Apr 10, 2019 | News
Today, the ICJ called on the parties to the conflict in Libya to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law to protect affected people, particularly the civilian population.
The ICJ also called on the UN Security Council to urge the parties to respect international law.
The gravity of hostilities led UNSMIL to postpone the UN-sponsored Libyan National Conference aimed at finding a solution to the ongoing political deadlock late yesterday. The Conference was planned to commence on 14 April in Ghadames.
“The postponement of the political dialogue is a major setback for peace and the rule of law in Libya, and for the Libyan population,” said Kate Vigneswaran, the ICJ’s Senior Legal Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Civilians taking no part in the fighting have already suffered the brunt of hostilities between the warring parties in Libya. Those who remain, including the thousands of migrants held in arbitrary detention, are at grave risk,” she added.
IHL requires parties to the conflict to respect the principles of distinction and proportionality and take precautionary measures to avoid, or in any event minimize, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.
“The parties must ensure that not only civilians but civilian objects are protected, and that measures are taken to ensure they don’t become collateral casualties,” said Kate Vigneswaran.
“International actors should continue to push for a political solution to the situation in Libya based on the rule of law and incorporating human rights protections to avoid further suffering,” she added.
On April 7, the UN Security Council reportedly discussed the situation in Libya but could not find the necessary consensus to issue an official statement.
According to the AFP, the Russian Federation blocked a statement that would have called on Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, head of the House of Representatives backed Libyan National Army, to stop military operations, on all the parties to de-escalate and for “those who undermine Libya’s peace and security to be held to account.”
“The Security Council should adopt a resolution calling for the protection of civilians and accountability for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Member States should desist from exercising their veto powers to block resolutions intended to ensure compliance with international law,” said Vigneswaran.
Reportedly, at least 27 people have been killed, including two doctors and two other civilians, 80 have been injured, and more than 2,800 persons have been displaced as a result of the fighting. The only functioning airport in Tripoli (above photo), the hub of the fighting, was closed Monday after being hit by an airstrike by the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Read this article in Arabic
Contact:
Kate Vigneswaran, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser, t: +31624894664, e: kate.vigneswaran(a)icj.org
Mar 29, 2019 | News
As leaders gather for the League of Arab States (LAS) Summit beginning on 31 March 2019 in Tunis, the ICJ called on them to place human rights and accountability for violations at the forefront of their agenda.
In particular, the ICJ urged the Summit to take immediate steps to revise the Statute of the Arab Court of Human Rights in line with international standards to allow access by victims of human rights violations in the region to such a Court.
“We’ve been witnessing a spike in gross human rights violations across the Arab region, including in extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and torture and other ill-treatment,” said Said Benarbia, the ICJ’s MENA Programme Director.
“The region is in dire need of a credible and independent judicial mechanism to provide justice for human rights violations, the overwhelming majority of which presently go unaddressed,” he added.
The ICJ called on external participants to prioritize human rights in their discussions with League member States at the Summit.
Expected attendees include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Federica Mogherini, the Head of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Yousef bin Abdul Al-Othaimeen.
Many States in the region are plagued by widespread and systematic violations.
These range from torture, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detentions in Egypt, attacks against human rights defenders and journalists in Saudi Arabia, including the high profile enforced disappearance and killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khasshogi, as well as the judicial harassment of human rights defenders and political activists throughout the region.
Civilian populations have borne the brunt of violations and crimes through military operations by governments and armed groups in Yemen, Syria and Libya, and in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“International leaders mustn’t sit back and follow the agendas of rights-violating States at this Summit, which will no doubt be directed towards further entrenchment of their authoritarian regimes at the expense of victims,” said Benarbia.
“Instead, they should urge LAS members States to ensure accountability for human rights violations in the region, including by revising and then making operational the Statute of the Arab Court,” he added.
The ICJ said that the process of revision should only be done with the participation of a wide range of stakeholders, civil society, judges, academics, bar associations, and victims of violations.
Contact:
Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41-22-979-3817; e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Background
The Statute of the Arab Court of Human Rights, which aims to establish a regional human rights court for Arab States, was approved by the LAS Ministerial Council on 7 September 2014, but is yet to come into force.
The ICJ and others have identified significant flaws in the Statute, highlighted in the 2014 ICJ report. The report notes that the Statute does not allow victims themselves to submit complaints directly to the Court, making access to justice an illusion. In addition, the Statute does not provide for sufficient guarantees to ensure judicial independence and impartiality; does not provide adequate protective measures for petitioners, their representatives or witnesses; and fails to require the Court to interpret the Arab Charter in line with international human rights obligations.
MENA-Arab Court HR-News-2019-ARA (full story in Arabic, PDF)
Mar 28, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Today, the ICJ and Adalah for Rights and Freedoms (Adalah) filed a submission to the Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in advance of its review of Egypt’s human rights record in November 2019.
In their submission, the ICJ and Adalah drew the the attention of the Working Group on the UPR to the following concerns:
- arbitrary arrests and detentions and systematic use of pre-trial detention;
- the systematic use of torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance;
- the imposition of death penalty following unfair trials; and
- the politicization of the judiciary and the use of courts as a tool of repression.
The ICJ and Adalah called on the Working Group and the Council to urge the Egyptian authorities to :
- End the practice of holding detainees incommunicado;
- End all other forms of arbitrary detention;
- Comprehensively reform the pre-trial detention framework, including by ensuring that resort to it is exceptional, and that such detention may be ordered only when it is determined on the basis of evidence that it is necessary, proportionate and reasonable in the circumstances of the individual case;
- Ensure that pre-trial detention is not mandatory for all individuals charged with a particular category of felony or misdemeanor, or based on the potential sentences for the offences alleged;
- Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED);
- Enact a crime of enforced disappearance in the Egyptian Criminal Code consistent with article 2 of the CED;
- Amend article 126 of the Criminal Code with a view to enacting a crime of torture consistent with article 1 of the CAT;
- Accept independent monitoring of detention facilities by allowing independent observers immediate access to detainees and prisoners, and to that end, accede to the Optional Protocol to the CAT;
- Implement all the recommendations of the CAT following its article 20 inquiry;
- Amend Egyptian law and abolish the use of the death penalty;
- Pending abolition, implement an immediate moratorium on all executions and on the imposition of capital punishment, including in cases of involving intentional killings;
- Pending abolition, ensure that proceedings in death penalty cases conform to the highest standards of judicial independence, competence and impartiality, and strictly comply with all fair trial rights;
- Pending abolition, ensure that the right to appeal in death penalty cases include review of both the factual and the legal aspects of the case by a higher ordinary, independent and impartial tribunal;
- Pending abolition, provide for the right of individuals convicted in death penalty cases to seek a pardon, commutation of sentence or clemency.
- Ensure that all convictions in death penalty cases that followed unfair trails are quashed;
- End Executive interference in judicial affairs;
- Limit the jurisdiction of military courts to trials of military personnel only for breaches of military discipline; and
- Abolish Emergency State Security Courts.
Egypt-Adalah_ICJ UPR-Advocacy-Non Legal Submissions-2019-ENG (full text of submission, in PDF)
Mar 22, 2019 | News
The ICJ today strongly welcomed the renewal of the key UN expert on counter-terrorism and human rights, on terms that maintain the mandate’s independence, integrity and its essential focus on human rights.
The renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, was enacted by a resolution adopted by consensus at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
To acheive this successful outcome, Mexico (which leads the resolution) and other States had to defend the text of the resolution against attempts by Egypt and other States to insert language aimed at diluting, distorting or distracting the mandate from its current focus on preventing and responding to violations of human rights and on securing respect, protection and fulfilment of the human rights of victims of terrorism.
The Special Rapporteur delivers thematic reports to the Human Rights Council, carries out visits to countries, and acts on individual complaints. In the overall counter-terrorism architecture of the UN, the Special Rapporteur is also the only person with an exclusive independent mandate to remind States of their human rights obligations while countering terrorism, to advise them how to do so, and to draw public attention when they do not. So any dilution of the mandate would have also put the integrity and efficacy of the overall UN counter-terrorism strategy and architecture at risk.
Following the adoption of the mandate renewal resolution by the Council, the ICJ and other organisations expressed its deep appreciation for Mexico’s efforts, together with the strong support of numerous other States, to secure the future of the mandate.
The resolution text is available here: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/40/16
Additional background is here.
Mar 19, 2019 | News
Today, the ICJ held a side event titled “Accountability for crimes under international law in Libya: Challenges and Prospects” during the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The event was co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Netherlands and the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany.
A panel of renowned experts discussed a number of issues relating to accountability for crimes under international law in Libya, including shortcomings in Libyan law and practice, political and security challenges impacting prospects for reform, the role of the International Criminal Court, and the consequences for tackling human trafficking and abuse of migrants.
The panel included Monique van Daalen, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands; Salah el-Marghani, former Justice Minister of Libya; Marwa Mohammed, Lawyers for Justice in Libya; Mark Kersten, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, and Wayamo Foundation; Kate Vigneswaran, Senior Legal Adviser for the ICJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme; and Mary Fitzgerald, Libya researcher and expert.
During the side event, the ICJ presented and distributed a briefing paper highlighting the key issues that hamper accountability for crimes under international law in Libya, including the definition of crimes under domestic law, amnesties and imunities, rights during arrest and detention, and rights at trial.
The paper included detailed recommendations to the Libyan authorities as well as the international community with a view to tackling the main obstacles to the achievement of accountability in Libya.
The briefing paper anticipates the publication of the forthcoming ICJ report on Libya’s criminal justice system.
Download:
Lybia-Accoutability challenges-Advocacy-Analysis brief-2019-ENG (Briefing paper, in PDF)
Libya HRC side event flyer – March 2019 (Event flyer, in PDF)
