Civil society organisations from around the world call for a Torture-Free Trade Treaty.
Omega is a member of the core organising group of the Torture-Free Trade Network. The Network, which formally took shape during the Shoreditch Summit in January 2023, began with approximately 30 members. Now, roughly 80 civil society organisations from around the world have joined in the campaign for an international, legally-binding Torture-Free Trade Treaty.
At the 2023 Summit, we signed the Shoreditch Declaration for a Torture-Free Trade Treaty, committing to work to support the creation of a robust Treaty to prohibit the trade in inherently abusive equipment, and control the trade in other kinds of law enforcement equipment to ensure they are not used in human rights violations.
The core organising group of the Torture-Free Trade Network meets regularly and brings together Omega researchers with staff from:
- Amnesty International‘s International Secretariat,
- Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic (US),
- The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) (US),
- The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) (South Africa) and the Pan-African Reparations Initiative,
- The African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) (South Africa),
- Physicians for Human Rights (US),
- International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO),
- University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights (South Africa), and
- Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) (Argentina)
The Network meets regularly to plan the campaign, share resources and information, and build relationships between our organisations. We are always interested in welcoming new members to the Network. If your organisation – or an organisation you know of – is interested in joining the campaign to end the trade in tools of torture, please contact us.