Sep 4, 2023 | News
We, nine international human rights organizations, have grave reservations about the Sri Lankan government’s proposed National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. Our concerns echo many of those already raised by victims of conflict-related abuses and their families. Sri Lanka has a long history of convening similar bodies, none of which has provided justice, truth or reparation to the many people who have engaged with them. The latest initiative risks repeating the mistakes of the past, exposing victims to renewed security threats and re-traumatization without any realistic chance of a different outcome. There have not been any genuine confidence-building measures, or steps to ensure a safe and conducive environment for such a commission to function effectively.
Sep 1, 2023 | Advocacy, News
Escalating Attacks on Free Expression
Lebanese authorities’ arrest and investigation of prominent comedian Nour Hajjar, solely in retaliation for his jokes, represents a new escalation in Lebanon’s crackdown on public criticism, the Coalition to Defend Freedom of Expression in Lebanon said today.
Aug 30, 2023 | News
The ICJ expressed concern about attacks on the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka under cover of parliamentary privilege.
On 22 August 2023, Sarath Weeresekera, a former Minister and a Member of Parliament belonging to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the country’s ruling political party, made an inflammatory speech with racist undertones in Parliament, referring to T. Saravanaraja, the Mullaitivu Court’s Magistrate repeatedly as “a mentally ill person”, and criticizing a court order Judge Saravanaraja had made, while making personal remarks about him, including a mention of his wife. Judge Saravanaraja has been the target of this invective following an order he made upholding the right of religious worship of Hindu devotees at a Hindu shrine on Kurundur Hill, a contested religious site in the North of the country.
Aug 30, 2023 | Advocacy, News
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the ICJ denounces Egypt’s widespread and systematic resort to enforced disappearance to crackdown on dissidents, and calls on the Egyptian authorities to:
As part of its campaign, “Stop Enforced Disappearance,” launched on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30 August 2015, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms has published annual reports on enforced disappearances in Egypt since 2015. Over the course of seven years, the campaign has documented the enforced disappearance of 3,088 people from the headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA) and other official and unofficial detention sites. The campaign has also monitored the phenomenon’s patterns over the same period, showing that its practice is systematic and widespread.
Aug 21, 2023 | Attacks on Justice, News
البيان باللغة العربية على هذا الرابط
On August 21, Judge Anas Hmedi, President of the Tunisian Judges’ Association (Association des Magistrats Tunisiens, AMT), is set to appear before an investigating judge at the Kef Court of First Instance, facing charges of “inciting to cease work” arising from a judicial strike in 2022, seven human rights groups said today.
The undersigned human rights organizations call on the Tunisian authorities to drop the charges against Anas Hmedi and end all forms of harassment against judges exercising their rights to peaceful freedom of expression, assembly, and association.
Aug 16, 2023 | Advocacy, News
Hold Thai companies accountable for wrongdoing outside the country’s borders,” urged participants at a dialogue co-hosted by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on 8 June 2023 at Chiang Mai University
