International Commission of Jurists
Nepal should abandon plans for civilian militias

Nepal should abandon plans for civilian militias

Nov 13, 2003 | News

Plans announced by the Government to enlist civilians to perform security tasks in the civil war could enormously aggravate an already dire human rights situation and place the lives of rural Nepalis in grave jeopardy.

Lawyer’s arrest based on planted evidence

Lawyer’s arrest based on planted evidence

Nov 11, 2003 | News

The ICJ demands the Russian authorities to immediately release a lawyer arrested on 24 October after police planted a firearm in his car.

Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin’s arrest and detention prevent him from representing relatives of one of the victims in the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings case.

“Planting evidence and arresting a person on that basis makes a mockery of the rule of law”, said Linda Besharaty-Movaed, ICJ Legal Advisor. “Trepashkin’s unlawful detention demonstrates that Russian lawyers can be arrested for discharging their professional duties”.

Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin was arrested on charges of “possession and transportation of an unlicensed firearm” after police officers openly threw a bag that contained a gun into his car.

In 2002, Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin worked as a consultant for a commission that investigated the 1999 bombings, which had been exclusively blamed on Chechen insurgents, and found that the Security Service had been complicit in the bombings.

Immediately after he presented his findings, the Military Prosecutor initiated proceedings against Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin for “disclosing classified information”. Even though he was indicted, his case laid dormant until September 2003, when a book reproduced some of his findings. Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin then won an indefinite postponement of the case from the Supreme Court.

Russia-lawyer arrest-press release-2003 (text, PDF)

 

NGO declaration demands international monitoring of human rights practices in terrorism fight

NGO declaration demands international monitoring of human rights practices in terrorism fight

Oct 31, 2003 | News

A group of international Non-Governmental Organisations has launched a Joint Declaration calling on the United Nations to monitor the impact on human rights of the fight against terrorism.

Practices such as torture, detention without judicial review, unfair trial, criminalisation of acts in exercise of fundamental rights, and suppression of the right to association have been sharply on the rise as a result of measures taken in the fight against terrorism.

The Declaration calls on the UN Commission on Human Rights at its 60th session in March/April 2004 to establish as a matter of utmost priority an independent mechanism on the question of human rights and counter-terrorism.

“The events of 11 September 2001 ushered in a waive of measures by a number of states that threaten basic and universally subscribed human rights principles”, said ICJ Legal Adviser Ian Seiderman. “It is unconscionable that throughout the last two years, the United Nations human rights system has lacked the impetus to tackle this grave threat by monitoring and evaluating the laws and practices of its member States.”

The founding signatories of the Declaration include the seven members of the Coalition of International Non-Governmental Organisations against Torture (CINAT) (Amnesty International, Association for the Prevention of Torture, International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT), International Commission of Jurists, International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), Redress: Seeking Reparation for Torture Survivors, and World Organization against Torture (OMCT)), as well as Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), Human Rights Watch, and International Service for Human Rights.

The Declaration is now open to all international and national NGOs for signature.

monitoring human rights in terrorism fight-press release-2004-eng

 

Nepal: arrest and disappearance of lawyer

Nepal: arrest and disappearance of lawyer

Oct 30, 2003 | News

The ICJ calls for the immediate release of Nepalese lawyer Shyam Kumar Shrestha whose arrest and enforced disappearance violate his right to liberty and security.

The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers today condemned the arrest and disappearance of Nepalese lawyer, Shyam Kumar Shrestha, and called for his immediate release.

Mr. Shrestha, a member of the Nepal Bar Association, was arrested by security forces at 9:00 pm on 23 October at his home in Bagbazar, Kathmandu. The security forces stated that they were taking Mr. Shrestha to Maharajgunji in Kathmandu for questioning. They then took him away in a taxi without giving any further reasons for his arrest. Calls from the Nepal Bar Association to the Home Ministry and the human rights investigation bodies within the army and the police have not been answered. To date, the reasons for Mr. Shrestha’s abduction remain unknown.

“The arrest and enforced disappearance of Mr. Shrestha constitutes a grave violation of his right to liberty and security”, said Linda Besharaty-Movaed, Legal Advisor of the ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. “He must be immediately released and if any charges are brought against him, they must be in strict conformity with Nepalese law and international human rights standards.”

The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers conducted a fact-finding mission to Nepal in January 2003. It has denounced the army killings and the increase in the number of disappearances by the security forces and abductions by the Maoists since fighting between the two sides resumed in August.

Nepal-arrest and disappearance lawyer-press release-2003 (text, PDF)

 

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