Annual Report 2024
06

Seeking Justice

In 2024, OMCT advanced justice for victims of torture and human rights abuses worldwide.

Chad

In Chad, OMCT supported 10 victims of the 2022 "Black Thursday" massacre by filing a complaint against twenty high-ranking officials, pushing for accountability and impartial investigations.

Burundi

In Burundi, the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) ruled in Epitace Nshimirimana v. Burundi, a case brought by OMCT and Armel Niyongere, a member of the Africa Litigators’ Group. The decision condemned the government for using torture to punish political opponents, marking progress in addressing the 2015 electoral violence.

West Africa

In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court ruled on the enforced disappearance of Peter Mensah under former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. It found Ghana violated the right to information. OMCT played a key role by intervening, for the first time before this court, through the submission of an amicus curiae brief outlining state obligations vis à vis the relatives of victims of enforced disappearances.

Togo

In Togo, Collectif des Associations Contre l'Impunité au Togo (CACIT), strengthened its regional litigation work by submitting two complaints to the ECOWAS on the case of two minors injured by gunshots from the police while in pursuit of other suspects.

Tunisia

In Tunisia, OMCT’s assistance program for victims of torture, SANAD, secured multiple rulings against the Ministry of the Interior, ordering it to pay compensation to people who have been “filed” and subjected to a series of arbitrary restrictions on their freedom that constitute a torturous environment. Eya is a young mother who has been the victim of intense police harassment for over 10 years, including home raids, arrests in public places and violent interrogations. With SANAD's support, she appealed to the administrative court in December 2021. Three years later, the court ordered that Eya's file be lifted and that she be compensated.

Tajikistan

Following OMCT’s communications in 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued Opinions 18/2024 and 19/2024. It determined that five detained human rights defenders were imprisoned in Tajikistan due to their advocacy for investigations into police violence against the Pamiri Indigenous population amid mass protests in 2021-2022. The WGAD urged their unconditional release.

Thailand

In Thailand, victims of the 2004 Tak Bai massacre, with the support of OMCT’s partner Cross Cultural Foundation, filed a lawsuit against officials responsible for a crackdown that left 85 Malay Muslim protesters dead. OMCT funded legal fees, advocated with authorities, and increased the visibility of the case. As a result, the UN Committee Against Torture, in its Concluding Observations following the review of Thailand in November, urged the state to ensure that the crimes of torture and enforced disappearance are not subject to any statute of limitations. The Committee has requested an update on follow-up measures regarding the statute of limitations by 22 November 2025.

Nicaragua

The WGAD adopted in October 2024 an opinion declaring the arbitrary character of the detention in Nicaragua of the Indigenous defenders Ignacio Celso Lino, Argüello Celso Lino, Donald Andrés Bruno Arcángel, and Dionisio Robins Zacarías. The WGAD joined calls for their immediate release, alongside the Inter-American Commission and Court on Human Rights, that issued precautionary and interim measures last year.

Indonesia

In 2023, OMCT submitted two amicus curiae in support of Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar, two Indonesian human rights defenders who were being prosecuted on criminal defamation charges for exposing corrupt practices and human rights violations perpetrated in Indonesia’s Papua region. On 8 January 2024, the East Jakarta District Court acquitted Ms Maulidiyanti and Mr Azhar after more than two years of judicial harassment. On 24 September 2024, the Supreme Court of Indonesia rejected the Prosecutor's Cassation, resulting in the final acquittal of the two human rights defenders and the closure of the case.