Resources
A curated directory of UN bodies, regional human rights mechanisms, partner NGOs, and legal aid organizations for torture survivors and advocates worldwide.
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
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: 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 →