Recent news and events
New report: '“My Eye Exploded”: the Global Abuse of Kinetic Impact Projectiles' released 14 March 2023
The report, My Eye Exploded, published jointly with Amnesty International, is based on research in more than 30 countries over the last five years. It documents how thousands of protesters and bystanders have been maimed and dozens killed by the often reckless and disproportionate use of less lethal law enforcement weaponry, including kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs), such as rubber bullets, as well as the firing of rubberized buckshot, and tear gas grenades aimed and fired directly at demonstrators. Given the grave human rights impacts of KIPs, strict national, regional and global regulation over not just their adoption and use, but their design and trade is essential. This includes the creation of a robust Torture-Free Trade Treaty which bans inherently abusive law enforcement equipment and introduces strict, human rights-based trade controls on other equipment.
Learn more [external Amnesty website]
Torture-Free Trade Treaty Summit & The Shoreditch Declaration, January 2023
On 18th and 19th January, Omega researchers attended the Torture-Free Trade Treaty Summit at the Human Rights Action Centre in London. The Summit was organised by Amnesty International, Omega, the Harvard International Human Rights Law Clinic, the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT). Attended by over 50 in-person participants, and more than 60 virtual participants, the Summit was an opportunity for civil society from around the world to make connections, share knowledge, and further the campaign for a Torture-Free Trade Treaty. More information on the process towards a Torture-Free Trade Treaty to date is available on our dedicated webpage.
At the close of the Summit, more than 30 orgaisations - including the Omega Research Foundation - signed the Shoreditch Declaration for a Torture-Free Trade Treaty...
[more]
New publication! December 2022
Omega Research Foundation & University of Bradford researcher, Michael Crowley, has a new book out now! 'Toxin and Bioregulator Weapons: Preventing the Misuse of the Chemical and Life Sciences', is co-written with Malclom R. Dando (University of Bradford, The Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellow).
[more]
México: Cierre del Curso sobre identificación y litigio de casos de malos tratos y tortura, Diciembre
El 8 de diciembre de 2022, llegó a su conclusión el Curso sobre identificación y litigio de casos de malos tratos y tortura, adelantada por Omega Research Foundation en colaboración con la Escuela Federal de Formación Judicial y el Instituto Federal de Defensoría Pública. El curso se dirigió a aproximadamente 60 personas defensoras públicas federales.
Las personas participantes se dividieron en dos grupos, cada uno participando en un programa de nueve módulos diseñados específicamente para defensores públicos. Los temas abordados incluyeron: estándares internacionales y nacionales en materia de prevención, investigación y sanción de la tortura, con un enfoque particular en el papel de la defensa pública; estándares sobre el uso de la fuerza; métodos de tortura; y la documentación mediante evaluaciones médico-sicológicos a la luz del Protocolo de Estambul: Manual para la investigación y documentación eficaces de la tortura y otros tratos o penas crueles, inhumanos o degradantes.
El el transcurso de este año, Omega Research Foundation ha acompañado a 120 personas defensoras públicas de todos los estados de México, así como a la Unidad Especializada de Investigación y Litigio del Caso Ayotzinapa, brindando capacitación y asistencia técnica para la aplicacion de la prohibición absoluta de la tortura....
Open letter to FIFA regarding the Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster, October 2022
Omega and Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS, Indonesia) have written to FIFA to express our express strong concern regarding the human rights violations by Indonesian police and military in the 2022 Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster.
We have recommended that that FIFA should take the following steps to avert such a tragedy occurring again.
- Recommend all affiliated associations of FIFA to incorporate Article 19 (b) of the FIFA Stadium Safety and Security Regulations into their national regulations thus prohibiting the carrying and use of firearms and ‘crowd control gas’ at all football matches.
- Encourage the Indonesian government to take appropriate action to provide effective remedies to victims and victims’ families.
- Encourage the Indonesian government to establish a fully independent fact-finding team.
- Review steps taken by PSSI to address safety and security issues and ensure they are adequate to prevent such a tragedy happening again.
- Ensure FIFA takes applicable disciplinary or punitive action against PSSI.
The full letter can be read here