Juan Méndez steps down as Special Rapporteur on Torture

Juan Méndez today steps down after six years as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. He has been a good friend to Freedom from Torture and is an honorary member of torture survivor-led activist network Survivors Speak OUT.

Juan has been a tireless human rights activist from a young age, and was tortured himself in 1975 during Argentina’s military dictatorship. As Special Rapporteur, Juan has championed torture survivors’ rights and pressurised torturing states through UN country visits and reports. He has worked to ensure that those unable to defend their rights at the national level can seek justice through international human rights mechanisms. He has also stressed that, in order to eradicate torture, public opinion must concede that torture is unequivocally illegal and immoral, rather than a necessary evil.

As Special Rapporteur, Juan has championed torture survivors’ rights and pressurised torturing states through UN country visits and reports. He has worked to ensure that those unable to defend their rights at the national level can seek justice through international human rights mechanisms.

On his work with Freedom from Torture, Juan said:

“A torture survivor’s ordeal is not complete once their torture has ended. They experience many forms of physical damage and psychological trauma. Freedom from Torture plays an essential role in ensuring survivors receive the holistic and long-term rehabilitation that they need.

"In championing a survivor-centric approach to my mandate I have drawn great inspiration from Survivors Speak OUT (SSO). The network is at the cutting edge of ensuring survivors help shape solutions to the scourge of torture. I am proud to remain a member.

“I have relied on the support of Freedom from Torture and the Survivors Speak OUT network in so many different ways and I know that my successor will be able to count on their very creative and professional expertise as well."

We thank Juan Méndez for his work and look forward to continuing to work with his replacement as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer.

Read Juan's foreword in our report The Poverty Barrier and watch Juan’s keynote address - "The case against backsliding on the torture ban" - at our Proving Torture conference last year below.