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	Survivors of Torture Rewrite the Rules by Alice Edwards UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment   May 2026   There is no shortage of cases of torture in the headlines. The details are grim, as always: Abuse behind closed doors, lives irrevocably altered, justice pursued years — sometimes decades — too late. Across today’s crises, from Ukraine to Sudan, Myanmar to Gaza, allegations of torture and ill treatment are especially graphic.   But once a legal case closes or the news cycle moves on, another story begins. It is quieter and less visible: What happens to those who survive torture.   As the United Nations special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, I have met survivors from all walks of life and from across the world — in rehabilitation centers, refugee communities and legal clinics — who carry its effects long after the physical wounds have healed.   What they have told me is that after they survive torture, they must confront a second struggle: To be believed, to gain access to care, to navigate complex institutions and to obtain legal recognition. Survivors spoke about the stigma, economic struggles and the breakdown of relationships.   International law is rightly proud of the absolute prohibition of torture. It is one of the clearest, most universally accepted norms we have: there are no justifications, no exceptions, no circumstances under which it is permitted. The right to rehabilitation and reparation is also well established in international human rights law.   Yet while the world has banned torture, survivors are often neglected or sidelined. A new charter written by people who have experienced this most violent of crimes sets out their demands to the world to help them recover.   Countries are obliged not only to prevent torture, but also to ensure that victims receive redress, including the means for as full a recovery as possible. Yet there is a profound gap between the prohibition against torture and being truly free from its torment.   Too often, torture is treated as an event — something that happens in a prison cell, an interrogation room or a conflict zone — and ends when the abuse stops. That is far from survivors’ realities.   People tortured as children may still bear the shame as adults. Individuals with permanent disabilities caused by torture must navigate this constant reminder and double burden.   Shireen Khudeeda, a Yazidi child survivor of sexual enslavement by the terrorist group Daesh and a human rights defender, spoke to me about how her suffering continues while members of her community taken by the terrorists remain unaccounted for. Ten years later, around 2,600 Yazidi and other victims have not been found.   A former Bahraini politician, Jawad Fairooz, described how after enduring 45 days of beatings, torture and solitary confinement, he was stripped of his nationality while visiting Britain, a secondary punishment that has long-lasting effects on his life to this day.   Another survivor, Donatien Ndabigeze, narrowly escaped an execution attempt that killed his wife and cousin and that was perpetrated by Burundian soldiers at his home in Bujumbura. He told me that waiting for justice can be “unbearable.”   Which seems to be the goal of some governments, hoping that through delays and unreasonable procedural formalities, survivors and their legal claims will go away.   Similar stories of the profound impact of torture have been shared with me, and I have met hundreds of survivors during my mandate. Over the past three years, I convened regional hearings — in Bogota, Nairobi and Kathmandu — which brought together 42 survivors from 36 different nationalities. A further 120 survivor-led organizations as well as individuals wrote to my mandate about how survivor care and consultation could be improved.   From these conversations, the first global Charter of Rights for Victims and Survivors of Torture and other cruelty was born, which I presented to the 61st session of the Human Rights Council in March.   The Charter sets out a practical framework, a kind of bill of rights, for what justice and recovery should look like from survivors’ perspectives. The Charter insists on access to specialized healthcare; long-term psychological support; legal recognition; financial stability; human-centered justice; truth-telling and reconciliation. Above all, they are demanding to participate in decisions that affect their lives.   At the heart of the Charter is a clear, consistent position: Survivors are calling for meaningful involvement in designing laws, policies, humanitarian programs and rehabilitation services not as an afterthought but as equal partners.   Involvement would include formalizing their role in national and international efforts, ensuring diverse voices are represented, including women and other marginalized survivors, and providing direct funding to survivor-led organizations, so they can engage effectively.   The UN has built a powerful legal and moral consensus against torture. The Survivors’ Charter is the missing piece in the global campaign to end torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It represents an historic shift, from law written about survivors, to norms shaped by them.   Resounding support was expressed for the Charter by countries speaking at the Human Rights Council in March, alongside supportive statements from the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and civil society organizations.   My ambition is that this document will become an internationally endorsed standard, complementary to the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on right to a remedy and reparation for atrocity crimes.   For survivors, this step is not abstract. It is about whether they can sleep at night. Whether they can work. Whether their societies can heal. And whether they can regain the lives they had hoped to lead.   The question now is which countries and international organizations are prepared not only to condemn torture but also to stand with — and learn from — those who have survived it.   * Alice Edwards is grateful to the International Rehabilitation Council for Victims of Torture and the World Organization Against Torture, as well as local organizations that hosted survivor hearings: the Corporación Centro de Atención Psicosocial (Psychosocial Care Center) of Colombia, the Independent Medico-Legal Unit and the Mwatikho Torture Survivors Foundation of Kenya and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal (TPO Nepal).   http://passblue.com/2026/05/05/survivors-of-torture-rewrite-the-rules-banning-it/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/new-survivors-charter-sets-out-global-blueprint-justice-after-torture http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/torture/sr/charter-victims-survivors-en.pdf http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc6142-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading-treatment-or http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/06/new-questions-and-answers-paper-sets-out-path-towards-torture-free-trade http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-torture Visit the related web page
	Children are starving to death from dehydration and malnutrition in Sudan every day by IPC, Plan International, UNICEF, agencies   Feb. 2026   Children dying because of hunger as famine risks detected in two new locations in Sudan - Save the Children International   Two more areas of Sudan have fallen into famine-levels of malnutrition, signalling a deadly expansion of a hunger crisis in the conflict-torn country that is threatening millions, Save the Children said.   New data released today by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), global acute malnutrition rates in the Um Baru and Kernoi localities have reached nearly 53% and 34% respectively, with concerns that nearby areas may also be experiencing similar catastrophic conditions, with the extent remaining unknown due to access constraints.   This latest announcement comes on top of an already severe hunger crisis sweeping through conflict affected parts of the country, with famine confirmed in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur in August 2024. In September 2025, the expanding famine was also confirmed in El Fasher (North Darfur) and Kadugli (South Kordofan).   For famine conditions to be reached, many people must already be experiencing an extreme lack of food, with starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels evident.   Across Sudan, acute malnutrition is expected to worsen in 2026 according to the alert, with a 13.5% increase in cases of acute malnutrition in children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women – from 3.7 million children and women in 2025, to nearly 4.2 million in 2026. Violent conflict ensues, undermining humanitarian service delivery and disrupting people’s access to agriculture production and livelihoods, exacerbating vulnerability and suffering.   Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) – the most dangerous and deadly form of extreme hunger – is expected to increase to 800,000 cases.   Severe acute malnutrition is a life-threatening condition requiring urgent treatment, which is impossible to access across much of Sudan due to the collapse of the country’s health system, with hospitals in conflict-affected zones no longer functional due to attacks, looting, and shortages of staff, medicines, and essential supplies.   Mohamad Abdiladif, Country Director for Save the Children in Sudan, said:   “In many parts of Sudan, children’s lives are hanging by a thread, and some already dying from hunger‑related causes. Families who have escaped bullets and bombs and those who are in difficult to access areas are now facing extreme and life threating shortages of food. Every day we hear devastating stories of parents selling the last of what they own simply to keep their children alive from one day to the next. Without immediate action, more lives will be lost.   “As our frontline teams in Sudan consistently witness, extreme hunger can be both life-altering and life-ending for a child. Children facing severe malnutrition have dramatically higher death rates—succumbing not only to starvation and dehydration, but also to preventable diseases that become deadly as hunger weakens their bodies.   “We urgently need donor governments to step up now, to restore the lifeline before it breaks entirely, and to push for strong, sustained diplomatic pressure on parties to the conflict that protects civilians and guarantees safe, unhindered humanitarian access.   “Without this, any chance of restoring reliable access to food will disappear. Supporting mutual aid, strengthening communities’ coping capacities, and ensuring unimpeded, large‑scale humanitarian response are essential to prevent people from being pushed into starvation and to avert further loss of life and suffering.   Beyond immediate survival, childhood malnutrition causes irreversible long-term harm. Affected children often experience stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, and learning difficulties. They face elevated risks of chronic illnesses throughout their lives, along with lasting psychological trauma.   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/children-dying-because-hunger-famine-risks-detected-two-new-locations-sudan http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-143/en/ http://www.unicef.org/sudan/stories/generational-crisis-looms-sudan   Feb. 2026   Sudan: UN expert calls for more support to Emergency Response Rooms volunteers. (OHCHR)   As war continues to ravage Sudan with horrific consequences, local Emergency Response Rooms volunteers continue to risk their lives to deliver life-saving aid across the country, a UN expert said today.   Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes in terror and are either displaced internally or across neighbouring borders, where they are at increased risk of rape and other sexual violence, trafficking, torture and ill-treatment, detention, disappearances and abductions for ransom. In addition to the enduring violence, the people in some parts of Sudan are also faced with famine, with lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation resulting in a significant increase in preventable diseases.   “In the midst of the terror of war and operating in unimaginably difficult circumstances under the constant threat of detention and violence, Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), along with youth and community-led initiatives, have remained committed to delivering life saving assistance to those in need,” said Cecilia Bailliet, the Independent Expert on international solidarity.   “Grounded in the Sudanese tradition of nafeer (collective action), the Emergency Response Room volunteers have been vital in ensuring the provision of food, water, medicine and shelter to millions, as they are able to access dangerous, hard-to-reach areas,” said the expert.   “While these solidarity networks have been crucial lifelines since the eruption of the war, more must be done by the international community and all relevant actors, to support them, and all parties to the conflict must do more to ensure access to critical humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, medical equipment, or other vital supplies, in line with international humanitarian law,” said Bailliet. “The people of Sudan deserve to look to the future with hope, and the international community must not fail them,” she added.   http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/hundreds-sudans-community-kitchens-forced-shut-last-six-months-new-islamic-relief-research-finds http://www.wfp.org/news/joint-news-release-wfpfaounicef-risk-famine-persists-nearly-195-million-people-face-acute-food http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/02/sudan-un-expert-calls-more-support-emergency-response-rooms-volunteers   Oct. 2025   2025 Right Livelihood Award: Sudan's Grassroots Emergency Response Rooms   Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) are receiving the 2025 Right Livelihood Award for their grassroots network of mutual aid in Sudan that restores dignity to local communities and sustains millions amid the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.   Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) are a Sudanese grassroots, community-led network that has become the backbone of the country’s humanitarian response amid war, displacement and state collapse. Building on local traditions of mutual aid, ERRs operate in all 18 states, providing healthcare, food assistance, education, civilian protection and psychosocial support where many international aid organisations cannot reach. Their work has sustained millions and champions a model of humanitarian aid that offers dignity and decision-making power to local communities.   ERRs organised their first community kitchens and health services to help communities cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. When war broke out in April 2023, Sudan’s already severe humanitarian crisis became the world’s largest, and ERRs expanded to fill critical gaps left by a collapsing economy and state institutions.   ERRs are a nationwide network of over 735 Emergency Response Rooms and nearly 10,000 volunteers. Operating in all 18 Sudanese states, they provide healthcare, food, education, civilian protection and psychosocial support at a time when violence and lack of funding have forced many international organisations to scale down their presence.   By decentralising decision-making and drawing on Sudan’s tradition of nafeer—community mutual aid—ERRs have built a model of humanitarian action that puts communities themselves in charge of identifying needs and directing resources. Professionals like farmers, bankers, engineers and teachers all contribute their skills to create a solidarity economy rooted in dignity and resilience.   Despite bombardments, arbitrary arrests and the loss of over one hundred volunteers, ERRs continue to operate hospitals, run communal kitchens, organise education programmes, evacuate civilians from active war zones and support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Their efforts have saved countless lives while nurturing a culture of compassion and solidarity that lays the groundwork for Sudan’s future civil society and democratic renewal.   Right Livelihood’s jury said that ERRs were receiving the Award “for building a model of mutual aid amid war and state collapse that sustains millions of people with dignity.”   Sanosi Adam, ERRs’ External Communications Officer, said:   “Receiving the Right Livelihood Award is not only a recognition of our work, but also a tribute to the courage and sacrifice of ordinary Sudanese people who, in the face of war and neglect, chose solidarity over despair. This award belongs to the countless volunteers and communities who continue to risk everything to keep one another alive. It strengthens our resolve to carry forward our struggle for dignified aid and solidarity of the people of Sudan.”   Ole von Uexkull, Right Livelihood’s Executive Director, said:   “As Sudan endures the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) show how communities can rise to the gravest challenges, delivering aid that is dignified, effective and rooted in solidarity. In honouring ERRs, we celebrate the power of people to confront systemic crises by building just and cooperative alternatives to violence and division.”   http://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/emergency-response-rooms http://www.mutualaidsudan.org/   Sep. 2025   The Rafto Human Rights Prize 2025 is awarded to The Emergency Response Rooms of Sudan (ERRs) for their courageous work to preserve the most fundamental human right - the right to life.   The Emergency Response Rooms of Sudan are grassroot networks that emerged in the wake of the war in Sudan in 2023. They consist of thousands of volunteers who engage in collaborative, community driven efforts to meet urgent humanitarian needs of others, at great personal risk. The ERRs save lives and maintain human dignity in a place of misery and despair.   Saving lives and strengthening communities in one of the worst humanitarian crises of our times.   After the brutal war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April 2023, the Sudanese state collapsed. As a consequence, civilians have an enormous need for humanitarian assistance.   In a desperate attempt to save lives, ordinary Sudanese took matters in their own hands and formed self-help groups to offer services supporting basic life, welfare, and human dignity through Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs).   To mitigate excessive loss of life and human suffering, ERRs provide key services such as health, food, water, body retrieval and burial. They also work on monitoring, documenting, and responding to cases of sexual violence.   Sudan is now torn by death, hunger, disease, displacement and general despair. Since the outbreak of the war, more than 150 000 people have died. More than half of the country’s population –30 million people– need humanitarian assistance. 25 million face acute food insecurity. 12 million have fled from their homes.   Women and children have been disproportionally affected, including by an alarming rise in gender-based violence. In this dire situation, ERR members continue to provide life-saving mutual aid, strengthening communities and keeping a hope for a democratic Sudan alive under almost impossible conditions.   The Rafto Prize 2025 honours the Emergency Response Rooms and the thousands of individuals protecting the right to life and health, who are building hope in Sudan, at tremendous risk to their own lives.   The prize is also a recognition of the significance of their grassroot mobilization and collective effort in ensuring basic human rights in times of conflict. The need for protection of human rights and humanitarian assistance is becoming greater by the day. In these trying times, we must all stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan.   http://www.rafto.no/en/the-rafto-prize/emergency-response-rooms-of-sudan-err http://www.refugeesinternational.org/advocacy-letters/safe-passage-protection-for-civilians-under-siege-in-el-fasher/ http://www.mutualaidsudan.org/ http://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/el_fasher_emergency_loc/ http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/emergency-response-rooms-in-sudan http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2025/04/15/eight-stories-about-mutual-aid-mark-two-years-war-sudan   Aug. 2025   Children are starving to death from dehydration and malnutrition in Sudan every day - IPC, Plan International, UNICEF, agencies   In response to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on the situation of famine in Sudan, Plan International Sudan’s Country Director, Mohamed Kamal, says: “We are already seeing signs of mass starvation in camps where mothers arrive unable to feed their children and today’s IPC forecast is a grave warning the situation is only going to get worse. Our fears are becoming a reality.   “This is the worst hunger crisis is the world right now – the conflict is entering its third year and the IPC have warned the situation is expected to deteriorate dramatically between July and September, with children most at risk. 24.6 million people in Sudan face high levels of acute food insecurity with 8.1 million facing emergency levels.   “Famine was detected in 5 areas in El Fasher and the Western Nuba Mountains and these areas are particularly difficult to reach to provide humanitarian aid as the security situation is so severe here. With the impending rainy season due, travel will be further hindered which will also drive-up food insecurity levels in the months ahead.   “Children are starving to death from dehydration and malnutrition in Sudan every day. Hundreds of thousands are malnourished. A 10-year-old girl recently told us that for months her only meal has been lentil soup every day and that she dreams of fruit.   “For girls and young women, the impact is especially severe – girls often eat last and least and are at greater risk of early marriage, as families struggle to feed their children.   “The inaccessibility of safe water has led to a widespread outbreak of cholera in many parts of the country with over 32,000 suspected cases recorded this year. Cholera can be deadly for malnourished and dehydrated children.   “Last month we saw an attack on a joint UN humanitarian convoy in North Darfur in which aid workers were killed and life-saving food and nutrition supplies destroyed rather than reach starving families. It is getting increasingly hard to operate in the most at need regions.   “As the conflict continues, farming is disrupted and Sudan faces serious economic instability and high inflation which limits people’s access to food. This has been compounded with overseas aid cuts as community kitchens who relied on this money can no longer operate.   “This is the world’s largest humanitarian emergency the international community must urgently support a peaceful resolution to this conflict, which has been devastating the people of Sudan for over 2 years.”   Dr. Unni Krishnan, Global Humanitarian Director at Plan International said:   “Hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine, while tens of millions more have dangerously little to eat. Without a permanent ceasefire that allows aid to reach all parts of the country and a rapid, large-scale increase in humanitarian funding, countless more children will die from hunger and preventable disease. Now is the time to act to save lives.”   http://plan-international.org/news/2025/07/11/children-starve-famine-risk-persists-sudan/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-132/en/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Alert_Sudan_July2025.pdf http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/en/?maptype=77108 http://www.wfp.org/news/one-year-after-famine-first-confirmed-sudan-wfp-warns-people-trapped-el-fasher-face-starvation http://www.icrc.org/en/news-release/sudan-attacks-kordofan-states-hundreds-deaths-displacement-collapse-services http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/famine-tightens-grip-on-sudan-ingos-call-for-immediate-access-for-aid http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-sudan-reduced-skin-and-bones-unicef-calls-urgent-action http://www.unicef.org/sudan/press-releases/over-640000-children-under-five-risk-cholera-spreads-sudans-north-darfur-state   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/sudan-un-human-rights-chief-appalled-continued-killing-civilians-el-fasher http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/08/sudan-un-expert-concludes-official-visit-port-sudan-expressing-alarm http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/number-severely-malnourished-children-doubles-north-darfur-nutrition-crisis-deepens http://www.savethechildren.net/news/sudan-children-reveal-harrowing-violence-latest-north-darfur-mass-displacement http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/ipc-alert-famine-affected-areas-sudan http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-women-food-insecurity-and-famine-risk-sudan-gender-snapshot-21-july-2025   * IPC Child Acute Malnutrition Classification latest: http://tinyurl.com/4n25jjbz Visit the related web page
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