Together with KontraS (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) and National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, with support from Europe Union, AJAR held a regional roundtable discussion on strengthening accountability for torture on April 6th 2016 in Jakarta. A total of 100 participants comprising of policymakers, CSO, survivors and media from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste attended this roundtable discussion and contributed to the 5-panel discussion. In his opening remark, the representative of Indonesia Ministry of Law & Human Rights emphasised the work of Anti-Torture bill that is currently discussed by the House of Representative. This bill is expected to decrease the number of torture cases conducted by state apparatus, groups or any individuals. Torture is also a priority issue in strengthening human rights within the Asia regional context for the Europe Union, as stated by Charles-Michel Geurts, Europe Union delegate for Indonesia & Brunei Darussalam.
Presented at the roundtable discussion was five policy papers which assessed the context of torture in each of the participant’s countries. A photo exhibition of torture survivors was also displayed during all the panels to spread the truth about what happened with the torture survivors. On his session, AJAR President Patrick Burgess emphasised the four stages to achieve justice and eradicate torture; truth-seeking, accountability, watching over the pre-trial detention, and better access to legal assistance for victims.
Read our press release and briefing papers: