Apr 17, 2012 | Advocacy, Cases, Legal submissions
The ICJ and Amnesty International presented a third party intervention in the case El Masri v. the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.
In the third party intervention, the ICJ and AI outlined developments on the principle of non-refoulement, on enforced disappearances, on the international law of state responsibility and on the right to truth.
Macedonia-written submission-legal submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Apr 16, 2012 | Advocacy, Analysis briefs
The ICJ and other NGOs delivered a joint statement at the UK Brighton Conference on the Reform of the European Court of Human Rights.
Amnesty International, the AIRE Centre, the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR), the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR), Human Rights Watch, INTERIGHTS, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), JUSTICE, Open Society Justice Initiative and REDRESS jointly delivered a statement on their views on the declaration on reform of the European Court of Human Rights under negotiation at Brighton (UK) under the UK Presidency of the Council of Europe.
Europe-Brightondeclaration-jointstatement-2012 (download the joint statement)
Apr 16, 2012 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Under the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the UPR will be undertaking a review of Sri Lanka during its 14th session.
In a submission to the Working Group, the ICJ has focused on the discrete issues of:
- the failure of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and previous national commissions of inquiry to hold accountable those responsible for serious human rights violations;
- the systemic barriers affecting the efficacy of the habeas corpus writ as legal remedy for arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance;
- the ongoing detention of Sri Lankans in “rehabilitation camps” and the lack of any independent monitoring mechanism;
- Sri Lanka’s failure to implement witness protection measures;
- Sri Lanka’s failure to properly incorporate the Convention Against Torture into domestic law; and
- Sri Lanka’s party status to international human rights instruments and its cooperation with the UN treaty bodies and the Council’s Special Procedures.
Sri Lanka-ICJ submission UPR-non-judicial submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Sri Lanka-Comparison second cycle-advocacy-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Apr 13, 2012 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Under the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the UPR will be undertaking a review of the Republic of Korea during its 14th session.
In a submission to the Working Group, the ICJ has focused on the discrete issues of the implementation by South Korea of its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and its party status to international human rights instruments and its cooperation with the UN treaty bodies and the Council’s Special Procedures.
Korea-ICJ submission UPR-non-judicial submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Korea-Comparison second cycle-advocacy-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Apr 11, 2012 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Under the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the UPR will be undertaking a review of Guatemala during its 14th session.
In a submission to the Working Group, the International Commission of Jurists has focused on the discrete issues of:
- lack of independence of the judiciary;
- impunity for gross human rights violations committed during the armed conflict;
- lack of access to justice for indigenous people and impunity for human rights violations against them;
- abolition of the death penalty; and
- Guatemala’s party status to international human rights instruments and its cooperation with the UN treaty bodies and the Council’s Special Procedures.
Guatemala-ICJ submission UPR-non-judicial submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Guatemala-Comparison second cycle-advocacy-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Mar 30, 2012 | Advocacy
During the 19th session of the Human Rights Council, the ICJ made an oral statement during the Council’s consideration and adoption of the outcome document in the Universal Periodic Review of Zimbabwe.
The statement focussed on the lack of human rights protection and respect for the rule of law in the country, particularly as this affects lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders more broadly, and called on the Government of Zimbabwe to halt the repression of legitimate peaceful protests and undertake reforms necessary for the conduct of independent and effective investigations into gross human rights violations and crimes under international law.
Zimbabwe-oral intervention UPR-advocacy-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
