Annual Report 2023
02
Police violence

Chad
Following the bloody events of 20 October 2022, the OMCT supported the Ligue tchadienne des droits de l'homme (LTDH), a member of the SOS-Torture Network, to document the excessive use of force by the authorities of Chad during the peaceful mass protests. Following extensive investigative work, including interviews with over 50 survivors and witnesses, a joint report was published in April 2023. The report’s findings and recommendations, including a call for accountability, were presented at advocacy meetings in Geneva as part of Chad’s Universal Periodical Review. Our organisations also submitted a case to the Special Rapporteur on Torture, inviting her to urgently call for an end to human rights violations and independent and impartial investigations so that the perpetrators are identified, tried, and punished, and the victims can obtain meaningful reparations.

Americas
On 9 November 2023, during the 188th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the OMCT, with members and partners of the SOS-Torture Network in the region such as Argentina’s Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), Brazil’s Justiça Global, Colombia’s Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos, Chile’s Observatorio Ciudadano, among others, and with the support of the Omega Research Foundation, presented the threats to the right to social protest caused by the abusive use of force, notably lethal weapons, in the context of assemblies. As a result of repressive practices against dissent, involving the use of weapons such as kinetic impact projectiles and tear gas canisters, violations of the rights to personal integrity and security and the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment are commonplace in the region.

Freedom of assembly and association
In September 2023, the OMCT, as part of the new United Against Torture Consortium (UATC), submitted to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and association. The submission, which outlines, among other things, normative and factual challenges and best practices to protect from torture and ill-treatment in the context of assemblies, was prepared ahead of the development of practical tools to assist law enforcement agencies. The UATC participated in a global consultation held in December 2023 on the same topic.