Jul 9, 2013 | News
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today called on the Government of Malta to refrain from forcibly transferring a number of Somali nationals to Libya, where they are alleged to be at real risk of human rights violations and further transfer to Somalia.
According to media reports, the persons at risk of transfer are part of a group of some 102 persons, including 41 women and two babies, who arrived in Malta this morning.
The ICJ expresses its grave concern at the possibility that Somali nationals, who are alleged to be considered at risk of being subject to ill-treatment or persecution if sent back to Somalia, would first be sent back to Libya. According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in Libya, migrants face a “constant risk of exploitation, arrest and indefinite detention”.
The ICJ stresses that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled, in the judgment Hirsi Jamaa and others v. Italy, that sending back potential asylum seekers, including of Somali origin, to Libya, without individual assessment of their situation and access to asylum procedures, violates the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular the principle of non-refoulement, the prohibition of collective expulsion and the right to an effective remedy for violations of human rights.
The ICJ therefore calls on the Maltese Government to refrain from expelling or otherwise transferring to Libya any of the Somali citizens who arrived on Maltese shores today. The migrants must be fully informed of their right to apply for international or humanitarian protection under EU and Maltese law; and each of their cases must be examined on its individual merits.
Statement-ExpulsionSomalis-2013-Malta (download the statement)
Contact:
Massimo Frigo, ICJ Legal Adviser of the Europe Programme, tel: 41 22 979 38 05, e-mail: massimo.frigo(a)icj.org
Róisín Pillay, ICJ Director of the Europe Programme, e-mail : roisin.pillay(a)icj.org
Jul 4, 2013 | News
The ICJ called on the Egyptian authorities, including the army, to uphold the rule of law and democratic principles and take immediate and effective measures to prevent the deterioration of the human rights situation.
The statement came as the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah El Sisi, announced on 3 July 2013 the suspension of the Constitution and the removal of President Mohamed Morsi.
The General said that Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Monsour would head an interim government until new elections were held.
The ICJ is deeply concerned that the decisions that have been taken by the military are beyond the scope of its constitutional authority and violate basic rule of law principles.
If implemented, these decisions will also set a dangerous precedent, wrongly signaling that the conflicts and challenges in Egypt should be met by military force rather than through political engagement and legal processes, the ICJ said.
“All Egyptian authorities should ensure that any political disagreement or conflict is resolved in compliance with rule of law principles and through legally established channels. Under international law, political divergences cannot be invoked to justify the unlawful seizure of the executive power,” said Wilder Tayler, ICJ Secretary General.
The ICJ is also concerned about reports that President Morsi, his advisers and leaders from the Freedom and Justice Party have been arrested.
Journalists have also been arrested and several television stations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood were taken off air following the Military decisions.
“The army and government authorities should ensure the protection of the rights of those detained in the context of the ouster of President Morsi, including the right to liberty and to security of person. Journalists arrested while exercising their professional duties must be released immediately,” Tayler further said.
The transition process in Egypt, under both the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) and President Mohamed Morsi has failed to comply with international rule of law and human rights standards, the ICJ said.
The ICJ is also concerned about of the deterioration of the human rights situation in Egypt over the last few days, including cases of unlawful killings and physical violence against protesters, including sexual assaults against women.
“The Egyptian authorities should ensure that these human rights violations are fully investigated with a view to holding the perpetrators to account. They must also guarantee the rights of all peaceful protesters to security and to the freedoms of assembly and expression,” Tayler added.
Contact:
Said Benarbia, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: 41 22 979 38 17, e-mail: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Jul 2, 2013 | News
The ICJ calls on the UAE authorities to take urgent measures to ensure the extinguishment of the convictions of the 68 individuals convicted in the UAE 94 case, and to immediately and unconditionally release those detained.
The ICJ also calls for the withdrawal of any remaining charges against each of the 94 accused.
Sixty-eight individuals were convicted today by the State Security Chamber of the UAE Federal Supreme Court and sentenced to varying sentences.
These include 56 accused who were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 8 accused who were tried in absentia and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
The convicted individuals were found guilty of “establishing, founding and administering an organization, with the aim of challenging the basic principles upon which the government of the State is based, taking control of the government and establishing a secret structure for the organization”.
“The legal provisions on which these convictions are based fail to meet international law requirements of legal certainty and criminalize the enjoyment and exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and association”, stated Said Benarbia, Senior Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme.
The ICJ considers that the trial against the accused has failed to comport with international law and standards governing fair trials, including the rights of accused persons to be informed of the reasons for their arrest and the charges against them.
The rights of the accused to be presumed innocent was also undermined by provisions of UAE law that effectively impose a presumption of guilt and allow for the indefinite renewal of pre-trial detention orders.
Further, most of the detainees were held in secret pre-trial detention, including prolonged incommunicado detention and solitary confinement.
Their right of access to family members and to a lawyer during the first months of detention was denied, and most of the detainees were unable to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.
They also reported being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including severe beatings, pulling out detainees’ hair, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme light during the day and night, death threats and other threats and verbal abuse.
None of these allegations of ill-treatment were investigated and prosecuted by the UAE authorities. Instead, “confessions” and other information obtained as a result of torture and other ill-treatment were heavily relied upon as evidence to “prove” the charges against the accused.
The rights of the accused to defence were also severely restricted, including by denying defence lawyers’ access to detainees in pre-trial detention, in particular during interrogation; delaying their access to cases files until a few days before the trial; subjecting them to various forms of intimidation and harassment, including criminal prosecution; and severely curtailing their right to cross-examine witnesses.
Two ICJ observers, together with other international observers and international media, were denied access to the first and second hearings of the trial in contravention of international standards on the right to a public hearing.
Further restrictions on this right included relatives being forced to sign statements agreeing not to disclose information about the trial hearings as a condition to being granted access.
Some of the relatives who reportedly disclosed information about the trial have been subjected to various forms of harassment by UAE authorities.
One individual was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to a 10-month prison term for “tweeting with bad intent about the trial”.
The ICJ notes that under UAE law, decisions of the Supreme Court cannot be reviewed by any other court, which denies the right of the convicted individuals to an appeal.
“The UAE 94 trial has been marred with a catalogue of violations of fair trial guarantees that have undermined the fairness of the proceedings at every stage. Consequently, any remaining charges against the accused must be withdrawn and those detained must be immediately and unconditionally released”, Benarbia added. “Allegations of torture and ill-treatment must also be promptly, independently and impartially investigated and those responsible held accountable”, he added.
An analytical report on the charges and trial of the UAE 94 in light of international law and standards will be published this month.
Contact:
Said Benarbia, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: 41 22 979 38 17, e-mail: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
May 3, 2013 | Advocacy, News
Today, the ICJ sent a letter to the Tunisian Minister of Interior and the Minister of Justice requesting them to take immediate action in order to ensure the security and physical integrity of Justice Kalthoum Kennou.
Justice Kalthoum Kennou is a Tunisian judge on the Court of Cassation, President of the Tunisian Association of Magistrates, and ICJ Commissioner.
This call comes as Justice Kennou received a letter containing serious death threats, demanding her withdrawal from the judiciary. Justice Kennou is active in the establishment of an independent judiciary and the protection of human rights.
The ICJ strongly condemns these threats and all acts of intimidation against the judiciary and human rights defenders in Tunisia, and calls on the Tunisian authorities to initiate the necessary investigations and inquiries in order to find, prosecute, and punish the individuals behind these brutal threats.
Tunisia-Lettre Kalthoum Kennou – MoI-advocacy-2013 (full text in pdf)
Apr 29, 2013 | News
The Bahrain authorities must fully cooperate with the UN mechanisms and implement the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) set up by the Government of Bahrain in June 2011.
The ICJ further calls on the Bahrain authorities to ensure that the recommendations from the UN Universal Periodic Review process in September 2012 are implemented in full and in good faith and, to this end, immediately extend an invitation with specific dates to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez (photo).
The statement comes as the authorities in Bahrain effectively cancelled a visit of the Special Rapporteur for the second time, a previous visit in March 2012 also having been postponed at the last minute.
“As a former member of the BICI, I find it extremely disappointing that Bahrain has taken this decision for the second time. It keeps dangling the possibility of a visit when it is under pressure to do something about implementing the BICI recommendations,” said Sir Nigel Rodley, President of the ICJ. “One does not have to be a cynic to infer that once the pressure eases – for example, because the Human Rights Council has concluded its review of Bahrain’s human rights performance or the Formula One race is over – it can then withdraw its invitation. I hope the international community will take account of this pattern, when reacting to positive assurances from the authorities. Promises are no substitute for implementation.”
The report of the BICI, published in November 2011, documented numerous cases of torture and ill-treatment.
It further made crucial recommendations for reform so as to prevent these and other violations in the future, including effective investigations into all cases of torture and ill-treatment by an independent and impartial body; the establishment of a standing independent body to examine all complaints of torture or ill-treatment, excessive use of force or other abuses at the hands of the authorities; and the compensation and provision of remedies for all victims.
“The BICI’s recommendations included ones to address the serious problem of torture in Bahrain, a problem I had identified in the 1990s when I held the mandate Juan Mendez now discharges with consummate professionalism. One may perhaps be pardoned for considering that the only threat posed by the visit to the political situation is the fear of what information would be uncovered by the visit,” Sir Nigel Rodley concluded.
Contact:
Said Benarbia, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41 22 979 3817, e-mail: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
