THEMATIC REPORT 2017 TORTURE AND MIGRATION Redress Redress is a crucial component in the rehabilitation process. The torture rehabilitation centres participating in this report have noted that many of their clients see justice as an important part of their process of rebuilding a life after torture. Beyond the importance to the healing process, bringing perpetrators to justice has an important deterrent effect in the societies where the torture took place. States have an obligation to provide redress to victims of torture – including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, guarantees of non-repetition, and satisfaction – and also a procedural guarantee to ensure that the victim of torture has access to an effective remedy. This includes ensuring that there is a legislative framework and mechanisms that can investigate the allegations of torture in a prompt, fair and effective manner, and ultimately, prosecute and adequately punish perpetrators of torture. The UN Committee against Torture has clarified that this right continues to apply when victims leave the perpetrator countries to seek refuge. In its General Comment on the implementation of Article 14 of the Convention against Torture, the Committee specifies that the “application of article 14 is not limited to victims who were harmed in the territory of the State party or by or against nationals of the State party” and that States are required to “ensure that all victims of torture and ill-treatment are able to access remedy and obtain redress”3 regardless of their status in that country, including “asylum-seekers, refugees or others under international protection.”4 It is clear from the data, however, that redress is a distant hope for the majority of the clients in this data set: only 3 percent of the clients in this sample group filed a complaint against torture, while 37 percent have not. Data was not available for 60 percent of the clients, due to non-disclosure. Of the 3 percent that did file complaints against torture, rehabilitation was awarded in one case, while in another case the client acted as a witness in a regional court, and in a third case the client gave testimony to an international criminal tribunal. The rest are pending.   Photo by Remi Walle on Unsplash page 40