EMHRN - Home > MEMBERS > List of Members > World Organisation Against Torture

World Organisation Against Torture

 
 
Address
 8 Rue du Vieux-Billard, P.O. Box 21, 1211 Geneva 8
Country
 Switzerland
Tel
 41 22 809 49 39
Fax
 41 22 809 49 29
Email
 omct@omct.org
Website
Contact Person
 Eric Sottas, Director
Member of EMHRN
since
 2003
Mandate
OMCT’s Mission Statement is defined in Article 2 of its Statutes.
Art. 2    The aim of the Association is to contribute to the struggle against torture, summary executions, disappearances, arbitrary detention, psychiatric internment for political reasons, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Geographical
Coverage
 Worldwide
Fields of Activities
Women’s Rights                      
Justice
Migration & Refugees
Youth
Human Rights Education
Economic & Social Rights        
Freedom of Association
Freedom of Speech
EU Mechanisms
Main Activities
OMCT is the largest coalition of NGOs working in the field of human rights, with its SOS-Torture network - which comprises 282 non-governmental national, regional and international organizations - covering five continents. In the twenty years since its inception, OMCT has developed multiple programmes in response to the needs expressed by the network’s member-organisations. Certain programmes are specifically concerned with torture, while others examine the particular situation of certain groups of victims. All of our programmes engage in advocating the prevention and denunciation of torture and ill-treatment as well as for the provision of adequate reparation for the victims of such violence.
 
OMCT’s strategy places a strong emphasis on three inter-related elements:
  • the wishes of the victims of human rights violations or of those groups who represent them;
  • an analysis of all of the different factors that lead to human rights violations, including the economic, cultural and social context;
  • and finally, internationally recognised norms of human rights law.
One of the most important aspects of OMCT’s strategy is that it adopts an integrated approach to the fundamental factors of prevention, denunciation and assistance to victims, by placing a particular emphasis on the need to act in parallel within the framework of individual cases and on the socio-economic causes of torture. Women, children and human rights defenders form specific groups with respect to the causes and consequences of the human rights violations that fall within OMCT's mandate and accordingly, specific programmes addressing the particular needs of these victims have been in place at OMCT since 1996, 1992 and 1995 respectively.
 
It should be added that gender equality lies at the very heart of all the objectives and activities of OMCT. Since its establishment, the Violence against Women Programme has not operated in a vacuum, but has actively worked towards an increased integration of gender perspectives into the policies of the organisation and the various programmes.
No. of Staff
 16
No. of Members
 282
More Info...