On 28 January 2025, during Egypt’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR), 137 UN Member States...
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Egypt: At the Universal Periodic Review, States must Call on Egypt to End Egregious Human Rights Violations
Yesterday, on the occasion of Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) pre-session, the...
Lesotho: ICJ makes a submission to the Universal Periodic Review
On 11 October 2024, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) made a submission to the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in advance of its consideration of Lesotho’s human rights record during the 49th session of the UPR in April and May 2025.
Lao PDR: ICJ and its partners draw attention to concerns about the country’s human rights record in advance of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
On 11 October 2024, the ICJ filed two submissions to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on...
Cambodia: ICJ makes two submissions to the Universal Periodic Review
On 11 October 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) made two submissions to the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in advance of its review of Cambodia’s human rights record in April – May next year.
In its first submission, the ICJ draws the attention of the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the UPR to a number of serious human rights concerns in Cambodia in connection with:
- Freedom of expression; and
- The independence of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial.
In addition, in its first submission, the ICJ calls upon the Working Group and the Human Rights Council to make the following recommendations to the Cambodian authorities:
On freedom of expression
- The legislature should repeal or substantially amend legal provisions that unduly restrict the right to freedom of expression – including article 443, 453, 494 and 495 of the Penal Code and the NIG Sub-Decree – to bring them in line with international human rights law and general principles of criminal law; the proposed draft Cybercrime Law and Cybersecurity Law should be withdrawn;
- The prosecuting authorities and the judiciary should immediately cease ongoing criminal investigations, drop all existing charges and revoke or otherwise reverse criminal penalties imposed against individuals for “offences” under domestic provisions that are inconsistent with Cambodia’s obligations under international human rights law guaranteeing the rights to freedom of expression and information and under general principles of criminal law; and
- Rescind the revocation of licences and access-blocking of independent media outlets that have been carried out arbitrarily without a thorough and transparent process, and refrain from imposing any further restrictions unless the revocation or blocking decision has been undertaken following a full analysis that applies international standards concerning legality, legitimate purpose, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination, and has been authorized pursuant to an order by an independent and impartial judicial authority, in accordance with due process, and ensuring that there is a right to appeal against it.
On the independence of the judiciary and fair trial
- Safeguard, in law and in practice, the full independence and impartiality of judges and prosecutors from any form of political pressure and undue influence, including by amending the Law on the Organization of the Courts, the Law on the Statute of Judges and Prosecutors, and the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, with the aim to eliminating executive influence on the administration and functioning of the judiciary; and
- Ensure that fair trial rights are fully respected at both the investigation and trial stages in compliance with international law and standards, including the right to a public hearing, the right to defend themselves, the right to equality of arms, the presumption of innocence and the right to a public and reasoned judgment, all of which are rights guaranteed, inter alia, under the ICCPR.
The first submission on freedom of expression, independence of the judiciary and fair trial can be downloaded here.
In its second submission, made jointly with Land Watch Thai, the ICJ draws the attention of the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the UPR to human rights violations and abuses in the context of and resulting from the establishment and development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Cambodia.
In its second submission, the ICJ and Land Watch Thai call upon the Working Group and the Human Rights Council to make the following recommendations to the Cambodian authorities:
- Adopt a human rights-based approach to development projects, such as SEZs, grounded in processes and safeguards to ensure that decisions about those projects are made with adequate and meaningful consultations and genuine participation of the individuals and communities concerned, including the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, in compliance with the requirements of international law and standards;
- Ensure that business entities operating in or domiciled in Cambodia systematically conduct consultations and carry out human rights due diligence, including independent environmental impact assessments, to prevent and/or mitigate the risks of negative impacts of their operations on the exercise of human rights;
- Adopt a national action plan on business and human rights while ensuring that both the formulation and implementation processes involve all interested parties, including representatives of businesses, CSOs, indigenous peoples and the most affected communities;
- Ensure transparency by making information and documents related to large development projects, such as the SEZs, publicly available;
- Ensure that legislation protecting labour rights is effectively applied to all sectors and all workers, including by addressing the practice of engaging in short-term employment contracts as a means of bypassing various social protection laws or restricting union activities by employers;
- Ensure that workers, including in the context of SEZs, enjoy the right to just and favourable conditions of work as guaranteed by international law, and urgently investigate, prosecute, and address reports of human trafficking and forced labour in SEZs;
- Ensure that the minimum wage is applied to all sectors of the labour market and that all workers receive a minimum wage that enables them to enjoy a decent standard of living for themselves and their families;
- Ensure that all workers are able to exercise their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining without undue restrictions, intimidation, violence, harassment, or risk to their personal security or lives, as well as address barriers to registering and joining unions. To this end, revise the 2016 Trade Union Law to ensure compliance with international labour law and standards;
- Ensure that evictions are only carried out as a last resort after all other feasible alternatives have been explored, including in the context of SEZs. Procedural protections required under international human rights law should be in place before any evictions are carried out, in particular, requirements on genuine consultation, due process safeguards, provision of legal remedies, compensation and adequate alternative housing. Such protections should also be explicitly guaranteed in the Land Law and the Anukret (Sub-Degree) No. 148, as well as other domestic legal and institutional frameworks to prevent forced evictions; and
- Ensure that effective, prompt and accessible judicial and non-judicial remedies are provided to those who are affected by the implementation of large development projects, including SEZs.
The second submission on SEZs can be downloaded here.
Vietnam: ICJ makes submission to the Universal Periodic Review
On 11 October 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) made a submission to the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in advance of its review of Vietnam’s human rights record in April – May next year.
In its submission, the ICJ draws the attention of the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the UPR to a number of serious human rights concerns in Viet Nam in connection with:
- Freedom of expression;
- The death penalty; and
- The independence of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial.
In addition, in its submission the ICJ calls upon the Working Group and the Human Rights Council to make the following recommendations to the Vietnamese authorities:
On freedom of expression
- The legislature should repeal or substantially amend legal provisions that unduly restrict the right to freedom of expression – including articles 117 and 331 of the Penal Code, Law on Cybersecurity, Decree 53, and Decree 72 – to bring them in line with international human rights law; and the proposed enactment of a new Decree 72 should be shelved;
- The prosecuting authorities and the judiciary should immediately cease ongoing criminal investigations, drop all existing charges and revoke or otherwise rescind criminal penalties imposed against individuals for alleged violations of domestic provisions, particularly with respect to domestic criminal provisions that are inconsistent with general principles of criminal law and Viet Nam’s obligations under international human rights law, including those guaranteeing the rights to freedom of expression and information;
- The government should refrain from restricting or blocking online content unless the blocking decision has been undertaken following a full analysis that applies international standards concerning legality, legitimate purpose, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination, and has been authorized pursuant to an order by an independent and impartial judicial authority, in accordance with due process with the express guarantee of the right to appeal.
On the death penalty
- Halt all impending executions of individuals and commute their sentences; impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to abolishing capital punishment;
- Ensure that there is sufficient transparency with respect to the death penalty, including through making sure that essential information relevant to a specific planned execution be promptly provided to death row prisoners and their families, and making publicly available information regarding death sentences, notifications and executions.
On the independence of the judiciary and fair trial
- Take immediate steps to safeguard, in law and in practice, the full independence and impartiality of the judiciary from any form of political pressure and influence, and ensure transparent and impartial processes for appointments to the judiciary;
- Ensure that the right to a fair trial be fully respected at the investigation and trial stages in compliance with international law and standards, including through guaranteeing the right to legal assistance pending trial, the right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of a defence, the right to a public hearing, the presumption of innocence, the right to defence, and the right to equality of arms;
- In relation to cases where there have been allegations of ill-treatment, initiate prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all credible allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and, when warranted by the evidence, bring the perpetrators to justice; provide victims with access to an effective remedy and reparation; and
- Cease the use of arbitrary criminal investigations against lawyers aimed at impairing their legitimate work as human rights lawyers and their right to freedom of expression. In addition, consistent with the ICCPR and UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, take all necessary measures to ensure the free exercise of the legal profession, in all circumstances, so that lawyers may exercise their legitimate professional rights and discharge their duties towards their clients and the courts without fear of reprisals and free from all undue restrictions, including harassment through abusive legal proceedings.
The submission can be downloaded here.
China: International Commission of Jurists and its partner make submission to the Universal Periodic Review
On 18 July 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Extra-Territorial Obligation Watch Coalition (ETO Watch Coalition) filed a joint submission to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) ahead of its review of China’s human rights record in early 2024.
Malaysia: ICJ makes submission to the Universal Periodic Review
On 18 July 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) made a submission to the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in advance of its review of Malaysia’s human rights record early next year.
Tunisia: ICJ urges the authorities to halt attacks on the rule of law and address the concerns raised during the Universal Periodic Review
The ICJ calls on the Tunisian authorities to accept the recommendations made by various UN Member States during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), and urgently address the acute rule of law crisis in the country.
ICJ submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Tunisia highlights worrying recent developments
On 30 March 2022, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) made a submission to the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, addressing worrying developments in Tunisia and proposing appropriate recommendations.
India: ICJ’s submission to the Universal Periodic Review highlights concerns about the death penalty, impunity and more
Ahead of the 41st Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November, the International Commission of Jurists made a submission to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on the UPR of India.
Moldova: ICJ Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has made a submission to the Human Rights Council’s (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Moldova.
Thailand: joint submissions by ICJ and its partners to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
On 25 March 2021, the ICJ filed two submissions to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) ahead of the review of Thailand’s human rights record in November 2021.
For this particular review cycle, the ICJ made two joint UPR submissions to the Human Rights Council.
In the joint submission by ICJ and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), the organizations provided information and analysis to assist the Working Group on the UPR to make recommendations addressing various human rights concerns that arise as a result of Thailand’s failure to guarantee, properly or at all, a number of civil and political rights, including with respect to:
- Constitution and Legal Framework: concerning the 2017 Constitution that continues to give effect to some repressive orders issued by the military junta after the 2014 coup d’état, the Emergency Decree, the Martial Law, and the Internal Security Act;
- Freedom of Expression and Assembly: concerning the use of laws that are not human rights compliant and, as such, arbitrarily restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, in the context of the Thai government’s response to the pro-democracy protests and, purportedly, to COVID-19; and
- Right to Life, Freedom from Torture and Enforced Disappearance: concerning the resumption of death penalty, the failure to undertake prompt, thorough and impartial investigations, and to ensure accountability of those responsible for the commission of torture, other ill-treatment and enforced disappearance, and the failure, to date, to enact domestic legislation criminalizing torture, other ill-treatment and enforced disappearance.
In the second, joint submission by ICJ, ENLAWTHAI Foundation and Land Watch Thai, the organizations provided information and analysis to assist the Working Group to make recommendations addressing various human rights concerns that arise as a result of Thailand’s failure to guarantee, properly or at all, a number of economic, social and cultural rights, including with respect to:
- Human Rights Defenders: concerning threats and other human rights violations against human rights defenders, and the restrictions on civil society space and on the ability to raise issues that the government deems as criticism of its conduct or that it otherwise disfavours;
- Constitution and Legal Framework: concerning the continuing detrimental impact of the legal framework imposed since the 2014 coup d’état on economic, social and cultural rights;
- Community Consultation: concerning the lack of participatory mechanisms and consultations, as well as limited access to information, for affected individuals and communities in the execution of economic activities that adversely impact local communities’ economic, social and cultural rights;
- Land and Housing: concerning issues relating to access to land and adequate housing, reports of large-scale evictions without appropriate procedural protections as required by international law, and the denial of the traditional rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and natural resources; and
- Environment: concerning the widespread and well-documented detrimental impacts of hazardous and industrial wastes on the environment, the lack of adequate legal protections for the right to health and the environment, and the effectiveness of the environmental impact assessment process set out under Thai laws.
The ICJ further called upon the Human Rights Council and the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review to recommend that Thailand should take various measures to immediately cease all aforementioned human rights violations; ensure adequate legal protection against such violations; ensure the rights to access to justice and effective remedies for victims of such violations; and ensure that steps be taken to prevent any future violations.
Download
UPR Submission 1 (PDF)
UPR Submission 2 (PDF)
Singapore: ICJ Submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
On 12 October 2020, the ICJ made a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of the Human Rights Council’s review of Singapore in May 2021.
In its submission, the ICJ expressed concern about the following issues:
(i) Freedom of expression online;
(ii) The death penalty;
(iii) Corporal punishment; and
(iv) International human rights instruments.
The ICJ further called upon the Human Rights Council and the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review to recommend that Singapore ensure, in law and in practice, the right to freedom of expression online, the right to life and the absolute prohibition against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and become a party to core international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as well as the existing Optional Protocols to some of these treaties.
The submission is available in PDF here.
Nepal: ICJ Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
Today, the ICJ submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) ahead of the review of Nepal’s human rights record in January-February 2021.
In the submission, the ICJ, Advocacy Forum – Nepal (AF), Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance (THRD Alliance) & University of Passau, provided information and analysis to assist the Working Group to make recommendations to the Government of Nepal to take measures to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment; to implement a human rights compliant legal framework for accountability and remedy and reparation for victims; and institute other measures to comply with its international obligations, including ratification of international human rights instruments.
In light of the concerns set out above, the ICJ, AF and THRD Alliance call upon the UPR Working Group and the Human Rights Council to recommend the following to Government of Nepal:
- Ensure that the law criminalizing torture is consistent with international law, through the passage of an anti-torture law, and/or through amendment to the current Penal Code, including that the:
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- Definition of torture in national law is in line with the CAT and other international treaty provisions;
- Statutory limitation or prescription periods for the filing of complaints or cases of torture or other ill- treatment be removed;
- Penalties for torture are commensurate to the gravity of the offence;
- Definition of reparation encompasses restitution, compensation, rehabilitation (including medical and psychological care, as well as legal and social services), and guarantees of non-repetition;
- Independent mechanisms for the regular monitoring of places of detention are established, or existing mechanisms adequately supported.
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- Ensure that all allegations of torture are registered, investigated and prosecuted by an independent and impartial investigative body;
- Ensure that all detainees have access to legal representation;
- Collect and publicize data on allegations of torture and ill-treatment, including prosecutions and any measures, including disciplinary measures, taken against perpetrators;
- Establish an independent police service commission or equivalent body to ensure fair and transparent appointment, promotion, transfer of police officers and to oversee disciplinary complaints against the police;
- Establish a consistent system of documentation in each police station and at any detention facilities, in particular, concerning the entry into and release of detainees from custody, as well as the procedure during interrogations;
- Systematize human rights education and training in police training programmes, including medico-legal training (based on Istanbul Protocol);
- Ensure that victims are adequately involved in criminal proceedings, in accordance with international standards developed for this purpose;
- Ratify OPCAT and establish a national preventative mechanism that complies with its requirements; become a party to other core human rights treaties to which Nepal is not yet a party;
- Accept the requests to visit Nepal from UN special procedures, including the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.
Download
Nepal-UPR-Submission-2020-ENG (PDF)
Contact
Frederick Rawski, ICJ Asia and Pacific Regional Director, e: frederick.rawski(a)icj.org
ICJ submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Lebanon
The ICJ filed a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of its review of Lebanon’s human rights record between January and February 2021.
Information provided in the submission was based on a number of recent ICJ publications, including on the independence of the judiciary; military courts; gender-based violence; and a forthcoming publication on the human rights of refugees and migrants in Lebanon.
In the submission, the ICJ drew the attention of the Working Group to the following concerns with respect to Lebanon:
- The independence of the judiciary and the use and jurisdiction of military courts;
- The obstacles that continue to impede women’s and girls’ access to justice for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV); and
- The inadequate framework and practices undermining migrants’ and refugees’ rights.
The ICJ called on the Working Group and Human Rights Council to urge the Lebanese authorities to take the following actions:
With regard to the independence of the judiciary and the use and jurisdiction of military courts:
- End executive control and undue influence over the judiciary, including by divesting the Minister of Justice of any role in the selection, appointment, promotion, transfer, secondment or any other aspects of the management of the career of judges;
- Ensure that the High Judicial Council is independent from the executive, including by amending its composition to ensure that the majority of members are judges elected by their peers, and that it is pluralistic, gender and minority representative, competent to decide on all issues relating to the career of judges, and empowered to uphold the independence of the judiciary;
- Ensure that military courts have no jurisdiction to try civilians, and that such jurisdiction is restricted to military personnel over alleged breaches of military discipline or ordinary crimes not involving the commission of human rights violations, to the exclusion of human rights violations and crimes under international law.
With regard to women’s access to justice for SGBV:
- Repeal all discriminatory provisions against women, particularly those in the Criminal Code, the Nationality Code and Personal Status Laws;
- Adopt a unified civil Personal Status Law for all religious groups, where all customs discriminating against women and girls are overridden in accordance with article 2(f) of CEDAW; and ensure that issues related to divorce, inheritance and custody are adjudicated before ordinary courts consistent with international standards;
- Amend Law No. 293/2014 on the protection of women and other family members from domestic violence (Law No. 293/14) and the Criminal Code to ensure that it criminalizes all forms of SGBV, including by properly defining rape as a type of sexual assault characterized by a physical invasion of a sexual nature without consent or under coercive circumstances, and ensure that marital and all other acts of rape be criminalized; and, to this end, abolish provisions of Law No. 293/14 providing for a religion-based claim to marital rights;
- Amend the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and Law No. 293/14 to include gender-sensitive investigations and evidence-gathering procedures in order to enable women to report violence against them, and take effective steps to address the social and practical factors that continue to impede women’s access to justice, such as gender-based stereotypes and prejudices that operate in society and in the justice system;
- Remove obstacles related to gender stereotypes, economic and social realities that continue to impede access to justice in SGBV cases, including by ensuring that where law enforcement officers fail to ensure an effective investigation into an incident of SGBV, their omissions be actionable as a breach of their duties and subject to disciplinary measures as appropriate;
- Provide routine capacity building training to justice sector actors on the application of international human rights law, including CEDAW and related jurisprudence.
With regard to the treatment of refugees and migrants:
- Become a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and pass legislation to adequately protect the human rights of refugees, asylum seekers, stateless people and migrants, in compliance with Lebanon’s international obligations;
- Amend the 1962 Law on the Entry, Stay in and Exit from Lebanon (Law 1962) to ensure full compliance with these obligations, and that people entitled to international protection, chiefly refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless individuals, are not penalized, automatically arrested or deported for their “illegal” entry and stay in the country;
- Ensure that no individual is deprived of their liberty solely on the grounds of their immigration status, and, to this end, amend articles 32 and 36 of Law 1962; until then, provide automatic, periodic judicial review of the lawfulness, necessity and proportionality of any immigration-related detention;
- Strictly comply with Lebanon’s non-refoulement obligations, including by ensuring that no individual is transferred to a country where they face a real risk of persecution or other forms of serious harm; that nobody is forcibly returned without an individualized, fair and effective procedure guaranteeing due process; and by establishing a moratorium on all removals to Syria.
Lebanon-UPR Submission-Advocacy-Non Legal submission-2020-ENG (full submission, in PDF)
Universal Periodic Review of the USA: ICJ and other groups make submission
Today, the ICJ, jointly with the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) and REDRESS, made a submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States of America.
The joint submission focusses on the United States’ longstanding failure to:
(1) provide effective remedy and redress, including medical care, and
(2) guarantee fair trials to the “High Value Detainees” who are still held in Guantánamo, including Mr. Mustafa al Hawsawi.
Through a system of classifications, isolation, detention and counter-terrorism related policies the United States’ government is preventing a category of victims of torture and other ill-treatment from obtaining redress, fair trials and is securing impunity for perpetrators, contrary to recommendations in the previous UPR cycles.
For 18 years, the United States government has been violating numerous international human rights treaties it has ratified, first and foremost the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Such violations deserve serious attention in the upcoming UPR review.”
USA-UPR Review-Advocacy-non-legal submissions-2019-ENG (submission in PDF)
ICJ and Defender Center for Human Rights submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Libya
Today, ICJ and the Defender Center for Human Rights (DCHR) filed a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of its review of Libya’s human rights record in May 2020.
Information provided in the submission was based on the ICJ report titled Accountability for Serious Crimes under International Law in Libya: an Assessment of the Criminal Justice System, published in July 2019.
In the submission, the ICJ and DCHR drew the attention of the Working Group on the UPR to the following concerns with respect to Libya:
- Impunity for crimes under international law committed by State and non-State actors;
- The insufficient penalization of crimes under international law;
- The lack or inadequacy of investigations and prosecutions of crimes under international law;
- The systemic failure to guarantee the right to liberty and fair trial rights at pre-trial and trial stages.
The ICJ and DCHR called on the Working Group and the Human Rights Council to urge the Libyan authorities to take the following actions:
With regard to insufficient penalization of crimes under international law:
- Enact laws criminalizing war crimes, crimes against humanity and arbitrary deprivations of life (in particular arbitrary and summary executions) in line with international law;
- Amend Law No. 10 of 2013 to bring the definition of torture in line with the Convention Against Torture and the definition of enforced disappearance in line with the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and criminalize other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment consistent with international law;
- Amend article 425 of the Penal Code to include a definition of the crime of slavery consistent with international law;
- Amend articles 407 and 408 of the Penal Code to criminalize rape in line with international law and standards; enact laws criminalizing all forms of sexual and gender-based violence; and repeal article 424 of the Penal Code which extinguishes a conviction for rape or indecent assault and grants a stay of execution of the penalty imposed against the perpetrator if they marry the victim; and
- Amend (or repeal) Law No. 35 of 2012, Law No. 38 of 2012 and Law No. 6 of 2015 to exclude all crimes under international law from the scope of amnesties.
With regard to the obligation to independently and impartially investigate crimes:
- Amend article 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) to remove the requirement that an investigation can only be commenced upon the receipt of a criminal complaint, extend the three-month deadline for victims to file a complaint and remove the deadline entirely for crimes under international law and for other serious crimes under domestic law;
- Amend article 7 of the CCP to grant victims’ family members the right to file a complaint with a view to ensuring the commencement of an investigation;
- Repeal article 224 of the Penal Code to remove the power of the Minister of Justice to control and direct investigations and prosecutions by the Prosecutor’s Office; and
- Repeal Decree 388 of 2011 granting the “Supreme Security Committee” investigative powers and article 2 of Law No. 38 of 2012 permitting the use of information and evidence collected by “revolutionaries” during investigations and at trial.
With regard to the systemic failure to guarantee the right to liberty and fair trial rights at pre-trial and trial stages, amend the CCP in order to:
- Exclude the possibility of detaining an accused on the sole ground that she or he does not have a fixed place of residence;
- Set a maximum duration of pre-trial detention, and specify that any such detention should be employed as last resort only when necessary, proportionate and reasonable according to the circumstances of the case;
- Ensure that detainees are brought before an independent and impartial judicial authority promptly following arrest, and no later than 48 hours in any event;
- Include a provision recognizing the right to habeas corpus, and the right to compensation and other reparations for unlawful detention;
- Provide for the right to legal counsel from the moment of arrest in all circumstances, and repeal the provision requiring a lawyer to seek authorization from the investigating judge to speak during the interrogation of the accused;
- Require the disclosure of all evidence to the accused and allow them to make copies of the case file before a case is referred to court for prosecution; and
- Grant individuals the right to appeal any conviction and sentence on alleged errors of law and fact and to reconsideration of a conviction upon discovery of a new fact.
Download
Libya-UNHCR submission final-advocay-non legal submission-2019-ENG (submission in PDF)
Turkey: ICJ Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
Today, the ICJ filed a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of its review of Turkey’s human rights record in January 2020.
In its submission, the ICJ considered:
- the situation with the independence of the judiciary in Turkey, during and after the state of emergency of 2016-2018;
- the lack of effective remedies for the mass dismissals in the public sector occurred in that period;
- the shortcomings in fair trial rights in the criminal justice system:
- the obstacles to the action of civil society;
- the lack of accountability for torture and enforced disappeareances; and
- provided information on the status of international human rights treaties ratified by Turkey.
Contact:
Massimo Frigo, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser, e: massimo.frigo(a)icj.org
Full submission in English (PDF) : Turkey-UPR-Advocacy-non-legal submissions-2019-ENG
ICJ’s submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Kazakhstan
Today, the ICJ filed a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of its review of Kazakhstan’s human rights record in October-November 2019.
In its submission, the ICJ considered the situation with the independence of the legal profession in Kazakhstan and provided information on the status of international human rights treaties ratified by Kazakhstan.
The ICJ called on the Human Rights Council and the Working Group to recommend Kazakhstan:
• to amend the current legislation to ensure that representatives of the executive, such as the Ministry of Justice, are not included in the disciplinary bodies of the legal profession;
• to amend the current legislation to ensure that the qualification procedures are fully governed by the legal profession in Kazakhstan in line with international law and standards on the role of lawyers; in particular, the Qualification Commissions should be bodies of the Bar Association while their composition should predominantly consist of lawyers delegated by the Bar Association itself;
• to ensure that as the main stakeholder in any reforms affecting the legal profession, the Bar Association participates in such reforms in a meaningful way;
• to take effective measures to prevent further interference by the executive and law enforcement bodies in the exercise of lawyers’ professional duties, in particular prevent the practice of bringing disciplinary complaints against lawyers solely for their defence of their clients or legitimate exercise of their right of freedom of expression;
• to ensure that the right of lawyers to freedom of expression is respected, especially in regard to matters of public interest and law.
Furthermore the ICJ suggested:
• To ratify the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court.
• To ratify the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families as well as the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on civil and Political Rights.
Kazakhstan-ICJ UPR 2019-Advocacy-Non legal submissions-2019-ENG (full text of submission, in PDF)
ICJ and Adalah submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Egypt
Today, the ICJ and Adalah for Rights and Freedoms (Adalah) filed a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of its review of Egypt’s human rights record in November 2019.
In their submission, the ICJ and Adalah drew the the attention of the Working Group on the UPR to the following concerns:
- arbitrary arrests and detentions and systematic use of pre-trial detention;
- the systematic use of torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance;
- the imposition of death penalty following unfair trials; and
- the politicization of the judiciary and the use of courts as a tool of repression.
The ICJ and Adalah called on the Working Group and the Council to urge the Egyptian authorities to :
- End the practice of holding detainees incommunicado;
- End all other forms of arbitrary detention;
- Comprehensively reform the pre-trial detention framework, including by ensuring that resort to it is exceptional, and that such detention may be ordered only when it is determined on the basis of evidence that it is necessary, proportionate and reasonable in the circumstances of the individual case;
- Ensure that pre-trial detention is not mandatory for all individuals charged with a particular category of felony or misdemeanor, or based on the potential sentences for the offences alleged;
- Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED);
- Enact a crime of enforced disappearance in the Egyptian Criminal Code consistent with article 2 of the CED;
- Amend article 126 of the Criminal Code with a view to enacting a crime of torture consistent with article 1 of the CAT;
- Accept independent monitoring of detention facilities by allowing independent observers immediate access to detainees and prisoners, and to that end, accede to the Optional Protocol to the CAT;
- Implement all the recommendations of the CAT following its article 20 inquiry;
- Amend Egyptian law and abolish the use of the death penalty;
- Pending abolition, implement an immediate moratorium on all executions and on the imposition of capital punishment, including in cases of involving intentional killings;
- Pending abolition, ensure that proceedings in death penalty cases conform to the highest standards of judicial independence, competence and impartiality, and strictly comply with all fair trial rights;
- Pending abolition, ensure that the right to appeal in death penalty cases include review of both the factual and the legal aspects of the case by a higher ordinary, independent and impartial tribunal;
- Pending abolition, provide for the right of individuals convicted in death penalty cases to seek a pardon, commutation of sentence or clemency.
- Ensure that all convictions in death penalty cases that followed unfair trails are quashed;
- End Executive interference in judicial affairs;
- Limit the jurisdiction of military courts to trials of military personnel only for breaches of military discipline; and
- Abolish Emergency State Security Courts.
Egypt-Adalah_ICJ UPR-Advocacy-Non Legal Submissions-2019-ENG (full text of submission, in PDF)
Turkey: workshop on the use of the UN Universal Periodic Review
Today begins in Ankara (Turkey) a one-day workshop for lawyers and CSO practitioners on the use and strategies of UPR mechanisms.
This event is organized by ICJ, in cooperation with its partners Kapasite Geliştirme Derneği and Human Rights Joint Platform, as part a/the EU co-financed project Rebuilding and Ensuring Access to justice with civil society in Turkey.
20 lawyers and civil society practitioners are taking part in the workshop on 15 December in Ankara.
The workshop aims at discussing the functioning of the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council in which all States undergo periodically a peer-review of their human rights situation by other States. Turkey is set for its third cycle of examination in 2019
The main thematic areas to be discussed will be access to justice in Turkey, the situation of the judiciary and the rule of law, and the protection of womens’ rights.
The project is funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) of the European Union.
Turkey-Training-Agenda-UPR-Ankara-2018-tur (download the agenda in Turkish)
Turkey-Training-Agenda-UPR-Ankara-2018-eng (download the agenda in English)
Cambodia: ICJ submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Cambodia
Today, the ICJ filed a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of its review of Cambodia’s human rights record in January/February 2019.
In its submission, the ICJ expressed concern about the following issues:
(1) Misuse of the law under the false pretext of the ‘rule of law’; and
(2) Lack of an independent and impartial judiciary.
The ICJ further called upon the Human Rights Council and the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review to recommend to the Cambodian authorities to:
(i) Repeal or amend domestic laws to bring them in line with Cambodia’s international human rights obligations;
(ii) Repeal or amend domestic laws to ensure the independence of the judiciary and remove excessive powers granted to members of the Executive branch;
(iii) Abolish government-issued regulations or directives that contravene human rights protected under international human rights law;
(iv) Halt efforts to bring into force legislation drafted with the purpose of – or in any event –violating rights protected under international human rights law;
(v) End the prosecution of individuals on so-called lèse-majesté charges under the Cambodian Criminal Code and release individuals detained in connection with them;
(vi) End all use of legislation as a tool of harassment, intimidation or silencing of members of the political opposition, civil society, critical media, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and/or individuals;
(vii) Release all prisoners currently imprisoned or detained on politically motivated charges;
(viii) Uphold the right to fair trial of all persons, including of detained persons;
(ix) Take necessary measures to hold to account perpetrators of harassment, intimidation and violence against members of the political opposition, civil society, critical media, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and/or individuals for the legitimate exercise of their fundamental freedoms;
(x) Take necessary measures, in law and in practice, to guard against legal harassment of lawyers, prosecutors and judges on the basis of the political affiliations or agendas of their clients.
Contact
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser, e: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
Full submission in English (PDF) : Cambodia-UPR-Advocacy-Non legal-submission-July-2018-ENG
Cambodia: ICJ presents at workshop on the Universal Periodic Review of Cambodia
On 12 and 13 March 2018, the ICJ participated in and presented at a workshop for Cambodian civil society on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The workshop was organized by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), UPR Info and the Cambodia Country Office of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
This workshop aimed to prepare participants ahead of the deadline for civil society submissions to the UPR in July 2018.
The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) will undergo the third cycle of its UPR in January 2019.
The objectives of the workshop were to:
- 1. Introduce the UPR to newcomers, identifying where the UPR fits within the UN’s human rights framework and demonstrating how civil society organizations (CSOs) can utilize the UPR to further their human rights objectives;
- 2. Share experiences of national stakeholders in the UPR process and discuss developments since the second cycle and priorities for the third cycle;
- 3. Learn from the experiences of CSOs in the region on developing UPR CSO submissions;
- 4. Provide technical training regarding the drafting of UPR CSO submissions;
- 5. Establish thematic groups to begin developing joint submissions and establish a timeline for the drafting process.
On 12 March 2018, Kingsley Abbott, Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia for the ICJ, delivered a presentation on submissions drafting and advocacy techniques for the UPR and also spoke about the experiences of CSOs in Thailand in developing UPR CSO submissions.
Contact
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, e: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org