Jan 16, 2018 | News
Tunisian authorities must respect and protect the right to freedom of assembly and of expression of everyone in Tunisia, the ICJ said today.
They also must regulate the use of force against protestors according to international law standards, and ensure that those who are arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, including as a result of the legitimate and peaceful exercise of these rights, are immediately released, the ICJ added.
Over the past week, protesters took to the streets challenging the government’s recentausterity measures, including a rise in prices and tax increases.
Sporadic cases of violence, looting and vandalism occurred, including incidents that targeted police stations.
Over 800 people were subsequently arrested. Further, one protestor died on Monday 8 January 2018 in Tebourba, 30km west of Tunis.
“The acts of sporadic violence committed by a few people do not justify the scale or character of interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly of others,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“The Tunisian authorities must immediately release those arrested for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of assembly, and provide due process guarantees to those allegedly responsible for punishable acts,” he added.
In policing public assemblies, Tunisian authorities should comply with their obligations under international human rights law, including not only the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, but also those relating to the rights to life, to be free from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the right to liberty and security of person (and to be free from arbitrary arrest or detention).
To that end, security forces should use force in accordance with the principles of necessity, proportionality, and precaution, and in a manner that respects and ensures people’s lives and safety.
The ICJ expresses its concern that violations of human rights of this kind would take place now despite the many reform efforts during the seven years since the revolution.
Contact
Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: +41 798783546, e-mail: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
PR Recent Events in Tunisia ARA (Arabic version in PDF)
Dec 21, 2017 | News
The ICJ today called on the Moroccan authorities to effectively investigate and prosecute sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) offences, including by ensuring the rights of victims to effective remedies and reparation and by combatting the impunity prevailing in Morocco over such offences.
The statement came following a high-level mission to Morocco from 18 to 21 December 2017 in which the ICJ launched its memorandum Morocco: ensuring the effective investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls, and engaged with members of the government, the Parliament and the judiciary on the findings and recommendations of the memorandum.
Based on a review of 75 judgments handed down by Moroccan First Instance Tribunal and Courts of Appeal in cases involving SGBV offences, and on interviews with various actors in the justice system, the ICJ documented how the lack of guidelines on investigating and prosecuting SGBV, combined with the inadequacy of evidentiary rules and procedures, frustrate the successful prosecution of SGBV cases in Morocco.
Cases are often dismissed on grounds of insufficient evidence; and sentences, in those cases brought to trial, are often disproportionately lenient. This is partly due to the prevalence of judicial stereotyping, reduction of sentence when the defendant marries the victim (a practice that itself raises human rights concerns), and the arbitrary or unexplained application of mitigating circumstances such as the “social situation of the defendant” or “the relative seriousness of the acts that were committed”.
“Moroccan authorities should overhaul the framework and procedures on investigation and prosecution of SGBV,” said Saïd Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme. “They should ensure effective and timely protective measures for the victims; provide for clear guidelines and protocols for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, doctors and other health professionals, and consolidate and supplement the victims’ testimony with additional evidence, in particular medico-legal and forensic evidence.”
“Those in charge of investigations and prosecutions must also minimize the burden on the victims with a view to avoiding their secondary victimization; refrain from stereotyping, victims’ blaming and other harmful practices that undermine the rights of the victims, and challenge, by way of appeal, disproportionately lenient sentences,” concluded Martine Comte, honorary judge and former President of the Court of Appeal of Orléans, France, who led the ICJ Mission.
Contact:
Saïd Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41.22.979.3817, e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Additional information
The mission was led by Martine Comte, honorary judge and former President of the Court of Appeal of Orléans, France, and included Saïd Benarbia, Director of the ICJ MENA programme, and Giulia Soldan, Programme Manager of the ICJ MENA programme.
The ICJ delegation met with Mr Mohamed Aujjar, Minister of Justice; Mr Adil El Bitar, President of the Commission on Justice, Legislation, and Human Rights at the Chamber of Deputies; Mr Mohamed Abdennabaoui, President of the Office of the Public Prosecutor and Prosecutor General of the Cassation Court; and representatives of civil society.
This Press Release is also available in Arabic (in PDF format), here: MOR Mission Dec PR ARABIC
The memorandum Morocco: ensuring the effective investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls is available (PDF format):
Dec 8, 2017 | News
US President Donald Trump’s declaration recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and indicating an intention to move its embassy there, dangerously ignores long-standing international law, the ICJ said today.
Numerous United Nations Security Council’s Resolutions have reiterated the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and have urged the withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the 1967 conflict, including East Jerusalem.
Trump’s announcement turns a blind eye on this legal reality and the related 50 years of occupation.
It also implicitly condones Israeli policies and practices that aim at altering the character and status of the Palestinian territory, including through the annexation of East Jerusalem, particularly by failing explicitly to similarly endorse Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem.
“Trump’s declaration cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of Jerusalem under international law. However, it has the potential of provoking and fuelling a new cycle of violence in the region,” said Said Benarbia, ICJ MENA Director.
Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets to protest against Trump’s declaration. Dozens were injured in clashed with Israeli forces.
“The Israeli authorities should guarantee the right to peaceful protest and refrain from any disproportionate use of force against protesters, including the unlawful use of lethal force,” Benarbia added.
Background
The 2016 UN SC Resolution 2334 specifically reiterate that the Security Council “will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations,” and that “the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solute on and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.”
This reaffirms a series of similar resolutions by the Security Council since 1967.
Palestine-Trump Decla-News-2017-ARA (Statement in Arabic, PDF)
Nov 7, 2017 | Advocacy, News
The ICJ today called for the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“African Commission”) to establish a special mechanism for the protection and promotion of the independence of judges and lawyers in Africa.
The ICJ made the call in a statement during the public session of the 61st Ordinary Session of the African Commission in Banjul.
The call comes amidst growing threats to the independence of justice in Africa.
In African Union (AU) Member states across the continent, judicial officers and legal practitioners have been targeted for violence and intimidation, or unjustified interference or sanctions.
Recent cases include Burundi, Botswana, Egypt, Lesotho, Libya, Kenya, Swaziland, Zambia, the DRC, Cameroon and Zimbabwe.
The frequency and seriousness of such incidents prompted the ICJ working with the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum to convene a round table meeting in Harare in 2016 to discuss practical steps that could be adopted to minimize the plight of jurists in distress.
The Harare meeting identified the need for a special mechanism for the protection and promotion of judicial independence in Africa, similar to the existing United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
“It is chilling when a judge is shot in Lubumbashi in the DRC, or a deputy chief justice’s security personnel and driver is shot in Nairobi, Kenya ahead of an important case, or the offices of the Law Association are besieged by militias in Lusaka, Zambia. These are real cases,” said Arnold Tsunga ICJ’s Africa Regional Director.
“An independent, impartial, competent and accountable judiciary and independent and free legal profession are pre-requisites for effective protection of human rights and entrenchment of the rule of law in Africa,” he added.
The ICJ noted that the African Commission have already set out an excellent framework of standards to guarantee independence of the judiciary and access to justice in Africa in the 2003 Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa.
What is needed now is to put in place machinery for their implementation.
The Commission must now to take steps towards establishing a special mechanism for the protection and promotion of judicial independence, including the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, and establishing a Working Group on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
Contact
Arnold Tsunga, Director of ICJ’s Africa Regional Programme, t: +27716405926, e: arnold.tsunga(a)icj.org
Banjul- Independence Judges and Lawyers-Advocacy-2017-ENG (Statement in English, pdf)
Nov 2, 2017 | Multimedia items, News, Video clips
The ICJ ends its series of profiles of its women Commissioners with an interview with Judge Kalthoum Kennou is currently serving her second term as ICJ Commissioner.
Kalthoum Kennou is a Judge of the Tunisian Cassation Court.
She previously served as an investigating Judge at the Tribunal of Tozeur in Tunisia (2010 – 2012), an investigating Judge at the Tribunal of Kairouan (2005 – 2010) and a Judge at the Court of Appeal of Tunis (2001-2005).
She is a strong advocate of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Tunisia, and for women’s rights.
She was active in opposition to the dictatorship of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
As a consequence of her work, she was subjected to politically motivated personal attacks including arbitrary transfers to remote parts of the country.
After the political revolution in January 2011, she became President of the Association of Tunisian Judges.
She has worked on the new Tunisian Constitution and was the first female candidate in the November 2014 Presidential elections.
In this interview, Judge Kennou speaks about the reasons that prompted her to take up a legal career.
Her father was wrongly accused of high treason and imprisoned and she wanted to show people that there could be fair judges who worked independently.
On his release, her father also supported her decision to study the law.
She was appointed a judge in 1989 but said that other women had been appointed before her so it was not that difficult.
The main problems were that male judges were reluctant to discuss certain issues in front of her and she had to stand up for herself.
“However what was a bit troublesome was with the police when I gave them instructions and I think they would have preferred it was a man and not a woman. But I stood up for myself and I became an investigating judge and I was there to give orders to the police, to the clerk of court, as a judge and as a woman judge.”
Under the dictatorship of Ben Ali, she explains in the interview that there were a quite an important number of judges who resisted and defended the independence of the judiciary.
“… I think our resistance had some results. The proof was that just after the revolution, the question of the independence of the judiciary became a demand of the people, not just the judiciary.”
She explains in the interview that now 43% of the judiciary in Tunisia are women.
This is because there are more women studying law, more women than men, and because the government is promoting women’s equality.
However, many women may take up a legal career without wishing to become a judge.
This is because of family reasons, as they don’t wish to be appointed to a court away from home and in some families, parents might feel that women should be protected from some of the real problems of society.
“But actually I think this kind of thinking is less common now and will disappear bit by bit. Judges have shown that they can have an impact and society accepts female judges more than male judges. They consider that female judges are less corrupt, that they are more serious and are making more efforts to deliver justice.”
The main problems for women in accessing justice in Tunisia are related to pressure from the family not to file complaint in cases of domestic violence.
Also there is a problem with the attitudes of the police who do not take physical aggression against a woman seriously.
The third issue is the mentality of some judges, including some women judges, who are not really convinced that a husband does not have the right to beat his wife.
“The law exists but we should also work on people’s mentalities so that the law is correctly applied.”
Judge Kennou concludes the interview with some advice for young women considering a legal career. She said that a young woman must learn to “stand up for herself and for her rights at home because you cannot be free, you cannot give to others, if your own rights are not realized… I think that a woman who wants to be a judge should be really convinced and well trained about human rights so she can apply the law in a correct manner. “
Watch the interview:
The series of profiles introducing the work of ICJ Commissioners and Honorary Members on women’s rights was launched on 25 November 2016 to coincide with the International Day to Eliminate Violence against Women and the first day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign.
