South Africa: Human rights organizations intervene in court case to have Russian President, Vladimir Putin, arrested

South Africa: Human rights organizations intervene in court case to have Russian President, Vladimir Putin, arrested

Today, the High Court in Pretoria was due to hear the matter of Democratic Alliance v The President of South Africa and Others. The Court agreed to hear the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) as joint amicus curiae (friends of the court).  The matter was however settled between the parties prior to the hearing in which the state has agreed to apply for an arrest warrant for President Putin.

Lesotho: Authorities must protect the right to freedom of expression

Lesotho: Authorities must protect the right to freedom of expression

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has issued a joint statement condemning increasing acts of harassment and intimidation against journalists in Lesotho.

The joint statement expresses concern about a number of incidents threatening freedom of expression, exemplified by the recent shooting of the editor of the Lesotho Times newspaper, and have called on Lesotho Authorities to ensure the right to freedom of expression is protected.

In addition to the ICJ, the statement has also been signed by: amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism; Amnesty International; Freedom of Expression Institute; Institute for Democracy; Lawyers for Human Rights; Lawyer for Human Rights (Swaziland); Media Institute for Southern Africa – Zimbabwe Chapter; Media Monitoring Africa; Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa; PEN Afrikaans; PEN South Africa; Rights 2 Know Campaign; SOS Coalition; Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network; Southern AFrican Litigation Centre; Transformation Resource Centre; Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum; and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Lesotho-Joint statement-Freedom of expression-Advocacy-2016-ENG (full text in PDF)

 

ICJ disappointed by decision taken on SADC Tribunal

ICJ disappointed by decision taken on SADC Tribunal

The ICJ and other human rights and legal groups say that the the SADC Summit of Heads of State’s decision on SADC Tribunal denies the SADC people the right to approach the court for justice.The ICJ, SADC LA and SALC express their deepest disappointment at the decision taken by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government on the SADC Tribunal.

The Summit’s Final Communiqué explains that the region’s leaders had “resolved that a new protocol on the Tribunal should be negotiated and that its mandate should be confined to interpretation of the SADC Treaty and Protocols relating to disputes between member states”.

That decision effectively destroys an integral SADC organ – the currently established Tribunal – and denies the SADC people the right to approach the court for justice.

It is, as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu observes, “a tragedy. It is a blow against accountable government and individual rights.”

SADC Tribunal decision-web story 2012 (Download in English)

Photo: Salc bloggers

 

Regional legal consultative meeting on the SADC tribunal review process

Regional legal consultative meeting on the SADC tribunal review process

SADC Tribunal: the Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will continue to have pervasive effects on human rights and the rule of law in the SADC region.

This is despite the advice of the World Trade Institute Advisors (WTIA) and the finding of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Justice/Attorneys-General that the Protocol on the Tribunal took effect through its incorporation into the Treaty by the adoption of the Agreement Amending the Treaty in August 2001; that the effectiveness of both the Protocol and the Agreement Amending the Treaty in August 2001 did not require ratification; and that the SADC Tribunal was legally constituted, and its decisions are binding on all SADC Member States, the SADC,

Regional legal consultative meeting-events-2011 (full text, PDF)

Conference synopsis-event-2011 (full text, PDF)

Translate »