Police violence has made the headlines in 2020 with the black lives matter movement, the repression in Belarus, or even the pandemic. Nils Melzer is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel and degrading treatment, he is with us today to speak about what causes police violence and how we can participate in solving this problem.

Nils Melzer - Why is police violence increasing?

39 years ago, Ana’s father left their house in Guatemala and never came back. Ana was left with unbearable pain and questions. Her only certainty: her father has been kidnapped by the government.

Living without answers - "The State kidnapped my father"

Father Mussie was once a refugee.  Now he has dedicated his life to helping those who flee their homes.

Father Mussie, the priest who saves migrants' lives

Fatima was a victim of human trafficking, Lamine suffered police violence. They recount their difficult journey to Europe.

Migration roads - "I thought I was going to Italy, I found myself in Libya"

In Afghanistan, the Taliban's return to power has forced defenders of human rights into exile. Hassan Ali Faiz has lived through two major conflicts in his country and survived the persecution of his community: the Hazaras. After living as a refugee, he came back to Afghanistan in the hope to bring change, but when the Taliban seized power, his dream came to a halt.

"I was born in conflict" - An Afghan’s journey to safety

Victoria Fedorova is a Belarusian human rights activist. In August 2020, she demonstrated against the 6th re-election of Alexander Lukashenko, the president in power for 28 years.

Like many thousands of Belarusians, Victoria and her partner had to flee their country and live in exile in Ukraine.

"Ukraine had become a second homeland" - Victoria fled repression in Belarus and war in Ukraine

The war in Yemen doesn't make the headlines. Yet, since 2014, this forgotten conflict has claimed more than 380,000 lives and displaced over 4 million people.

This episode explores one of the most disturbing aspects of the conflict: the blockade of basic products to the civilian population. This war strategy was instrumental in what is known as today’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“Behind all these numbers, there are people” - War crimes and their humanitarian impact in Yemen

Since the Taliban came to power, women have been their main victims. Their entire lives are controlled, from their right to education, to work, to marry freely or to dress how they want… Freshta Hakimi is an Afghan human rights defender. She tells us how she fought for her life and had to flee her country to survive.

"I was 12 years old and they came asking for my hand" - A woman’s escape from Taliban Afghanistan

In 2023 torture remains a terrible reality in many countries worldwide. Today, as we celebrate the International Day for Torture Victims we’d like to give the floor to someone who helps torture survivors overcome their trauma. Goran Lukic works as a psychologist for our network member, Freedom from Torture. Based in London, he is regularly confronted to the suffering of refugees fleeing threats to their lives and mental integrity. He tells us how, with in-depth psychological work, one can recover from the worst.

"Torture can change a person’s identity" - A journey of psychological damage and recovery

Since the October 7 attack, the number of Palestinian detainees has skyrocketed in Israeli jails and military camps. This wave of arrests has been accompanied by a disturbing rise in deaths and torture incidents.

In this edition of Rights at Risk, Tal Steiner, Executive Director of the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI), one of our SOS Torture Network organizations, exposes the brutal reality of detention in Israeli centres and tells us how we can help.

Israel: almost 10,000 Palestinian prisoners risk their lives in deadly jails

Police violence is on the rise worldwide, inflicting life-changing trauma on predominantly minority communities. This unsettling trend underscores the pervasive nature of systemic state violence across the globe. Our Rights at Risk podcast episode delves into this dark reality with Yasser Louati, a prominent French human rights advocate. Louati is one of the protagonists of the film Le Repli and participated in a panel on police violence that we organised at the FIFDH 2024. In this podcast, he reveals the intricate mechanisms that fuel police brutality, driven by deep-rooted institutional racism.

State violence: when the police are the aggressors

Since 7 October, Israeli forces have arrested thousands of Palestinians on charges of incitement, sometimes for something as minor as a message on social media or a protest.  Conditions in Israeli prisons have deteriorated dramatically, with many cases of torture, ill-treatment, and murder. Our guest, Tala Nasser, from our Addameer network member, is a lawyer who supports detainees in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. She tells us what they must endure and how each of us can defend their rights.

Surviving Israeli jails

Rights at Risk explores human rights through stories from the frontlines and analysis from experts.

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