The new interim Constitution unveiled on Tuesday by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) includes several provisions that place the NCPO and its agents above the rule of law, the ICJ said today.
The ICJ condemns the execution of Tan Hai Liang and Foong Chee Peng in Singapore today. By executing the two men, Singapore breaks the moratorium it has respected since 2011.
The decision of a Thai criminal court today to dismiss the habeas corpus petition on behalf Pholachi “Billy” Rakchongcharoen highlights the need for the Thai Government to launch a special investigation into his possible enforced disappearance, the ICJ said.
The Protection of Pakistan Act 2014 signed today by the President will aggravate human rights violations in the country instead of helping to protect Pakistani people from attacks by armed groups, the ICJ says.
The Nepal government should immediately fix crucial flaws in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Act, particularly those highlighted in a new United Nations evaluation, the ICJ and other rights groups said today.
The ICJ’s International Legal Adviser, Reema Omer, participated in a panel discussion on ‘Rule of Law in Bangladesh’, convened on 19 June 2014 in the margins of the Human Rights Council’s 26th regular session in Geneva.
The event was co-sponsored by the Asian Legal Resource Centre, CIVICUS, FIDH, OMCT and Human Rights Watch and was moderated by Mr Mandeep Tiwana, Head of Policy and Research for CIVICUS. Panelists included Mr Adilur Rahman Khan, Secretary of Odhikar; Mr M.D. Ashrafuzzaman, Urgent Appeals Programme Coordinator of the Asian Legal Resource Centre; Mr Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of OMCT; and Ms Reema Omer, International Legal Adviser of the ICJ’s Asia Pacific Regional Programme.
The ICJ’s intervention focussed on the incompatibility of the Bangladesh Information and Communication Technology Act 2006 (ICTA) and its 2013 amendments with international human rights law and standards. Based on the ICJ’s briefing paper on the ICTA from November 2013, and referring to recent cases, Reema Omer highlighted how the Act and its amendments amount to an assault on the freedom of expression and a stifling of public discourse. Her intervention also spoke of the judiciary’s responsibility to prevent such attacks on freedom of expression.
Bangladesh-ICT-Brief-2013 (download the ICJ’s briefing paper on the ICTA)
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