Mar 30, 2017 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Today, the ICJ made a submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan.
The submission brings to the attention of the members of the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the UPR issues concerning:
- Trials of civilians by military tribunals;
- Enforced disappearances;
- Torture and other ill-treatment;
- Blasphemy laws; and
- International human rights instruments.
With respect to each of the above-mentioned concerns, the ICJ calls upon the Working Group on the UPR and the Human Rights Council to make a number of recommendations to the Pakistani authorities.
Pakistan-ICJ UPR-Advocacy-non-legal submissions-2017-ENG (full text in PDF)
Mar 30, 2017 | Advocacy
The ICJ submitted information to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in advance of its review of Sri Lanka under the third cycle of the UPR mechanism during its 28th session in November 2017.
The ICJ submission focuses on concerns about Sri Lanka’s respect for its human rights obligations relating to ongoing issues of:
- Transitional justice;
- Enforced disappearance;
- Torture and other ill-treatment;
- Detention;
- Counter-terrorism; and
- Impunity.
SriLanka-UPR Submission March17-Advocacy-non legal submissions-2017-ENG (full text in PDF)
Mar 12, 2017 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ has made an oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council on a range of measures needed to ensure truth, justice, reparations and non-repetition of past violations, in Nepal.
The statement read as follows:
TRUTH, JUSTICE, REPARATION, AND GUARANTEES OF NON-RECURRENCE IN NEPAL
10 March 2017
Mr. President
Without effective measures to ensure truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, countries in situations of transition or post-conflict fail victims and put future reconciliation, peace and stability at risk. One example is Nepal.
Nepal’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Commission of Investigation on Disappeared Persons have not been effective. Changes are needed to bring their legal frameworks and operations in line with international standards and Supreme Court jurisprudence. These bodies require adequate resources. Trust-building measures including consultation processes must address the perspectives and needs of victims and for victims to feel ownership over the transitional justice process in Nepal.
Nepal must ensure prompt, independent and impartial investigation and prosecutions for serious human rights violations, including those committed during the armed conflict.
It must ensure justice and reparation for victims, including as provided for in the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation.
It must criminalize serious crimes under international law in a manner that is consistent with international law, to help prevent such violations ever occurring again.
Nepal should also issue a standing invitation to all thematic special procedures of the Council.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Nov 19, 2016 | Advocacy
Ten years after the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) ended Nepal’s bloody civil war, Nepali authorities must renew their commitment to ensure truth, justice and reparation for victims of the conflict who are still waiting for redress, the ICJ said today.
The CPA, signed by the Government of Nepal and the country’s major political parties, including the then Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on 21 November 2006, called for a credible transitional justice process that would ensure victims’ rights to truth, justice, reparation and effective remedy in accordance with Nepal’s international human rights obligations.
“The hope and promise to conflict victims towards fulfillment of their rights to truth, justice and reparation that came with the signing of the CPA and the end of the conflict ten years ago have yet to be realized,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ Asia director.
“Over the last ten years, various governments from all the different parties have blocked or hindered the transitional justice process, ignoring rulings by the Supreme Court that demanded compliance with international law and standards,” he added.
The full statement can be downloaded here:
nepal-statement-cpa-anniversary-advocacy-2016-eng (full text in PDF)
Sep 16, 2016 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
On 16 September 2016, the ICJ made a submission to the Universal Periodic Review of India.
The submission brings to the attention of the members of the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the UPR issues concerning:
- discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity;
- death penalty;
- impunity and accountability;
- freedom of speech, expression and association;
- ratification and implementation of international human rights instruments.
india-icj-upr-submission-advocay-non-legal-submission-2016-eng (full text in PDF)
Sep 15, 2016 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ, with support of the NGO the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), spoke at the UN Human Rights Council today on the continuing problem of enforced disappearances in Pakistan.
The statement was delivered during an interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
The ICJ, with support of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), welcomed the Working Group’s follow-up report on recommendations from its 2012 visit to Pakistan, and stated further as follows:
The practice of enforced disappearance has persisted and expanded since the Working Group’s visit. Previously restricted mainly to Balochistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, enforced disappearances are now a nation-wide phenomenon.
In August 2015, Zeenat Shahzadi, a Pakistani journalist, went “missing” from Lahore, a rare case of alleged enforced disappearance of a woman.
Estimates of the overall number of cases of enforced disappearance vary. The official Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has reported nearly 1,400 unresolved cases.
The HRCP, an NGO that documents human rights violations in 60 districts, has reported 370 cases of enforced disappearance since 2014.
Other NGOs claim between 5,000 to 18,000 cases. Even by the most conservative estimates, a significant number of enforced disappearances remain unresolved.
The Government has not brought perpetrators to account in even a single case of enforced disappearance. Rather than effective measures to prevent the practice or to strengthen existing accountability mechanisms, recent legislation actually facilitates enforced disappearances.
In January 2015, Pakistan empowered military courts to try civilians for terrorism-related offences. These courts have since sentenced at least 100 people to death, and at least 12 have been hanged, after grossly unfair trials without possibility of appeal to any civilian courts, including the Supreme Court.
Families allege that some of those tried had been subjected to enforced disappearance by military authorities, and military control over the proceedings leaves the family and victim without effective remedy.
Victims’ groups, lawyers, and activists working on enforced disappearance also continue to face security risks including attacks, harassment, surveillance, and intimidation.
The ICJ and HRCP commend the Working Group for its systematic follow-up, which can have a positive impact, and urge the Working Group to continue to monitor and report on the situation in Pakistan.
The statement may be downloaded in PDF format here: hrc33-oralstatement-disappearances-pakistan-15092016
