04.03.26
Statements

Message from the OMCT President on the Secretary General’s Transition

After 16 years of leadership, Gerald Staberock is stepping down from his role as Secretary General of the OMCT. The Executive Council has accepted his resignation and will oversee a smooth transition to new leadership to continue advancing the organization’s mission to combat torture and support human rights defenders worldwide.

The Executive Council of the OMCT wishes to inform you that our Secretary General, Gerald Staberock, will now be stepping down after 16 years of outstanding service to the OMCT, and we extend our deep gratitude to him for his leadership while reaffirming our responsibility to ensure a smooth and accountable transition.

During this time Gerald steered us from a period of serious financial constraint and institutional weakness to what we know our organization today as a strong, agile, respected entity with international human rights standards and operations in Geneva, Tunisia and Brussels.

Under his leadership, OMCT gained renewed energy, reinforcing its footprint across regions through dynamic regional offices and in country-presence and further expanding the reach and impact of its global network. This was no small accomplishment. With staff, members and partners around the globe, Gerald also aided in “opening roads, working through landslides and filling gaps” so that OMCT could respond more effectively to the needs of people who were subject to torture and serious human rights violations or abuse. He has fostered a model of work that is lean and fitting for purpose in some of the toughest places in the world and has put our network of human rights defenders at the heart of our identity. He has maintained time after time that our true reserves are human – the trust, commitment and courage of our members, partners and staff.

We extend our special thanks to Gerald for his unwavering commitment to OMCT’s values and philosophy. After 16 years of dedicated service, Gerald has made the personal decision to step down to embrace new challenges and devote more time to his family, and the Executive Council fully supports and respects this decision, sharing his conviction that a leadership transition can be healthy for both him and the organization. We are committed to ensuring that this transition is safe, orderly and well-timed, and that OMCT remains firmly anchored in its values and strategic vision. Gerald has promised in the past that he's committed to OMCT and the challenge of torture and, in any case, a smooth handover to the next Secretary General.

In this vein, the Executive Council is eager to start the recruitment process for the OMCT’s next Secretary General. You can access here the call for applications. Timing of the new Secretary General will depend on the availability of the candidate selected, and a dedicated transition process will be co-defined between the Executive Council working group, the incoming Secretary General and Gerald.

As members of the SOS-Torture Network and General Assembly, we extend a special invitation to you to accompany us during this significant moment for our organization. Your continued support, engagement and trust are required to ensure that OMCT not only captures but extends its role at the center of the global struggle against torture and for the protection of human rights defenders. Please guide us in selecting the right candidates who uphold our vision of a collective, network-based human rights movement and in welcoming the new Secretary General when we move into the future. On the other hand, as part of the Executive Committee, I am grateful to Gerald for the extraordinary gift he has given OMCT over the previous 16 years, and very thankful to all of you for staying by us going into this next phase together.

Claudia Virginia Samayoa, OMCT President