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Geneva, 21 June 2016 - In a judgment delivered today, the European Court of Human Rights narrowly ruled that Switzerland did not breach the European Convention on Human Rights by denying a Tunisian torture victim the right to seek reparations from his torturer. The victim, who was granted refugee status in Switzerland years ago in light of the torture he had endured,...

W. G. was a senior officer of the Afghan army and belonged to both the Presidential Guard and the Kabul Garrison (KHAD – the security and intelligence agency). In his 15 years of service, he particularly fought the Mujahideen and was involved in the arrest of prisoners of war. Several NGOs accused KHAD of systematically using torture. On June 16, 2005, the Swiss A...

Among other positions, Mr M. G., of Somalian nationality, was the President of the Somali High Court from 1971 until the demise of Siad Barré’s government on January 26, 1991. During his mandate, several death sentences were imposed and political opponents were severely repressed. For example, a Minister, a senior official and 11 demonstrators who had organized strik...

General Habib Ammar was Commander of the Tunisian National Guard from 1984 to 1987. Following the coup d’état in 1987, he was promoted to Minister of the Interior, a post which he held for a year. During his mandate, the Ministry’s offices were transformed into centers of detention and torture. According to numerous human rights organizations, General Habib Ammar...

During his presidential mandate in the United States, George W. Bush authorized the CIA, in a directive dated September 17, 2001, to abduct suspected terrorists and hold them in secret detention centers, mainly in Guantanamo Bay, but also in Afghanistan, Thailand, Poland and Rumania. At these centers, Mr Bush authorized the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques”,...

Bouguerra Soltani held several ministerial positions in the Algerian government from 1998 to 2009. He is suspected of having ordered, authorized and incited public officials to commit acts of torture. When Mr Soltani was invited to come to Switzerland as a speaker in October 2009, TRIAL International filed a criminal report against him, immediately followed by a c...

According to human rights organizations, the Bahraini authorities systematically use torture, and the Bahraini Attorney General’s Office plays a significant role in this repressive system. Those arrested are often subjected to torture and forced to sign false confessions. The annual conference of the International Association of Prosecutors (AIP) was held in Zurich...