#UnitedAgainstTorture: Global consortium fuels civil society’s fight against torture

With torture still widespread across the world, and marking 26 June UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, six of the world’s leading anti-torture organisations, in partnership with over 200 civil society organisations and other partners in 100+ countries, have joined forces to strengthen and expand the anti-torture movement by pooling expertise in torture prevention, protection, rehabilitation and strategic litigation.

The #UnitedAgainstTorture consortium brings together the global memberships of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) and the International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT) with the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), Omega Research Foundation and REDRESS.

Funded by the European Union, #UnitedAgainstTorture will work in partnership with national civil society organisations and other partners worldwide to build a global movement. The three-year, €8.5 million project will provide grants to directly assist thousands of torture survivors, and strengthen local staff capacity to advocate with national actors responsible for torture prevention and rehabilitation. Survivors’ experiences and, for those who wish, their direct participation will be at the centre of the consortium’s torture prevention, rehabilitation and justice processes, both nationally and internationally.

By collaborating, #UnitedAgainstTorture responds to the urgent need to tackle the current global rise of autocracy, the shrinking space for civil society, an alarming acceptance of torture among some sectors of the public and the dire need to deliver justice to survivors amid unprecedented levels of systematic and widespread torture, from Myanmar to Ethiopia, Russia and Belarus to Venezuela and the Philippines.

Protecting and promoting human rights and democracy is a key priority of EU external action and one of the founding values of the European Union.

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture: Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell

Human rights and fundamental values