We are survivors of state-inflicted blindness. We come from different countries, languages, and struggles. Our wounds tell the same story; our organizing builds a collective response.
Our bodies remember what governments would like to erase. Every scar is evidence. Every blinded eye, a testimony that endures. We come together to care for one another, demand justice, and put an end to this violence.
Mission
RIJO is an international federation of survivors, survivor organizations, and allied professionals dedicated to ending state-inflicted blindness and supporting those whose lives have been permanently changed by this form of violence.
MUTUAL SUPPORT - MEDICAL
We connect survivors with a network of ophthalmologists, psychologists, and other specialists who offer support in reviewing the care they are receiving, answering questions, and helping them make informed decisions, without replacing their treating teams.
MANIFESTO
Our collective voice: who we are, what we demand, and why we organize. A commitment to solidarity and the struggle for justice, reparations, and an end to state-inflicted ocular violence.
MUTUAL SUPPORT - LEGAL
We connect survivors with a solidarity network of legal professionals to review the legal support they are receiving, answer questions, and help them understand their options for seeking justice, without replacing their legal representatives.
TOOLS for the STRUGGLE
Tools to care for one another, organize, and demand justice: medical reports, studies on state-inflicted blindness, guides to forming collectives, and public outreach materials. Shared knowledge to strengthen our struggle and solidarity.
CAMPAIGNS
Actions we lead or support to end the use of weapons that blind and demand justice in individual survivors’ cases. We organize to turn solidarity into collective pressure and real change.
TESTIGO APP
A free, openly accessible tool to document cases of ocular trauma as they happen. Record the violence, preserve testimonies, and strengthen our collective response to impunity.
Founding Members:
