the victims' right to justice and redress...
in specific cases; and - achieving changes in legislation and State practice which lead to serious human rights violations.
Many NGOs are not fully aware of how to use UN procedures to support their work in protecting victims from torture. OMCT hopes to encourage and assist partner NGOs that are already active in the struggle against torture to present individual complaints and other relevant information to the CAT, the HRC, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Practical guidance
OMCT publishes a practical guide on international and regional conventional mechanisms relevant to torture. This Handbook is conceived as a tool for action. It addresses the practical needs of anybody using international mechanisms and bodies to challenge torture practices.See also
- Command responsibilityCommand responsibilityCommand responsibility, sometimes referred to as the Yamashita standard or the Medina standard, and also known as superior responsibility, is the doctrine of hierarchical accountability in cases of war crimes....
- Equipo NizkorEquipo Nizkor----Equipo Nizkor is a human rights NGO concerned mostly about events in Latin America, but also Europe. It is affiliated with Derechos Human Rights, Serpaj Europe and the Global Internet Liberty Campaign...
- International humanitarian lawInternational humanitarian lawInternational humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...
- UN Convention Against Torture