News
Advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak appointed to the Board of Trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture
The Board of Trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (Board) cooperates with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Board is responsible for developing recommendations on granting financial assistance to projects and support actions for victims of torture.
“The appointment to the Board is both an honour and a challenge,” says advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak. “I treat this nomination as an opportunity to continue the mission which is part and parcel of the advocate’s profession, namely providing support to people and facilitating enforcement of their rights,” he adds.
Mikołaj Pietrzak is a partner at the Pietrzak Sidor & Partners Law Firm and a member of the Warsaw Bar Chamber and the District Bar Council in Warsaw. He is also the chair of the Human Rights Commission at the Polish Bar Council. In 2014, he became a member of the Doughty Street Chambers with headquarters in London.
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has so far been ratified by 150 states. In the light of the Convention, torture is an international crime, its prohibition is absolute and nothing can justify its use. In spite of this fact, the rights of torture victims to compensation and rehabilitation are not fully respected. “It is often impossible due to, for example, various armed conflicts and the scale of humanitarian crises,” advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak explains.
The next session of the Board will be held in April this year.