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NEPAL
Child torture case before United Nations
Lapka Tamang was only 11 when he was tortured by police officers. Six years later, TRIAL submitted a complaint on his behalf before the UN.
When he was barely more than a child, Lapka Tamang was tortured by local policemen to make him “confess” a theft he did not commit. Since then, all efforts by the victim’s family to obtain justice remained fruitless. This month, TRIAL submitted the case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC).
In its complaint to the HRC, TRIAL demands that M. Tamang receives reparations and that those responsible are prosecuted, but also that broader change be implemented in Nepalese law to guarantee the non-repetition of such horrendous violations.
In fact, the acts of cruelty against M. Tamang were partly facilitated by Nepalese lenient law, which considers torture as a civil and not a criminal offense, and which sets the age of criminal responsibility at 10 years old, in complete discordance with international standards.
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DRC
The lucrative business of arbitrary arrest
Mister F. was arrested and tortured multiple times for a crime that he did not commit for the sole purpose of extorting money from him. Last month, TRIAL submitted a complaint on his behalf to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC).
In December 2014, M. F. was arrested at his home by employees of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR). Wrongly accused of having stolen money, he was placed in solitary confinement and tortured multiple times before being illegally detained for several months. Barely several weeks after his release, he was unjustly arrested again.
His arrests were solely intended to extort money from him. Unfortunately, arbitrary arrests and torture are common tactics for ANR agents seeking to deepen their own pockets.
TRIAL has been helping M. F since 2015. A first complaint before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recognized both the arbitrary detention and the acts of torture. As the victim remained the subject of constant threats TRIAL submitted a new complaint on 24 March, this time before the HRC, requesting once again that DRC recognizes these crimes and provides justice and reparation to the victim.
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BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Karadzic judgment leaves victims dissatisfied
The judgment of Radovan Karadzic in The Hague, hailed as a milestone in international criminal law, bared the bitter feelings countless victims still share.
On 24 March, the ICTY found former Serb leader Karadzic guilty of the Srebrenica genocide, the four-year long siege of Sarajevo, the persecution and extermination of Bosniaks and Croats across BiH and the hostage of UN peacekeepers. The accused was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment.
Many victims were cruelly disappointed that Karadzic was neither condemned to a life sentence nor found guilty of genocide for the attacks on seven Bosnian municipalities at the beginning of the war – keeping Srebrenica as the only legally recognized genocide of the war.
This disappointment highlights a widely shared feeling of discouragement among victims, fed by the length, complexity and remoteness of international procedures. “This judgment came too late, many victims have died of old age before hearing the outcome”, said a victim. As the ICTY completion is drawing nearer, it will soon be up to domestic jurisdictions to bring victims the closure they so desperately need.
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INTERNATIONAL DAY
The right to truth
On the occasion of the International Day for the Right to the Truth for Human Rights Violations, TRIAL recalls that thousands of human rights defenders risk their lives daily to denounce abuse.
The right to truth guarantees the right to victims as well as the general public to know when human rights violations have occurred, under which circumstances, for which motives, and who is responsible.
According to the United Nations, it is impossible to pursue perpetrators or redress victims without access to the truth. Denouncing the crimes is therefore essential in order to stop them and bring an end to impunity.
It is primarily for this reason that those who denounce human rights violations are often the target of attacks themselves: murder, enforced disappearance, mistreatment, threats…TRIAL fights every day for their voices to be heard and their protection assured. It also supports those victims who are still waiting for justice and truth.
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BURUNDI
Hundreds killed and thousands displaced
On 22 March, the UN Human Rights Council painted a bleak picture of the human rights situation in Burundi. The international community warned that violence could further develop if prompt measures were not taken.
Since the beginning of the crisis in April 2015, almost 500 people have been killed in Burundi, dozens forcibly disappeared, hundreds tortured and 250,000 have fled to neighboring countries. State agents have clamped down on civil society, which is now severely constrained and controlled.
United Nations officials and independent experts, government representatives, and civil society actors were gathered to assess the crisis during the Council’s last session. They all insisted on the importance of demobilization, disarmament and reintegration to ensure a prompt exit to the crisis. Long-term measures such as reforms in the security sector and the implementation of accountability mechanisms were also called for. A UN monitoring team should also be deployed in Burundi in April.
TRIAL welcomes the international community’s efforts to tackle human rights violations in Burundi. The NGO carries on its mission in the country but operates under a strict confidentiality policy for the security of its staff and the victims’.
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NEW BRANDING
TRIAL gets a makeover!
More visible and more international, TRIAL’s new corporate identity will reflect the organization’s scope today and its perspectives for the years to come.
Since its creation, TRIAL has never stopped expanding. The organization founded in Geneva in 2002 is now present on several continents and has established itself as one of the main actors in the fight against impunity worldwide.
To support this change and prepare its future, TRIAL needs a strong visual identity and will soon benefit from a new corporate branding. The spearhead of this metamorphosis, TRIAL’s logo and website, will be revamped and presented to the public in the coming months.
The new corporate identity does not change the organization’s work and ethos, but merely reflects its natural evolution. By increasing its visibility, TRIAL will also give itself the means to pursue its objectives and to fight ever more efficiently at the sides of victims of grave international crimes. Stay tuned to discover the organization’s new face very soon!
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