Syria - : Muhannad Al-Hassani Disbarment Signals Continuing Persecution and Intimidation of Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, (a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)), today condemned the decision of the Damascus Section of the Syrian Bar Association to prohibit lawyer and leading human rights defender Muhannad Al-Hassani from practicing law for the rest of his life. Among the grounds upon which the disbarment was ordered was that Muhannad Al-Hassani is "the President of an unauthorised organisation (the Syrian Organization for Human Rights)".

The above-mentioned organisations called on the Syrian Bar Association to seriously reconsider the charges against Muhannad al-Hassani and the decision to permanently disbar him when it hears the case on appeal.

"Legal Remedies for Corporate Participation in International Human Rights Abuses," by Justice Ian Binnie, 2009, The Brief, 38:4. ©2009 by the American Bar Association.

In this article, ICJ Commissioner, Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada, describes the progress that has been made, and that which remains to be made, in developing an acceptable legal liability framework for corporate human rights violations. In particular, Justice Binnie cites the ICJ's Expert Panel Report on Corporate Complicity and the SRSG John Ruggie's framework of "Protect, Respect, and Remedy," as important advances in defining this framework. He urges the greater development and use of both criminal and civil theories of liability for holding corporations accountable for violations. He also calls for victims who have exhausted all local remedies to have access to an international body such as the International Criminal Court.

"Legal Remedies for Corporate Participation in International Human Rights Abuses," by Justice Ian Binnie, 2009, The Brief, 38:4. ©2009 by the American Bar Association. Reprinted With permission. All rights reserved. This information or any or portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the American Bar Association, or the Section of Environment Energy & Resources.

Jailed defender of human rights awarded the Per Anger Prize 2009

This year, the prize in memory of Per Anger is being awarded to the human rights activist Brahim Dahane, defender of human rights in Western Sahara. He was nominated by the Swedish section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). Swedish Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth will be awarding the SEK 150,000 (EUR 14,500) prizemoney and the silver trophy, which weighs the same as a human heart, at a ceremony in Stockholm on 16 November. Brahim Dahane is currently incarcerated.