Oct 27, 2017 | News
Today, the ICJ expressed concern at the allegations of harassment of lawyer Shamil Magomedov following an acquittal of his client Sulntankhan Ibragimov, who had been accused of murder.
The allegations should be investigated and authorities must make clear to law enforcement officials that such intimidation and harassment is prohibited, the ICJ said.
Yesterday, the lawyer alleged that on 19 October, while he was in Moscow, a law enforcement officer visited his home in Dagestan and questioned his family members about his whereabouts and “why he complained so much to law enforcement bodies”.
The lawyer believes this is related to the acquittal of his client, Sulntankhan Ibragimov, in whose case a decision had been delivered three days before.
When the matter was raised in court, Prosecutor Magomed Aliyev claimed the law enforcement officer’s visit was routine.
The ICJ considers that in the circumstances, the visit to and questioning by a law enforcement officer of a lawyer’s family about his professional activities could only reasonably be understood as a form of intimidation or harassment.
International standards, such as the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, provide that governments must ensure that lawyers “are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference” and “shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.”
The ICJ calls on the relevant prosecutorial and law enforcement authorities to make clear to all their officials that all intimidation and harassment of lawyers, including by visiting and questioning a lawyer’s family about the lawyer’s protected professional activities, is prohibited.
Background
Shamil Magomedov, a lawyer from Dagestan, defended Sultankhan Ibragimov in a case where he was charged with the muder of Alisultan Omarov, a Greco-Roman wrestling coach, in 2015 and the murder in 2016 of Nazim Gadjiev, the leader of the “Sadval” movement.
On 16 October, the jury trial found Sultankhan Ibragimov not guilty on all accounts.
Russia-Shamil Magomedov statement-News-web stories-2017-RUS (story in Russian, PDF)
Oct 17, 2017 | News
Sir Nigel Rodley, ICJ President, fought tirelessly for human rights in a remarkable career as a jurist spanning more than five decades. You can help the creation of a documentary on his life and achievements.
Human Rights in the Picture, in close collaboration with the Human Rights Centre of Essex University and Docudon Production, hopes to create a documentary on Sir Nigel’s life story and his outstanding achievements to inspire, teach and shape new generations of students and human rights practitioners.
To make this happen, they are asking for help.
Human Rights in the Picture is raising 60.000 euros by crowdfunding in 42 days.
View the teaser of the documentary
For further details, and to make a donation, please see here: www.crowdfundingNigelRodleyfilm.org
Oct 16, 2017 | News
Today, the ICJ holds a seminar in Turkmenistan, on “Comparative perspectives on the role of lawyers”.
The event organized in Ashgabat, with support of the EU Liaison Office in Turkmenistan, provides an important opportunity to discuss the questions of organization of an independent legal profession and the ethics of lawyers in the countries of the EU and Central Asia.
“Along with judges and prosecutors, lawyers are key participants in the administration of justice. Ensuring fair trial rights is intrinsically linked with the right to legal assistance by lawyers who are able to perform their duties independently and with full respect of profession’s ethical standards,” said Temur Shakirov, ICJ Europe Programme Legal Adviser.
“To achieve this they organize themselves through associations of lawyers,” he added.
The workshop takes a comparative approach and looks into the role of lawyers in several jurisdictions, including the organisation of the legal profession as well as the professional standards for lawyers in Germany, Switzerland, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The speakers will also discuss international standards on the role of lawyers and their ethics.
Gulnora Ishankhanova, an ICJ Commissioner, will represent the ICJ along with other experts, including senior lawyers from the ICJ network.
They will present comparative national perspectives on the role of lawyers in their respective countries, placing them in the context of global and regional standards.
Representatives of lawyers’ associations in Turkmenistan will present the experience of Turkmenistan.
Oct 9, 2017 | Events, News
The ICJ, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and Amnesty International invite you today to an event to discuss challenges in prevention of, and accountability for, violations of human rights in the US-led rendition system, and in transfers of suspects in the CIS region.
Join us for a moderated discussion marking the U.S. launch of the International Commission of Jurists’ report, Transnational Injustices: National Security Transfers and International Law.
Panelists will discuss the ongoing practice of states unlawfully rendering people accused of terrorism, particularly in Russia and Central Asia, and explore the extent to which the impact of the CIA’s notorious extraordinary renditions can still be felt today.
When: Monday, October 16, 2017 – 12:45 pm to 2:15 pm
Where: Lester Pollack Colloquium Room – Furman Hall, 9th Floor, NYU School of Law – 245 Sullivan Street, New York City
RSVP here
Refreshments will be served
Speakers:
- Sam Zia-Zarifi, Secretary General, ICJ
- Róisín Pillay, European and CIS Programme Director, ICJ
- Margaret Satterthwaite, JD ’99, Professor of Clinical Law, NYU School of Law
Moderated by Julia Hall, Expert on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, Amnesty International
A flyer for this event is available in PDF format by clicking here.
Oct 4, 2017 | News
Tajikistan should take urgent action to ensure the protection of Buzurgmehr Yorov, a lawyer serving a 28-year sentence in prison, following his conviction being based on clearly improper charges related to the defense of his clients, the ICJ said today.
The ICJ is aware that Bugurgmehr Yorov has been subjected to acts amounting to torture or other ill-treatment.
The responsible authorities must ensure that such ill-treatment immediately ceases and that allegations that Buzurgmehr Yorov’s rights that have been violated are promptly and thoroughly investigated by an independent body.
Anyone responsible for violations of his rights must be held accountable and brought to justice, as required under Tajikistan law as well as international human rights treaties to which Tajikistan is a party.
Buzurgmekhr Yorov was arrested two years ago on 28 September 2015, on charges of “fraud” and “forgery of documents.”
Later, he was accused of violating three more articles of the Criminal Code, including in relation to alleged “public calls for extremist activity.”
On 6 October 2016, The Dushanbe City Court sentenced Yorov to 23 years imprisonment in a strict regime prison.
In March this year, Yorov was sentenced to an additional two years’ deprivation of liberty for “contempt of court and insulting the representative of power.”
In August 2017, he received a further three years sentence on charges of “insulting the president.”
On 27 September 27 2017, Hurinniso Ishokova, mother of Buzurgmehr Yorov, obtained permission to visit her son in a pre-trial detention facility, for the first time in nine months.
Following the visit, she alleged that her son had been systematically beaten by prison staff during the whole period of his detention, and that in the last month the beatings had intensified.
She also said that at an unspecified time during his detention Buzurgmehr Yorov had been admitted to the hospital at the pre-trial facility.
After several days of treatment, he was again sent back and the beatings by prison staff resumed.
According to his mother, these beatings were accompanied by insults, humiliation and threats. Reportedly, on three recent occasions Buzurgmkhar Yorov was placed in a punishment cell for several days.
On September 28, 2017 the head of the pre-trial facility rejected all claims that Buzurgmkhar Yorov had been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.
Background:
The ICJ has, on a number of occasions, expressed its serious concerns over the arrest and conviction of Buzurgmehr Yorov and other lawyers in Tajikistan.
The ICJ is concerned that Buzurgmehr Yorov’s conviction may constitute a reprisal for his defense work in high-profile political trials in connection with his representation of thirteen leaders of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).
See:
https://www.icj.org/tajikistan-long-prison-sentences-for-lawyers-endangers-the-fairness-of-the-justice-system/
https://www.icj.org/tajikistan-arrest-of-lawyer-raises-concern-over-reprisals-for-defense-of-clients/
https://www.icj.org/tajikistan-icj-concerned-at-arrest-of-lawyer/
Tajikistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) both of which enshrine the absolute prohibition on torture or other cruel inhuman and degrading treatment, and require that allegations of such ill-treatment should be subject to independent, thorough and prompt investigation, and that perpetrators of crimes of torture should be brought to justice.
According to UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, lawyers “shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.” (Principle 16(c)).
Yorov_statement_rus (Russian translation – pdf)
Oct 4, 2017 | Agendas, Events, News
Today starts a five-day Strategic Litigation Retreat for lawyers in Ferney-Voltaire, France organized by the ICJ-EI as part of the EU and OSI funded FAIR project.
Twenty lawyers from Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Malta and Spain will be meeting with experts and among themselves in order to strategize about their cases of access to justice for migrant children and on accessing international human rights mechanisms.
The retreat is taking place from 4 to 8 October in a close proximity to Geneva, which allows for access to UN treaty bodies experts.
The group will meet with Members of the UN Committee on the rights of the child and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and experts from the treaty bodies’ secretariat on individual complaints and on inquiries.
The participants will also have a chance to discuss litigation strategies with experts from the European Court for Human Rights, experts from civil society organizations with long-standing experience in strategic litigation, such as the AIRE Center, ICJ, DCI Belgium or Child Rights Connect.
All the participating lawyers took part in the national trainings organized, through 2016 and 2017, by the ICJ and its national partners.
The trainings were focused on the right to be heard and procedural rights of migrant children, the right to family life, economic, social and cultural rights, detention and on how to access international human rights mechanisms in order to allow for effective access to justice for migrant children.
Out of all the participants, this Strategic Litigation Retreat, brings together three selected lawyers from each of the national trainings.
In the same time, the project management group of the FAIR project, composed of national partners and Child Rights Connect will meet and will contribute to some parts of the Retreat.
The Retreat will use as a basis the draft training materials prepared by the ICJ (to be published an the end of 2017) and the ICJ Practitioners Guide no. 6: Migration and International Human Rights Law.
The FAIR project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union and OSIFE.
See more information about the national trainings on the rights of migrant children within the FAIR project here: Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta, Greece, Ireland, Germany (photo)
Download the agenda here: Universal-StrategicLitigationRetreat-News-Events-Agendas-2017-ENG
