News releases

Sarajevo, 11/02/2015 - On behalf of 150 NGOs, TRIAL and its partner MyRight are sharing some key recommendations formulated by the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This relatively new instrument of the United Nations Human Rights Council scrutinizes every country and assesses their human rights track record. In November 2014, BiH received 167 recommenda...

After ACAT (Action des Chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture) was summoned to court by Morocco, 9 human rights NGOs are expressing their concern regarding criminal procedures against civilians who have filed torture complaints, and an NGO representing them. More: Version in French

The United Nations delivered landmark decisions by giving justice to three conflict-era victims in Nepal. The decisions, rendered by one of the most prominent international human rights bodies, send a message of hope to the families of all victims of enforced disappearances and torture in the country. As widespread impunity still prevails in post-conflict Nepal, the G...

Supported by TRIAL, several families of missing persons from Vogošća have just obtained justice before the UN. The Human Rights Committee now requests Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to establish the fate and whereabouts of 13 missing persons, to bring to justice those responsible for the crimes, and to provide adequate compensation to the victims. TRIAL welcomes the UN...

Twenty-two years ago, 13 men were victims of enforced disappearances during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Between 2008 and 2011, their relatives, with the help of TRIAL, submitted their cases to the European Court of Human Rights. Their fate and whereabouts remain unknown, although a few bones of four of them have been located and identified. Most of the perpetra...

Civil society seeks justice for the first time before the African Commission for cases of extrajudicial killings that remained unpunished before the national judicial authorities. NGOs have submitted four complaints to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. These include several cases of extrajudicial killings committed between 2010 and 2012. Several...

Nearly seven years ago, after a long-term effort, several NGOs denounced Erwin Sperisen to the Swiss authorities by stressing his responsibility in numerous and serious human rights violations. The Geneva Court rendered a significant judgment today, condemning the former Chief of Police of Guatemala to a life-sentence for 7 extrajudicial executions in 2006 in Guatemal...

Last May, the President of Nepal passed a deeply flawed Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act. Violating human rights law standards, this Act raises great concerns, as it will contribute to further entrench impunity in Nepal. TRIAL calls for amendments to be made and reminds that current Nepalese transitional justice mechanisms are totally inadequate as they:...

TRIAL, along with eight associations from Mexico and Central America, has submitted a report (available in Spanish too)  to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances(CED). It aims at reminding Mexico of its legal obligation under the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Even though the State is party to this treat...

The United Nations has just adopted a landmark decision condemning Libya for the enforced disappearance of Jaballa Hamed Matar and Izzat Yousef Al-Maqrif, two high-ranking political opponents of Colonel Gaddafi's regime whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown since 1990. If this decision doesn't disclose the truth on the final fate of the two political leaders, i...

Geneva, London, May 19 2014 - The United Nations has adopted a landmark decision condemning Libya for the enforced disappearance of two high-ranking political opponents of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime. The complaints regarding the cases of Jaballa Hamed Matar and Izzat Yousef Al-Maqrif were filed by NGO TRIAL on behalf of the sons of the disappeared. Hisham Matar and Youc...