Thailand: court delivers disappointing post-mortem inquest findings in Tak Bai incident

Thailand: court delivers disappointing post-mortem inquest findings in Tak Bai incident

The ICJ is disappointed at verdict delivered by a Thai court.

“We are disappointed at the verdict delivered today by the Songkhla Provincial Court, which found that the 78 men who were transported from Tak Bai to Ingkayuthaborihaan Army Camp in October 2004 died as a result of suffocation, without acknowledging all the factual circumstances that caused their deaths,” said Roger Normand, Asia-Pacific Director of the ICJ.

Thailand-Court delivers disappointing post-mortem inquest findings-web story-2009 (full text, PDF)

Sri Lanka: UN Rights Council must seek a renewed commitment to the rule of law by the Government

Sri Lanka: UN Rights Council must seek a renewed commitment to the rule of law by the Government

The ICJ urged the UN Human Rights Council’s special session to call on the Government of Sri Lanka to take several human rights measures.

In particular, the Government of Sri Lanka must ensure unhindered humanitarian access and assistance to the internally displaced persons (IDPs), protection of IDPs, safeguards against attacks on journalists and human rights defenders and effective accountability, including through an independent international investigation into human rights and humanitarian law violations.

The ICJ deplored that the draft resolution L.1/Rev.2, which was later adopted by vote, failed to address the most pressing concerns.

SriLanka-UNcouncil-news-2009 (full text, PDF)

 

 

Sri Lanka: the Government must urgently relieve the crisis faced by up to 280,000 internally displaced persons

Sri Lanka: the Government must urgently relieve the crisis faced by up to 280,000 internally displaced persons

The ICJ welcomes the convening of a Human Rights Council’s special session today in Geneva to address for the first time the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sri Lanka.

“The human rights and humanitarian crisis continues to unfold following the Government of Sri Lanka’s announcement last week that its military operations against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had ended and that all civilians had left the conflict zone,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists.

SriLanka-UNcouncil-IDPs-news-2009 (full text, PDF)

 

 

 

The Martin Ennals Award 2009 goes again to a human rights defender from Iran

The Martin Ennals Award 2009 goes again to a human rights defender from Iran

Emad Baghi, a leading Iranian human rights defender based in Tehran, founded the Society for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights, and has been a vigorous and outspoken opponent of the death penalty in Iran.

His campaigning includes a scholarly examination of Islamic law (shari`a) on the subject, in which he demonstrates the absence of any doctrinal requirement for maintaining capital punishment. In addition, Baghi’s inventory of death row prisoners in Iran, including juvenile offenders, has been an important resource for UN human rights bodies as well as human rights groups outside the country.

Baghi has spent four years in prison over the past decade for his campaigning against the death penalty and other rights activities. Currently out of jail, he still faces charges relating to his work for the defense of prisoners rights. Baghi suffers from serious heart and kidney ailments; in August 2008 prison physicians declared his condition critical.

Martin Ennals Award goes again to a Human Rights Defender-web story-2009 (full text, PDF)

Sri Lanka: the ICJ calls on the UN Human Rights Council to convene a special session

Sri Lanka: the ICJ calls on the UN Human Rights Council to convene a special session

“There is a continuing and acute need for the Human Rights Council to act on Sri Lanka notwithstanding a reported end of fighting between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers.”

“Even though the fighting may have dissipated, any nation’s reconstruction requires respect for international law, accountability and the rule of law principles, which today remain largely absent in the wake of this lengthy conflict,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary-General of the ICJ.

SriLanka-UNCouncilspecialsessions-news-2009 (full text, PDF)

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