At a glance
Switzerland has been a State party to the Convention against Torture from the very beginning and has mostly succeeded to implement effective measures and policies to fight all forms of torture on its territory. However, there are still some shortcomings in the implementation of human rights standards, mostly related to immigration and asylum cases. There are alleged cases of excessive use of force and of racist behaviour by the police and immigration services that are not systematically reported to the authorities, even when there is medical evidence of injury. The European Court of Human Rights noted, in the 2013 case of Dembele v. Switzerland, the lack of prompt and effective investigations in such situations. There are also reports showing that undocumented migrants, in particular when subject to a Dublin decision, are systematically placed in detention in some cantons and that there are no persons of confidence or legal advisers present at hearings for unaccomp
Geneva, 10 June 2021
This coming Sunday 13 June, the Swiss will vote on the Federal Act on Police Measures to Combat Terrorism (
Loi fédérale sur les mesures policières de lutte contre le terrorisme), which, if enacted, will allow the police to take preventive measures against “potential terrorists” without any meaningful judicial oversight. The designation as “potential terrorist” does not require the existence or prospect of any crime, a fact that could negatively impact the exercise of lawful and peaceful activities by civil society groups.
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the members of its global Torture and Terrorism Working Group are concerned over the serious risk of arbitrariness such reforms will entail and the human rights violations their implementation could bring about, including breaches of the right to liberty and security of the person. A neglected but important concern is that its penalties will likely be based on unreliable informati
Torture is back. Not that it ever went away, but the unprecedented global crisis in 2020 has brought it out in the open. States, from Mexico to Niger to…
Cambodia: Denial of bail to Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika
09/06/2021
Arbitrary detention /
June 9, 2021
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Cambodia.
New information:
Rong Chhun and
Sar Kanika amid a COVID-19 outbreak in many Cambodian prisons. Mr. Chhun, a prominent labour rights defender, is the President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), and a member of the Cambodian Watchdog Council (CWC) [1]. Ms. Kanika is a member of the youth group Khmer Thavrak [2] and an ex-member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).