Sub Saharan Africa

“Torture is increasing in Chad every day, but it is a country forgotten by the international community,” says Nodjigoto Charbonnel, winner of Norway’s prestigious Rafto Prize 2022 for human rights, and founder of IRCT member Association Jeunesse pour la Paix et la Non-Violence (AJPNV). Poor and arid, but rich in oil and gold, the vast central African nation of Chad has been plagued by civil wars and military coups since independence from France in 1960. In late October 2022, human rights groups reported security forces loyal to military coup leader General Mahamat Deby killed and tortured protesters demanding a return to civilian rule. Amid a violent crackdown on dissent, AJPNV is one of a handful of civil society organisations working to promote human rights in Chad.

Nigeria ratified the UN Convention Against Torture in 2001. But for two decades, the country refused to be reviewed on its implementation of the Convention by the treaty monitoring body, the Committee Against Torture. In November 2021, the Committee went ahead anyway, and IRCT’s member in Nigeria, Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), was there. So, for the first time, were Nigerian officials.

In northern Uganda, most torture survivors treated by ACTV are women, many of whom were also widowed by the Lord’s Resistance Army and left without economic resources and financial stability. With a grant from IRCT, ACTV provided over 200 women with income generating projects. One group received maize seeds, training on farming and a milling machine to make flour out of the maize they grew. Another received ground nut seeds and oxen to plough their land. The results were extraordinary.

Burundi
Solidarité d’Action pour la Paix – Grand Lacs (SAP-GL)

Cameroon
African Development Association Rescue Mission Africa (ADAS)
Trauma Centre Cameroon (TCC)

Chad
Association Jeunesse Pour la Paix et la Non Violence (AJPNV)

Democratic Republic of Congo
Amis des Victimes des Violations des Droits Humains (AVVDH)
Centre Mater Misericordiae (CMM)
Fédération des Femmes pour le Développement Intégral au Congo (FEDICONGO)
Regroupement des Mamans de Kamituga (REMAK)
Solidarité avec des Victime et pour la Paix (SOVIP)
Women and Children Protection (WCP)

Kenya
Centre Against Torture Kenya Foundation (CAT)
Independent Medico Legal Unit (IMLU)
Mwatikho Torture Survivors Foundation (MATESOF)

Liberia
Association of Psychosocial Services (LAPS)
Rescue Alternatives Liberia (RAL)

Nigeria
Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA)

Rwanda
Uyisenga Ni Imanzi (UNM)

Senegal
Centre Africain pour la Prévention et la Résolution des Conflits (CAPREC)

Sierra Leone
Community Association for Psychosocial Services (CAPS)

South Africa
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
The Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture (TCSVT)

Uganda
African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV)

Zimbabwe
Counselling Services Unit (CSU)
Tree of Life Trust (ToL)