Event: assault on the legal profession
This event held in Warsaw, Poland, will provide an overview of the ongoing challenges human rights lawyers in the OSCE region are facing in their daily work.
A flyer for the event is available here.
Event: Advancing accountability for human rights violations and abuses in Libya
The ICJ, together with the Netherlands, Finland and Swiss missions to Geneva, OHCHR and other NGOs invite you to a panel discussion on Advancing accountability for human rights violations and abuses in Libya at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The event takes place on Friday 20 September 2019, at 15:00 – 16:30, Room XXIII, in the Palais des Nations.
With the onset of armed conflicts in Tripoli and surroundings on April 4, 2019, human rights violations and abuses have become more entrenched in Libya. There is now an urgency to discuss appropriate means to strengthen the rule of law in Libya and break the cycle of impunity prevailing in the country. The United Nations Human Rights Council can play a vital role in this process by establishing an independent international investigation into violations and abuses of human rights in Libya with a view to future accountability.
The event will be opened by Geoffrey van Leeuwen, Director for Middle East of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, moderated by Bahey Eldin Hassan, Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and feature:
–Elham Saudi, Director – Lawyers for Justice in Libya
–Ghassan Salamé, Special Representative of the Secretary-General & Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya – via video link
–Francesco Motta, Chief of OHCHR Asia, Pacific, Middle East & North Africa Branch
–Said Benarbia, Director of the Middle East & North Africa program, International Commission of Jurists
–Salah Al Marghani, Lawyer, human rights activist & former Minister of Justice for Libya
–Bruno Stagno Ugarte, Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy – Human Rights Watch
A flyer for the event is available here.
UN event: Indigenous Justice and Human Rights
The ICJ and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples are organizing a panel discussion on indigenous justice and human rights, at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva.
The event takes place Tuesday, 17 September 2019, at 13:00 – 14:30, Room VIII, in the Palais des Nations.
The event will discuss, among other aspects:
- The right of indigenous peoples to maintain their legal systems;
- The contribution of indigenous justice systems to equal access to justice, including under SDG 16;
- Indigenous justice systems and other human rights, including fair trial and rights of women and children;
- The relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous justice systems.
The panel will feature:
- Victoria Tauli Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.
- Ilaria Bottigliero, IDLO Director of Policy, Research and Learning.
- Jovita Tzul Tzul, indigenous lawyer from Guatemala.
- Matt Pollard, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser.
The event will allow for dynamic exchange between panelists and attendees, on current initiatives including: the Special Rapporteur’s report on indigenous justice systems; ICJ’s global initiative on indigenous and other traditional or customary justice systems; and IDLO’s series of publications titled ‘Navigating Complex Pathways to Justice: Engagement with Customary and Informal Justice Systems’, which aim to advance policy dialogue and distil lessons from programming and research to help realize SDG 16.
Spanish-English interpretation will be available.
A flyer in PDF format can be downloaded here: SideEvent-IndigenousJusticeandHumanRights
For more info contact un(a)icj.org
Event: Combating impunity for unlawful killings
The ICJ invites you to a discussion of new tools to assist investigation and accountability for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and other potentially unlawful deaths. The event takes place on Thursday, 12 September, 13:30, Room XVI, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
ICJ’s new Practitioners’ Guide No 14 on the Investigation and Prosecution of Unlawful Death helps legal practitioners ensure that investigation and accountability processes are implemented in accordance with international human rights law.
The Guide elaborates on the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), a set of practical standards and guidelines that was updated by former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, and published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2017.
The panel discussion will highlight key elements of the Protocol and Practitioners Guide, and their relevance to cases such as the 2016 killing of political commentator, Kem Ley, in Cambodia and the 2018 killing of Saudi Journalist, Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
Speakers
- Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (by video conference, TBC).
- Stuart Maslen, Honorary Professor, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.
- Kingsley Abbott, Senior Legal Adviser & Coordinator of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative.
Moderator
- Carolina Villadiego, ICJ Legal and Policy Adviser, Latin America
Printed copies of the ICJ’s Practitioners’ Guide No 14 on the Investigation and Prosecution of Unlawful Death will be available.
A flyer for the event is available here.
*** Room XVI is on the 5th floor of Building A, behind the Assembly Hall, accessible by the elevators at the Salle des Pas Perdus. Details here.
Event: Criminalisation of solidarity in migration – Screening of movie “The Valley”
The OHCHR, ICJ and the Geneva Bar Association invite you to a discussion on the criminalization of solidarity in migration in Europe and State’s obligations under international law.
Thursday, 27 June, 13h00,
UN Cinema (Room XIV),
Palais des Nations, Geneva
UN Cinema (Room XIV),
Palais des Nations, Geneva
The event will feature the screening of the movie “The Valley” by Nuno Escudeiro, documenting the situation of human rights defenders and migrants in South of France, with an introductory panel and a discussion session after the movie.
The Valley is a coproduction of Point du Jour (France) and Miramonte Film (Italy), and was awarded the Emerging international filmmaker at the HOT DOCS film festival, Toronto.
Panelists:
- Obiora C. Okafor, UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity
- Nuno Escudeiro, Director of The Valley
- Zia Oloumi, Lawyer at the Paris and Nice Bar, Doctor at Law
- Carolina Hernandez, OHCHR
- Massimo Frigo, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser
If you do not already have a grounds pass to access the Palais des Nations, please send your name and surname at migration@ohchr.org before the end of Sunday 23 June.
For more information contact massimo.frigo(a)icj.org
A flyer for the event is avaiable here.
Justice for Khashoggi: Enhancing the UN’s impact in ending impunity (UN event)
The ICJ joins other NGOs and UN experts in presenting a side event to the UN Human Rights Council, Thursday 27 June, 11:30am – 12:30pm, in Room VIII, Palais des Nations
Less than a week after the UN Human Rights Council adopted its most recent resolution on the safety of journalists, Saudi Arabia dispatched a hit squad to its Istanbul consulate to murder Washington Post journalist and regime critic Jamal Khashoggi.
This crime against freedom of expression shocked the world. It laid bare the chasm between the international community’s stated commitments to the safety of journalists, and the ability of UN human rights mechanisms to protect at-risk journalists, and respond quickly and effectively to support investigations into killings of journalists, and end the cycle of impunity for such attacks.
This human rights crisis is not limited to autocratic countries or nascent democracies – after several years in decline, the number of killings of journalists worldwide spiked in 2018, whilst impunity for historic cases remains troublingly high, fueling further violence. In Malta, a report by PACE Special Rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt into the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia more than 18 months ago, highlighted serious concerns over national investigations, pointing to systemic rule of law failings in the country.
As the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions, Dr. Agnès Callamard, presents the findings of her independent investigation into the killing of Jamal Khashoggi to the 41st Session of the UN Human Rights Council, join us to discuss what recent attacks on journalists have taught us about gaps in prevention, protection and prosecution, and how to enhance the UN’s response to impunity.
| Panelists | Dr. Agnès Callamard | UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions |
| David Kaye | UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression | |
| Hatice Cengiz | Fiancée of Jamal Khashoggi | |
| Pieter Omtzigt | Special Rapporteur, Council of Europe | |
| Rob Mahoney | Deputy Executive Director, Committee to Protect Journalists | |
| Yahya Assiri | Founder and Director, ALQST | |
| Moderator | Thomas Hughes | Executive Director, ARTICLE 19 |
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