Resources
A curated directory of UN bodies, regional human rights mechanisms, partner NGOs, and legal aid organizations for torture survivors and advocates worldwide.
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Rights in Exile: legal assistance by country
Directory, about 190 countriesA country by country directory of organisations providing free legal assistance to refugees and displaced people. Each country page carries background on protection there, how to apply for asylum, a list of organisations giving legal help, and a second list of other assistance. Run by AsyLex, which took the platform over from AMERA International in July 2024. Its own note says it cannot guarantee the quality of the services listed.
Visit →IRCT member centres
Directory, 80 countriesThe International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims is a network, not a treatment centre. Its value is the directory: 176 member centres in 80 countries, staffed by "around 4,000 professionals, doctors, psychologists, lawyers, social workers, physiotherapists, and others", searchable by region. Some members provide legal help as well as medical and psychological care.
Visit →International Refugee Assistance Project
Legal help, several countriesWorks on refugee protection, resettlement, family reunification, asylum and detention, from offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Amman and Beirut, and through local partners. Its own words: it delivers "free, high-quality legal services to displaced people, no matter where they live." The help portal takes questions in English, Arabic and Spanish.
Visit →UNHCR country help pages
Information and contact, 130+ countriesCountry specific pages on asylum procedures, rights and duties, with contact routes that vary by country and in many places include WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal or Viber. UNHCR states: "All UNHCR services are free. UNHCR and our partners will never ask you to pay for help or services."
Visit →If you have already been sent to another country
International Refugee Assistance Project
Legal help, individual intakeThe organisation on this list most clearly set up for someone outside the country that removed them. Its Legal Services Department "represents refugees and other displaced people around the world who seek protection and safety, whether through resettlement, family reunification, or other humanitarian pathways to safety." It has a Get Legal Help route and a portal in English, Arabic and Spanish.
Visit →UNHCR
Asylum and protection, by countryBeing removed to another country does not by itself bring a person within UNHCR protection. Whether UNHCR or that country government decides an asylum claim depends on whether the country runs a fair national procedure. A person has to approach one or the other and lodge a claim. The country pages say which applies and how to make contact.
Visit →Asylum Access
Direct legal services, three countriesNational organisations in Mexico, Malaysia and Thailand only, each with its own offices and telephone numbers. Asylum Access Mexico states that "All legal services provided by Asylum Access Mexico are always free of charge", and warns people to report anyone claiming to be from the organisation and asking for money.
Visit →International Organization for Migration
Emergency help for stranded peopleIOM defines a stranded migrant as someone "unable to return to their country of origin", who "cannot regularize their status in the country where they reside", and who has no legal route to move on. Its Migration Response Centres offer registration and vulnerability screening, shelter, food, health care, mental health support, help with consular documents and referrals. Read the Coalition note below before accepting any offer of return.
Visit →Jesuit Refugee Service
Legal help and detention visits, 50+ countriesWorks in more than fifty countries, providing "legal advice and assistance: helping people understand their rights, obtain or renew documents, and navigate asylum or other legal procedures", and "visiting people held in immigration or other forms of detention". The international site is a coordination hub; find the office in your country, because that is where the help is given.
Visit →Norwegian Refugee Council
Legal counselling, about 40 countriesIts Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance programme covers "immigration and refugee laws and procedures, including refugee status determination and legal residency", and reached 1,523,235 people in 2025. The international site has no route for an individual. Look for the NRC office or national site in the country you are in.
Visit →Danish Refugee Council
Legal aid, about 30 countriesProvides "legal aid services directly targeting conflict- and displacement affected people, with the purpose of assisting people in claiming and obtaining their rights and accessing services." Country offices differ widely in whether they publish a way for an individual to make contact.
Visit →Third Country Deportation Watch
Records, not a source of helpA project of Refugees International and Human Rights First recording transfers country by country, with pages for each receiving country. Useful for understanding what has happened where you were sent. Neither organisation takes individual cases, so this is a place to find facts, not a lawyer.
Visit →UN and International Bodies
OHCHR – UN Human Rights Office
UN BodyComprehensive documentation of human rights violations worldwide. Provides reports, mandates of Special Rapporteurs, and a searchable database of UN treaty body decisions affecting detainees.
Visit →Committee Against Torture (CAT)
Treaty BodyThe committee of independent experts that monitors states' implementation of the Convention Against Torture. Publishes concluding observations, inquiry reports, and urgent action communications.
Visit →Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)
Treaty BodyMonitors OPCAT implementation. Conducts visits to all places of detention and provides confidential recommendations to National Preventive Mechanisms.
Visit →UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Special ProcedureThe UN human rights expert mandated to examine, monitor, and publicly report on torture globally. Reports to the Human Rights Council and General Assembly.
Visit →Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
INGOGeneva-based organization specializing in OPCAT implementation, NPM capacity building, and detention monitoring training. Authoritative source on preventive mechanisms.
Visit →Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
UN MechanismThe mechanism through which all UN member states are reviewed on their human rights situation every 4.5 years. Includes torture-related recommendations and government responses.
Visit →Regional Human Rights Bodies
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT)
Regional BodyThe Council of Europe body that visits places of detention across the 46 Council of Europe member states and publishes detailed reports. Reports are among the most thorough detention monitoring documents available.
Visit →Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
Regional BodyThe OAS body monitoring human rights in the Americas. Handles individual petitions, precautionary measures for at-risk detainees, and thematic rapporteurships on torture.
Visit →African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Regional BodyMonitors the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The Robben Island Guidelines, adopted by the Commission in 2002, are the primary African regional anti-torture standard.
Visit →European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
Regional CourtAdjudicates applications under Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Produces binding case law on torture standards.
Visit →Third-Country Removals: Monitoring and Records
Third Country Deportation Watch
TrackerJoint project of Human Rights First and Refugees International. A country-by-country record of transfers from the United States to third countries: flights, dates, numbers, what happened to people on arrival, and the litigation. The primary source behind the Coalition's country guides.
Visit →USCRI Third Country Deportations Tracker
TrackerThe US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants tracker of third-country removals, including removals of people holding withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture.
Visit →Human Rights First: D.V.D. v. DHS
Case PageThe case page for the Massachusetts litigation challenging third-country removals carried out without notice or an opportunity to raise a fear claim. Carries the filings and the procedural history.
Visit →CourtListener and RECAP
Court RecordsFree public access to United States federal court dockets and filings, run by the Free Law Project. Where the Coalition's decisions register links, so that anyone can read a court's own text without a subscription.
Visit →Global Detention Project
ResearchGeneva-based research centre documenting immigration detention worldwide, including the facilities used to hold people transferred to third countries and the conditions reported in them.
Visit →ECOWAS Community Court of Justice
Regional CourtThe court of the Economic Community of West African States, sitting in Abuja. Individuals may bring human rights applications directly, without first exhausting remedies in the national courts, which makes it the fastest formal route in much of West Africa.
Visit →State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Government ReportsThe annual United States reports on conditions in every country, cited in immigration proceedings and in this site's country guides. Archived by year and by country.
Visit →ICRC Restoring Family Links
Tracing ServiceThe Red Cross and Red Crescent network that traces relatives separated by detention, conflict and migration and carries messages between them. Searchable directory of the national society in each country.
Visit →UN Treaty Collection: Status of Treaties
ReferenceThe depositary record of which state has signed, ratified or acceded to each treaty, and which declarations it has made. This is how the country guides establish whether an individual complaint procedure is actually open.
Visit →Organisations and networks working against torture
Amnesty International
International NGOResearch and advocacy organization with field presence in over 150 countries. Provides urgent action campaigns, country reports, and individual casework on torture and arbitrary detention.
Visit →Human Rights Watch (HRW)
International NGOInvestigates and reports on human rights abuses in around 100 countries. HRW reports follow rigorous investigative standards and are widely cited by UN bodies and domestic courts.
Visit →REDRESS
International NGOLegal organization seeking justice for torture survivors. Provides strategic litigation support, reparations advocacy, and expertise on international law remedies.
Visit →Freedom from Torture (UK)
NGOProvides rehabilitation services for torture survivors in the United Kingdom. Produces clinical documentation used in asylum and legal proceedings.
Visit →OMCT – World Organisation Against Torture
NetworkThe world's largest network of NGOs fighting arbitrary detention and torture, with more than 200 member organizations. Publishes joint shadow reports to UN treaty bodies.
Visit →International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
NetworkA global network of rehabilitation centers providing medical and psychological services for torture survivors. Also produces research on health consequences of torture.
Visit →Legal Aid: United States
ImmigrationLawHelp.org
Directory, all 50 statesSearches for free and low cost immigration legal help by county, by postcode, or by the name of the detention facility a person is held in. A project of Justicia Lab, powered by Pro Bono Net. It does not represent anyone itself; it tells you who near you might.
Visit →List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers
Directory, nationwideThe Justice Department quarterly list of organisations and attorneys who have committed at least fifty pro bono hours a year at a named immigration court. Organised by the court a case is in. Updated 26 August 2026.
Visit →TASSC International
Torture survivors, Washington DC regionFree asylum representation, trauma informed mental health support and social services for survivors of torture and their families. In its own words: "We represent clients in both affirmative and defensive asylum cases."
Visit →Torture Survivors Project, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Torture survivors, Greater Los AngelesBuilt for people tortured outside the United States. "Our attorneys help torture survivors apply for asylum or other forms of legal relief from the time they enter the United States until they become US citizens." Separate telephone lines for Mandarin, Cantonese, Filipino, Khmer, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese speakers.
Visit →Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Detention and removal, Southern CaliforniaDeportation defence and wraparound services for detained and non-detained people across more than ten counties, including the San Diego and Tijuana border region. Programmes for children and for deported veterans.
Visit →Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
Detention and removal, ArizonaFree representation and social services for adults and unaccompanied children held in immigration detention. Publishes a guide for people without a lawyer, How to Defend My Case, and a booklet for writing to someone inside.
Visit →Las Americas Detained Deportation Defense Program
Detention and removal, West Texas and New MexicoRepresents people detained in the El Paso area. "All of our deportation defense services are provided for free." Covers the El Paso Processing Center and the Otero Service Center.
Visit →Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Detention and removal, Washington StateAsylum, deportation defence and detention work. The only organisation the Coalition found with a published intake route specifically for detained people: a dedicated line for the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, asking for the person name and A number.
Visit →RAICES
Detention and removal, TexasRemoval defence and asylum representation including for detained people, from San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas Fort Worth and Houston. The organisation describes the work as trauma informed and subsidised. Free or low cost; call to arrange a consultation.
Visit →Southern California Immigration Project
Detention and removal, San Diego areaPro bono representation for survivors of human and civil rights violations, in immigration court and before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Most of its clients are detained at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility.
Visit →Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
Removal defence, Dallas areaFree legal and social services for asylum seekers, survivors of trafficking, survivors of domestic violence, crime victims and unaccompanied children. By appointment only. It states that it does not provide sponsorship, housing or other social help to people in detention centres; that is a limit on social services, not on legal representation.
Visit →Safe Harbor Project, Brooklyn Law School
Law school clinic, New York CityA clinic running since 1997 in which supervised students represent people in humanitarian immigration cases, including claims resting on political activism "which often landed them in jail where they experienced beatings, torture and severe mistreatment." Clinic capacity is limited.
Visit →National Immigration Project
For attorneys, not individualsLitigation and training. Its support goes to members who are attorneys, accredited representatives and grassroots organisations, not to individuals seeking a lawyer.
Visit →CLINIC affiliate directory
For attorneys, with a public directoryThe Catholic Legal Immigration Network trains legal representatives and sustains a network of affiliated nonprofit programmes. It does not represent individuals itself, but its affiliate directory searches by state and is useful to a person looking for local help.
Visit →Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
For attorneys, with a self help pageExpert consultation, litigation resources and training for lawyers on gender related asylum claims. Its page for people without a lawyer states that it is "for individual asylum seekers, not for attorneys", and offers self help material and referrals onward.
Visit →National Immigration Litigation Alliance
For attorneys, not individualsImpact litigation, transparency litigation, amicus briefs and co-counselling with other immigration attorneys. Co-counsel in D.V.D. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Not a route for an individual.
Visit →American Immigration Lawyers Association
Paid private attorneys, nationwideA professional association for immigration lawyers. Its public finder reaches nationwide, but it connects people to private attorneys who charge fees, not to free or pro bono help.
Visit →ACLU National Prison Project
Legal AidLitigates on behalf of people subjected to inhumane prison conditions and custodial abuse in the United States. Provides legal resources for prisoners and advocates for systemic reform.
Visit →Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
Legal AidAdvances constitutional and international human rights through litigation, education, and advocacy. Has litigated landmark cases on torture by US forces and domestic custodial abuse.
Visit →National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
Legal AidProvides legal services to immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. Represents clients who have suffered torture and abuse in immigration detention.
Visit →Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
Expert NetworkDeploys medical professionals to document evidence of torture and provide expert testimony in legal proceedings. Produced the Istanbul Protocol with OHCHR.
Visit →Legal Aid: Africa
African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims
Torture survivors, UgandaBoth rehabilitation of torture survivors and a Legal Aid department offering legal advice and counselling, legal representation and expert witness testimony. Registered by the Uganda Law Council as a Legal Aid Service Provider. Its focus is indigent people, with an emphasis on survivors of torture and violence.
Visit →Refugee Law Project
Forced migrants, UgandaA project of Makerere University School of Law. "Provides free legal assistance to forced migrants", including people in detention, covering refugee status, deportation, criminal justice, land and family matters. A separate programme gives direct legal and psychosocial support to survivors of sexual and gender based violence, including men.
Visit →Lawyers for Human Rights
Refugees and migrants, South AfricaLegal advice and representation for asylum seekers and refugees, from Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Musina. "Our services are free of charge."
Visit →Kituo Cha Sheria
Legal aid, KenyaLegal representation and mediation, mobile legal aid clinics countrywide, walk in services in Nairobi and Mombasa, and work inside prisons. Serves indigent and marginalised people including forced migrants and displaced people.
Visit →Independent Medico-Legal Unit
Torture survivors, KenyaCombines medico-legal documentation with legal support for survivors of torture and police violence, through to litigated outcomes and compensation.
Visit →Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance
Prisoners and detainees, MalawiLegal advice, assistance and litigation for prisoners and marginalised people. Its emphasis is criminal justice and prisoners rights rather than torture rehabilitation.
Visit →Legal Action Worldwide
Conflict affected regionsLegal information, assistance and representation in fragile and conflict affected places, alongside strategic litigation. Works in Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Ethiopia among others.
Visit →Association Jeunesse pour la Paix et la Non-Violence
Torture survivors, ChadProvides free medical, psychosocial and legal support with a focus on victims of torture and violence, refugees, prisoners and internally displaced people. It has no website of its own, so the address here is its entry in the IRCT directory.
Visit →Legal Aid: Middle East
Cedar Centre for Legal Studies
Torture survivors, LebanonLegal assistance to victims of torture and enforced disappearance, migrants, refugees and detainees, with "pro bono legal guidance for detainees and refugees", and its own rehabilitation centre in Tripoli. Covers Tripoli, Akkar, Batroun, Koura, Zgharta, Dennieh and Beirut.
Visit →Lebanese Centre for Human Rights
Torture survivors and detainees, LebanonProvides "pro-bono legal assistance, representation and consultations, through both walk-in and in-prison cases" for refugees, migrants, victims of torture and families of the forcibly disappeared, alongside its Nassim Rehabilitation Center.
Visit →Foundation for Social and Legal Studies, TOHAV
Torture survivors, TurkiyeSocio-medical and legal support to refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and for torture survivors specifically, legal assistance through strategic litigation and compensation claims. Centres in Istanbul and Suruc.
Visit →Legal Aid: Europe and the United Kingdom
ELENA, the European Legal Network on Asylum
Find a lawyer, 35 statesAbout 500 legal practitioners across 35 European states, coordinated by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. Its own instruction to individuals: "If you are in need of legal assistance, please contact one of the members of the ELENA Network of Legal Practitioners." It is a self listed directory rather than a vetted intake, and whether a given practitioner charges depends on the practitioner.
Visit →Asylum Information Database
Country reports, 27 jurisdictionsCountry by country reports on asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention and the content of protection, published by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. Useful for understanding the system a person has been placed in.
Visit →Helen Bamber Foundation
Torture survivors, United KingdomFor survivors of trafficking and torture, with therapy, medical and welfare support, and medico-legal reports. Integrated care is for Greater London residents; medico-legal reports are also available to people outside London. Accepts self referrals. Applicants must be 18 or over, and referrals are prioritised for people who do not currently have status in the United Kingdom. Legal representation itself comes through its group partner Asylum Aid.
Visit →Comision Espanola de Ayuda al Refugiado
Refugees and migrants, SpainLegal work is one of the four core areas of CEAR. Its lawyers advise and defend the rights of asylum seekers, refugees, stateless and displaced people, from regional offices including border and port entry points.
Visit →Cyprus Refugee Council
Torture survivors and detainees, CyprusProvides "free legal, social, and psychological support", working with detainees, trafficking victims and survivors of torture.
Visit →Right to Remain
Self help guide, United KingdomNot legal advice. Its Toolkit is a free step by step guide to the United Kingdom asylum and immigration system, written for people navigating it without a lawyer and for those helping them.
Visit →Legal Aid: Asia
Centre for Victims of Torture, Nepal
Torture survivors, NepalHolistic services addressing "physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being", explicitly including legal aid alongside counselling and medical treatment. Use the www address; the bare domain has a certificate error.
Visit →Right To Life Human Rights Centre
Torture survivors, Sri LankaA legal unit and a network of human rights first aid centres assisting people facing "police torture, harassment, or unlawful detention".
Visit →Human Rights Development Centre
Torture survivors, BangladeshIts rehabilitation clinic states that services "also include legal pro bono aid, counseling, and community-based reintegration support", alongside medical and psychosocial care for survivors of torture and violence.
Visit →Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network
Member directory, Asia and the PacificA network of more than 250 member organisations, including law firms providing pro bono legal aid. Not a service provider itself, but its member directory is public and filterable by country, which makes it a practical way to find help.
Visit →Asylum Access Malaysia and Thailand
Direct legal servicesNational organisations with their own offices, telephone numbers and legal services contacts in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
Visit →Legal Aid: Australia
Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma
Directory, all states and territoriesThe national network of eight specialist torture and trauma services, one for each state and territory. FASSTT itself provides no direct service; the member list gives each agency name, website and contact.
Visit →Refugee Legal
Asylum and removal, VictoriaFree specialist legal assistance to people seeking asylum, refugees and disadvantaged migrants, from telephone advice through to full representation before immigration authorities and courts. Provides targeted referral for counselling for torture and trauma survivors.
Visit →Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Asylum and detention, VictoriaFree legal advice and full representation across all stages of refugee status determination, "including people in detention, who cannot afford a private lawyer", alongside foodbank, healthcare and employment support.
Visit →Refugee Advice and Casework Service
Asylum, New South WalesFree legal services for people who have fled persecution, covering protection visas, tribunal appeals and family reunion, with an all female legal team for women at risk. It states that it "is unable to assist people who are currently outside of Australia."
Visit →Torture treatment and medical evidence
Physicians for Human Rights Asylum Network
Medical evidence, United StatesConnects asylum seekers and their lawyers to clinicians who perform forensic evaluations documenting torture. Requests come from the attorney and must reach PHR at least twelve weeks before the affidavit is needed. PHR states it "cannot guarantee securing an evaluation for every case." A separate route exists for detention and release litigation.
Visit →HealTorture.org
Directory of 48 centres, United StatesThe directory of torture treatment programmes across the United States, run by the National Capacity Building Project of the Center for Victims of Torture. Reliable for finding medical and psychological care. Its listings are inconsistent about legal services, so check a centre own site before assuming it does or does not provide legal help.
Visit →Center for Victims of Torture
Clinical care, Minnesota and GeorgiaMental health counselling, physiotherapy and social work for survivors of torture at its healing centres. Its United States centres are in Minnesota and Georgia only; for people elsewhere its own site points to HealTorture.org.
Visit →Program for Torture Victims
Forensic evaluations, Los AngelesServices for torture survivors. In its own words, "Our staff conducts forensic evaluations, serving as expert witnesses in human rights trials." Referrals are made through its website and typically answered in two to three weeks.
Visit →Libertas Center for Human Rights
Forensic evaluations, New York CityA programme of the Emergency Department at Elmhurst Hospital Center and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Comprehensive medical, mental health, social and legal services for survivors of torture, with an evaluation request route for attorneys. Note the address is libertascenter.net, not .org.
Visit →Marjorie Kovler Center
Clinical care, ChicagoA programme of Heartland Alliance International. Mental health, medical, legal and social services for survivors of torture, with staff and interpreters covering more than fifty languages.
Visit →Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture
Clinical care, New York CityMedical evaluation and care, mental health treatment, social services and assessment of immigration needs. Every client is offered a medical evaluation.
Visit →Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights
Clinical care and affidavits, BostonA programme of the Immigrant and Refugee Health Center at Boston Medical Center. Mental health treatment and coordinated health care, social services and legal aid for asylum seekers, refugees and survivors of torture. Attorneys whose clients need an affidavit are told to make contact directly.
Visit →Restart Center
Rehabilitation, LebanonPsychosocial and mental health care for survivors of torture and war trauma, including inside places of detention, with a forensic unit and emergency response. It does not provide legal services.
Visit →National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs
Network, United StatesThirty eight member centres in twenty two states, acting collectively as a hub for clinical practice, research and cross disciplinary work on the treatment of torture survivors. Not a direct service provider.
Visit →Legal Aid: International
Reprieve (UK/US)
Legal AidProvides legal representation to individuals facing the death penalty, torture, and extrajudicial detention worldwide. Has worked extensively on Guantánamo and CIA rendition cases.
Visit →International Justice Resource Center (IJRC)
Legal AidProvides information and legal training on regional and international human rights systems. Free case law database and guides on bringing complaints to UN and regional bodies.
Visit →European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)
Legal AidBased in London, represents applicants from Eastern Europe and Central Asia before the European Court of Human Rights in torture and ill-treatment cases.
Visit →Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB)
Legal AidDeploys pro bono legal professionals to strengthen the rule of law and represent victims of human rights abuses in countries with limited legal infrastructure.
Visit →International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Legal NetworkWorks to ensure that international law and principles that advance human rights are recognized and implemented in national legal systems. Runs the CASEBOOK on international law.
Visit →Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers
Legal AidInternational human rights chambers based in the UK. Conducts strategic litigation before international and domestic courts in cases of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity.
Visit →