Omega has a long history of calling for controls on the trade in tools of torture, including a Torture-Free Trade Treaty at the United Nations.
We have a dedicated page that details our work in the process for international controls on the trade.
With civil society organisations from around the world, Omega leads the Torture-Free Trade Network. In January 2023, we joined with representatives from over 30 civil society organisations at the Shoreditch Summit in London, and signed the Shoreditch Declaration for a Torture-Free Trade Treaty.
Together, we are calling on States to act to end the trade in equipment used for torture. In Essential Elements of the Torture-Free Trade Treaty, Omega, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, and Amnesty International provide more details on the type of treaty.
We are joined in this call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who used his public statement on the occasion of the 2023 International Day in Support of Victims of Torture to note,
“I am fully supportive of all efforts to limit trade in items that could be used for torture, including through a new international torture-free trade treaty.“
In October 2023, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Dr Alice Jill Edwards, released her Thematic study on the weapons, equipment and devices used by law enforcement and other public authorities that are capable of inflicting torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Special Rapporteur lists two types of equipment:
- Goods the Special Rapporteur has identified as being inherently cruel, inhuman or degrading and that are therefore considered to be prohibited (Annex I to the thematic study); and
- Goods the Special Rapporteur recommends to be regulated at national and international levels, as while they have a legitimate use, they can be misused for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
We supported the Special Rapporteur with research for the study, and we continue to work together – along with the Torture-Free Trade Network – for a Torture-Free Trade Treaty.
