International Commission of Jurists
ICJ appoints five new Commissioners

ICJ appoints five new Commissioners

Jan 5, 2017 | News

Mr Reed Brody (United States), Ms Roberta Clarke (Barbados/Canada), Professor Juan Mendez (Argentina), Mr Alejandro Salinas Rivera (Chile) and Justice Kalyan Shrestha (Nepal) have recently been elected to join the ICJ.

The new Commissioners were elected by a ballot of existing Commissioners, which took place between November and December 2016.

Mr Reed Brody (United States) has 25 years on the cutting edge of the human rights movement. Mr Brody has worked, amongst other things, as a freelance activist, New York Assistant Attorney General, Director of the ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Executive Director of the International Human Rights Group (now Global Rights), Director of the Human Rights Division of the UN Observer Mission in El Salvador, Deputy Director of the UN Secretary General’s Investigative Team in the Democratic Republic of Congo and at Human Rights Watch, including on such cases as those against the former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habre.

Ms Roberta Clarke (Barbados/Canada) has an extensive background in working on human rights issues, particularly in relation to women’s rights and social and economic rights. Ms Clarke has held a number of Academic roles including  Research Assistant, Junior Research Fellow, Assistant Lecturer and now Visiting Fellow at the University of West Indies. Ms Clarke has also worked as an Attorney in private practice and in a number of civil society and intergovernmental organization roles including as the Project Coordinator of the Women and the Law Project with the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action in Trinidad and Tobago, Social Affairs Officer on the Gender and Development Programme for the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Regional Programme Director for UNIFEM/UN Women’s Caribbean Office and then for UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Professor Juan Méndez (Argentina) is currently the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, having been appointed in November 2010 and then having had his mandate renewed in 2014. Professor Méndez is also a Professor of Human Rights Law in residence at the Washington College of Law. Previously Professor Méndez has worked in a number of human rights roles including as general counsel of Human Rights Watch,  Executive Director of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights in Costa Rica, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as Co-Chair of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, as President of the International Center for Transnational Justice (ICTJ) and as Kofi Annan’s Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide.

Mr Alejandro Salinas Rivera (Chile) is a lawyer from Chile with expertise in international issues and cooperation, mining and labour law. Alejandro has collaborated with and ran leading national and international human rights organizations. He has worked as a consultant and adviser for the ICJ as well as for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Parliamentary Union and the Presidential Advisory Commission for human Rights Policy. He has been the head of a number of Departments and Units in various government agencies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Director of the Human Rights Department; the Attorney General’s Office as Chief of the Unit of International Affairs; and at the Public Defender’s Officer as Chief of Staff of the National Defender, Head of the Evaluation, Control and Claims Department and Head of the International Cooperation Unit.

Justice Kalyan Shrestha (Nepal) was Chief Justice of the Nepalese Supreme Court from 2005 until his retirement in 2016. Prior to this he served in a number of judicial roles including as Chief Judge of the Appellate Court Jumla, a Judge of various Zonal, District and Appellate courts,  Under Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Law and as a Section Officer for the Supreme Court and Government of Nepal. Justice Shrestha has also held a number of senior roles in judicial bodies including as Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly Court, President of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in Law, President of the Judges Society Nepal and as a Member of the Judicial Services Commission.

In addition to the election of five new members the following Commissioners have also been elected in the following capacity:

  • Professor Carlos Ayala (Venezuela) – elected for a second term as Commissioner and a third term on the Executive Committee
  • Justice Azhar Cahcalia (South Africa) – elected for a third term on the Executive Committee
  • Professor Andrew Clapham (United Kingdom) – elected to the Executive Committee
  • Professor Robert Goldman (United States) – elected for a second term as Vice-President
  • Ms Hina Jilani (Pakistan) – elected for a second term on the Executive Committee
  • Professor Sir Nigel Rodley (United Kingdom) – elected for a third term as President
  • Professor Marco Sassòli (Switzerland) – elected for a second term as alternate to the Executive Committee
  • Justice Stefan Trechsel (Switzerland) – elected for a second term as alternate to the Executive Committee

 

Event – Private Contractor Accountability: Seeking Justice for Torture at Abu Ghraib

Event – Private Contractor Accountability: Seeking Justice for Torture at Abu Ghraib

Sep 14, 2016 | Events

This panel discussion features two Iraqi torture survivors, Salah Hassan Nsaif and Ali Shallal Abbas, who will share their first-hand accounts serious abuse suffered at Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, and the role of U.S. contractors in that torture and abuse.

The event organised by the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and the Center for Constitutional Rights, takes place 15 September 2016, 11:00-12:00, at the Palais des Nations Room XXVII in Geneva, Switzerland.

CCR Senior Staff Attorney Katherine Gallagher will discuss legal cases, Saleh v Titan and Al Shimari v CACI, brought in the United States on behalf of victims as they seek justice. The cases will be placed in context of broader corporate accountability efforts, including those of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries and the Open-Ended Working Group on a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

Speakers:

Salah Hassan, journalist and photographer for Al Jazeera network and Abu Ghraib torture survivor

Ali Shallal Abbas, Founder and President of the Association of victims of the American and Iranian prisons in Iraq, and Abu Ghraib torture survivor

Katherine Gallagher, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights

Carlos Lopez, Senior Legal Adviser, Business and Human Rights, International Commission of Jurists (moderator)

Remarks will also be made by Patricia Arias, Chair of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries.

Following the event, there will be the opening of an art exhibit organized by the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries. Ms. Arias, Mr. Nsaif, and Mr. Abbas will make remarks, and guests are invited to engage with the photographs, multimedia display, and virtual reality film. The exhibit is open to delegates, NGOs, and the public. “Private Actors in Warfare: Stories from victims of private military and security companies and foreign fighters” will take place at 13:00 – 15:00 in Palais des Nations Room XXIII.

A flyer for the event may be downloaded, in PDF format, here: side-event-pmsc-abu-graib-sept2016

ICJ supports renewed call for accountability of officials responsible for crimes in CIA Detention and Interrogation Programme

ICJ supports renewed call for accountability of officials responsible for crimes in CIA Detention and Interrogation Programme

Jun 24, 2015 | Advocacy

The ICJ joined more than 100 organizations in endorsing a call before the UN Human Rights Council for accountability of US officials responsible for torture and enforced disappearances in the rendition and secret detention programmes and for reparations to be provided for the victims.

The call was made by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Centrol de Estudios Legales and Sociales, Conectas Direitos Humanos, and the Washington Office on Latin America.

The statement can be downloaded here:

USA-HRC29ShortOralStatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-ENG (short version, in PDF)

USA-HRC29StatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)

USA-HRC29StatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-SPA (full text in PDF, Spanish)

USA-HRC29StatementTortureRendition-Advocacy-2015-ARA  (full text in PDF, Arabic)

Military Courts and Human Rights: oral statement to UN Human Rights Council

Military Courts and Human Rights: oral statement to UN Human Rights Council

Mar 13, 2015 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions

The Colombian Commission of Jurists, an affiliate of the ICJ, today called for the UN Human Rights Council to uphold the use of civilian courts, rather than military tribunals, to try civilians and to adjudicate claims for human rights violations.

An oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council highlighted that:

  • military tribunals should as a matter of principle have no jurisdiction to try civilians or to adjudicate claims of serious human rights violations;
  • These matters should be the domain of civilian courts; and
  • The jurisdiction of military tribunals should be restricted to specifically military offenses committed by military personnel.

The oral statement emphasised to the global reach of the issue, referring by way of example to the military commissions established by the United States of America at Guantánamo Bay, as well as recent negative developments in Colombia, Egypt, Thailand and Pakistan.

The statement noted that the Principles Governing the Administration of Justice Through Military Tribunals presented to the Commission on Human Rights by Emmanuel Decaux in 2006 (UN Doc E/CN.4/2006/58), are widely referenced, but have yet to receive full recognition by the Human Rights Council. The statement added its support to the calls by the Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and others, for the Council to endorse and seek implementation of the Principles without further delay.

The statement responds to an expert consultation on the administration of justice through military tribunals convened by the Council (UN Doc A/HRC/28/32).

The full oral statement can be downloaded in pdf format here: Advocacy-HRC28-MilitaryCourts-OralStatement-2015

Said Benarbia, Director of ICJ’s Middle East North Africa Programme participated in the expert consultation.

His statement can be found here: MENA-Military Courts HRC28-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF).

Thailand exercised its right of reply, which can be viewed in the UN webcast archive, here.

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