Jun 24, 2015 | Advocacy
The ICJ joined more than 100 organizations in endorsing a call before the UN Human Rights Council for accountability of US officials responsible for torture and enforced disappearances in the rendition and secret detention programmes and for reparations to be provided for the victims.
The call was made by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Centrol de Estudios Legales and Sociales, Conectas Direitos Humanos, and the Washington Office on Latin America.
The statement can be downloaded here:
USA-HRC29ShortOralStatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-ENG (short version, in PDF)
USA-HRC29StatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
USA-HRC29StatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-SPA (full text in PDF, Spanish)
USA-HRC29StatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-ARA (full text in PDF, Arabic)
Jun 21, 2015 | News
Today, one year on from the arrest and detention of human rights lawyer Yara Sallam and 22 peaceful demonstrators, the ICJ calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
On 21 June 2014, Yara Sallam, together with 22 others, was arrested and detained in the context of a peaceful demonstration in Heliopolis, Cairo.
“The Egyptian authorities must end their campaign to silence human rights defenders and all those suspected of opposing the military and the government through politically motivated prosecutions and trials,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme.
To this end, they must immediately and unconditionally release Yara Sallam and the 22 other detainees,” he added.
The demonstrators were calling for the revocation of Law No. 107 of 2013, on public meetings, processions and protests, and the release of all those detained under it.
They were forcibly dispersed by security forces and men in civilian clothes.
The ICJ has previously noted that this law is contrary to Egypt’s obligations under international law.
It imposes overly restrictive limitations on the exercise of the right to freedom of assembly and it grants sweeping powers to security forces to disperse non-violent protests, including authorizing the use of lethal force when it is not strictly necessary to protect lives, the Geneva-based organization says.
On 26 October 2014, the 23 accused were convicted by the Heliopolis Misdemeanour court and sentenced to three years in prison and three years of police monitoring on charges of, among other things, “participating in a procession of more than five people that put public safety in danger with the aim of committing the crimes of assault on people and property and influencing public authorities in their duties by using force and violence.”
Two months later, the Court of Appeal upheld the convictions, while reducing the sentence to two years imprisonment and two years of police monitoring. A challenge before the Court of Cassation is pending.
The trial of the 23 defendants violated their rights to a fair and public hearing under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a key human rights treaty ratified by Egypt in 1982.
Their lawyers were prevented from cross-examining witnesses. Members of the public, including family members, were prohibited from entering the courtroom, without any valid reason.
Further, based on its review of the case file and court judgments, the ICJ is also concerned that both courts convicted the accused in the absence of any substantial or credible evidence of the guilt of any of the 23 defendants, and without seeking to establish the personal criminal responsibility of each individual accused.
Contact:
Alice Goodenough, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +44 7815 570 834 ; e: alice.goodenough(a)icj.org
Nader Diab, Associate Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41 78 89 41 877 ; e: nader.diab(a)icj.org
Egypt-Release Yara-News-Press release-2015-Arabic (full text in PDF, Arabic)
Jun 19, 2015 | News
The ICJ today called on the Moroccan authorities to amend the draft laws on the High Judicial Council, the Conseil supérieur du pouvoir judiciaire (CSPJ), and on the Statute for Judges, to ensure their full compliance with international law and standards on judicial independence.
The ICJ called on the authorities to ensure that: the CSPJ is institutionally and organizationally independent; is exclusively competent to manage the career of judges, including the selection of trainee judges; is involved in determining the budget for the judiciary; and is empowered to administer the allocation of judicial resources.
This statement comes following the conclusion of a high-level mission to Morocco from 12 to 18 June 2015 to engage with members of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, as well as representatives of civil society, on the judicial reforms initiated by the Moroccan authorities.
“The Draft Law on the CSPJ should enhance and expand the guarantees of judicial independence provided for by the 2011 Constitution, including by ensuring that the General Inspection Service (GIS) is under the authority of the CSPJ, that the organic law on the CSPJ sets out the GIS composition, competencies, and areas of intervention, and that the CSPJ oversees all issues pertaining to judicial administration,” said Philippe Texier, ICJ Commissioner and a former judge of the French Cassation Court (photo).
During this mission, the ICJ submitted to the authorities two memos analyzing the draft laws in light of international law and standards and formulating recommendations for amendments and reform.
In particular, the ICJ called for the majority of the members of the CSPJ to be judges who are chosen by their peers, for the selection and appointment of the President and the General Prosecutor of the Cassation Court to be based on objective criteria and made through transparent procedures, and for the grounds and procedure for dismissal of members of the CSPJ to be prescribed by the Law.
The ICJ is also deeply concerned that the draft law on the Statute for Judges does not contain any provisions on the criteria and procedure for selecting trainee judges.
Under the current framework, the process of selecting trainee judges is under the effective control of the Ministry of Justice.
Furthermore, while the Draft Laws entrusts the CSPJ to draft a Code of Judicial Conduct, they do not specify that, once adopted, the Code should be the basis on which judges will be held to account professionally, the Geneva-based organization says.
“The Draft Law should be amended to set out fair and transparent procedures for selecting trainee judges, to ensure that the CSPJ is fully competent to oversee the entire selection process, and to provide for the code of ethics and judicial conduct to be established in the law as the basis on which judges will be held to account professionally, including by clearly and precisely defining disciplinary offences,” said Said Benarbia, ICJ Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.
Contact:
Theo Boutruche, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +96 170 888 961, e: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
Additional information:
The ICJ delegation was led by Mr. Philippe Texier, former judge of the French Cassation Court and ICJ Commissioner.
The delegation met with Mr. Driss Dahak, Secretary General of the Government; Mr. Abdelilah Lahkim Bennani, Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice; Mr. Mustapha Farès, First President of the Cassation Court; Mr. Mohamed Meddah, Prosecutor General of the Cassation Court; Mr. Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, President of the Chamber of Counsellors; Mr. Omar Adkhil, President of the Commission of Justice, Legislation and Human Rights of the Chamber of Counsellors; Mr. Mohamed Zerdali, President of the Commission of Justice, Legislation and Human Rights of the Chamber of Deputies; Mr. Abdellatif Chentof, President of the Judges Club; Mr. Mohamed Khadraoui, vice-President of the Amicale Hassania; and Mr. Mohamed Akdim, President of the Bar Associations of Morocco (ABAM).
Morocco-Draft Law CSPJ-News-press releases-2015-ARA (full text of statement, in PDF, Arabic)
Morocco-Memo on the CSPJ-Advocacy-Briefing paper-2015-ENG (full text of memo 1 in PDF)
Morocco-Memo on the CSPJ-Advocacy-Briefing paper-2015-ARA (full text of memo 1 in PDF, Arabic)
Morocco-Memo on Statute for Judges-Advocacy-Briefing paper-2015-ENG (full text of memo 2 in PDF)
Morocco-Memo on Statute for Judges-Advocacy-Briefing paper-2015-ARA (full text of memo 2 in PDF, Arabic)
Jun 16, 2015 | News
The ICJ deplores the decision of the Cairo Criminal Court to confirm the death sentences for over 100 persons following a grossly unfair trial.
The ICJ is calling upon the Egyptian authorities to desist from carrying out the executions and to provide an effective remedy for the human rights violations.
On 16 May, the Cairo Criminal Court had already recommended deaths sentences for more than 120 accused persons.
Today, having received the opinion of the Grand Mufti of Egypt (whose secret, non-binding opinion must be sought in all death sentence cases before they are confirmed) the Cairo Criminal Court confirmed the death sentences of more than 100 accused, including former President Mohamed Morsi and numerous other senior officials from the outlawed opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Egypt must immediately end the imposition of mass death sentences and halt all executions of all individuals sentenced to death following unfair trials,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Egyptian judges are once again contributing to egregious violations of the right to life instead of protecting against, preventing and punishing arbitrary deprivation of life,” he added.
The sentence was imposed following convictions on various charges in two separate cases, including “murder”, “carrying out acts that compromise the independence of the country”, “abduction of police officers”, “collusion with a foreign organization to carry out terrorist activities in Egypt” and “carrying heavy weapons to resist the Egyptian state”.
As previously noted by the ICJ, the trial of the convicted persons violated numerous basic fair trial guarantees.
Many of the accused were denied access to counsel during detention, with some being held incommunicado for months.
Defendants had rights of defence violated, including denial of the right to call and to cross-examine witnesses.
The accused were convicted despite a lack of substantial and credible evidence of proof beyond reasonable doubt of the individual guilt of each accused.
Furthermore, the accused will not have the opportunity to have their conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal.
Under Egyptian law decisions of felonies courts can only be challenged before the Cassation Court, which examines the proper application of the law by the lower court only and cannot review the merits of the case.
This decision is one of a string of cases in which mass death sentences have been meted out against perceived opponents of the regime. Other cases are ongoing.
The Cairo Criminal Court is currently hearing the “Ansar Beit Al Maqdis” case in which more than 200 accused are charged with serious crimes, including the murder of 50 police officers, the attempted assassination of the interior minister and espionage on behalf of the foreign organization Hamas.
According to one of the defence lawyers, the majority of the accused were held incommunicado for between four and six months and were denied access to counsel.
Information allegedly extracted using torture and other ill-treatment has been relied on as evidence in court. If found guilty, the accused could be sentenced to death.
Egypt has carried out the death sentence against at least 12 people in 2015 despite calls by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to refrain from carrying out the death penalty.
The recent issuance of mass death sentences in the country has been condemned by UN human rights experts, who called them “a profound disgrace”.
The ICJ opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances as a violation of the right to life and a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
The UN General Assembly has called repeatedly, by a large majority, for all retentionist States to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to abolishing the practice. The ICJ urges the Egyptian authorities to heed this call and desist from carrying out further executions.
Contact:
Alice Goodenough, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: 44 7815 570 834, e-mail: alice.goodenough(a)icj.org
Nader Diab, Associate Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: 41 229 793 804, e-mail: nader.diab(a)icj.org
Egypt-Morsi confirmation of sentence-News-Press release-2015-ENG (full text of press release, Arabic)
Jun 10, 2015 | News
The ICJ today welcomed the decision of a Tunisian constitutional commission declaring a new law on the High Judicial Council (HJC) to be unconstitutional
