Dec 10, 2019 | News
The ICJ mourns the loss of Professor Pedro Nikken, former President and Commissioner of the ICJ. Prof Nikken was elected ICJ President in January 2011, succeeding Mary Robinson (2008-2010) and followed by Nigel Rodley (2012-2017).
“Pedro Nikken left a tremendous legacy of respect for the rule of law and defense of human rights in his homeland of Venezuela, across Latin America and around the world,” said Prof Robert Goldman, the ICJ’s President.
“ Like so many others, I have lost a cherished friend and mentor whose company I will greatly miss,” he added.
Prof Nikken was a former Judge (1979-1989) and President (1983-1985) of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He served as UN Independent Expert on El Salvador from 1992 to 1995 and from 1990-1992 he served as Legal Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on El Salvador’s peace process.
In 1995 he served as Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Burundi. He is former Dean and Professor (emeritus) at the Law School of the Universidad Central de Venezuela.
He was also former President and Permanent Counselor of the InterAmerican Institute of Human Rights. He was a Member (Chair N° 9) of the Venezuelan National Academy of Political and Social Sciences.
“Prof Nikken helped drive the ICJ’s work in pursuit of justice and accountability, particularly through regional human rights systems such as the Inter American Court of Human Rights, even as various governments tried to weaken the process and evade responsibility,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ Secretary General.
“Pedro was indefatigable as a human rights defender and unsurpassed in the quality of his legal analysis, a rare combination of qualities that made him a role model for several generations of human rights lawyers around the world,” he added.
Pedro Nikken was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1945. He graduated in 1968 from the Andres Bello Catholic University and obtained a diploma of higher studies in law at the Pentheon-Assas University (Paris II) and a doctorate in law from the University of Carabobo.
Dec 2, 2019 | Advocacy, News
From 30 November to 1 December 2019, the ICJ and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) held the Judges’ Workshop on Adjudicating Environmental Cases with a Gender Perspective, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Judges from Fiji, Maldives, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Cambodia participated in the workshop. The discussions aimed at strengthening judges’ understanding of the relationship between women’s human rights and the right to a healthy environment. Throughout the two-day event, judges exchanged views on and considered cases showing how environmental degradation and climate change have a disproportionately detrimental impact on women, and how these phenomena affect them in a significantly different way as compared to men.
“It is through these gatherings that we learn from each other’s experiences and strengthen each other’s knowledge on this area,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
He continued, “We hope that this is the beginning of a greater body of work from judges in this region with a view to ensuring equality before the law and non-discrimination in environmental cases.”
During the workshop, the judges referred to the reference manual, Women’s Human Rights and the Right to a Clean, Safe, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment, which was developed by RWI with ICJ’s expert input. At the end of the workshop, judges agreed they would use this manual as a guide when faced with cases involving women and the right to a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment.
Contact:
Boram Jang, International Legal Advisor, International Commission of Jurists, t: +66 63 665 5315, e: boram.jang(a)icj.org
Resources:
To access pictures from the event, click here.
Nov 19, 2019 | News
Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government must demonstrate that they will uphold human rights and rule of law, and ensure that Sri Lanka sustains its international obligations and commitments to justice and accountability, said the ICJ today.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa faces credible allegations of involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity that took place during the country’s armed conflict.
“The election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, after a highly polarizing campaign, has alarmed human rights defenders in Sri Lanka and abroad, who have little reason to believe that someone facing such serious allegations of perpetrating human rights violations can be relied upon to meet the country’s obligations under international law,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ Asia Pacific Director.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who won the presidency with 52.25% of votes, served as Sri Lanka’s Secretary of the Ministry of Defence from 2005 to 2015 during the tenure of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the height of the armed conflict against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Both the military and LTTE perpetrated war crimes and gross human rights violations during the conflict, and particularly during its bloody final stages. As Defence Secretary, Gotabaya was accused of ordering the killing of surrendering LTTE fighters, ordering strikes on civilians and hospitals, and authorizing attacks on human rights defenders.
International condemnation of atrocities committed during the conflict led to the UN Human Rights Council demanding that the Sri Lankan government commit to a process of transitional justice, in view of the systematic failures of accountability mechanisms in Sri Lanka in the past, as documented by the ICJ in its submission to the Human Rights Council, and others. Despite commitments from the Sri Lankan government, the transitional justice process has effectively stalled and impunity has prevailed.
“The ICJ is deeply concerned that even the limited strides made over the past five years in Sri Lanka on transitional justice, positive constitutional amendments and institutional reform will be reversed,” said Rawski.
The ICJ urged the Government to deliver on its commitment to the transitional justice process, including by holding those responsible for human rights violations and abuses accountable, and complying with the obligations set out in United Nations Human Rights Council Resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1.
Contact:
Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Asia Director, t +66 644781121; e: frederick.rawski(a)icj.org
Oct 24, 2019 | News
The ICJ in collaboration with the Judicial Institute of Africa (JIFA) and Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU) convened a three-day training workshop for Zimbabwe court researchers.
The training workshop was held from the 21 to 23 October 2019 at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
The judicial research programme is an initiative that was established to increase the research capabilities of the researchers, which would in turn improve the jurisprudence emerging from the courts.
Court researchers play a crucial role in the development of Zimbabwean jurisprudence through the work they undertake on behalf of the judges.
Furthermore, the increased efficiency that they bring to the courts allows judges to expend more of their efforts on well-informed analysis and administration of cases.
This brings a better quality of justice and reduces waiting periods for judgments and case backlog.
Arnold Tsunga the Director of the Africa Regional Programme of the ICJ remarked that “given the importance of the space that these researchers occupy, it is important to ensure that their legal knowledge and skills continue to be relevant and comprehensive so that they can provide a service of quality that adequately responds to the needs of judges. This in turn will also contribute to attainment of the UN Strategic Develop Goal (SDG) 16 and 5 on access to justice for all as well as SDG 5 on leaving no one behind.”
The areas of discussion for the three-day training workshop focused on judicial ethics, accessing judgments, accessing research materials, judgment writing and memo writing.
The training workshop was facilitated by judges, university teaching staff, and external resources. Twenty researchers are took part in the training workshop, including 17 women.
Contact
Arnold Tsunga, t: +26377728 3248; e: arnold.tsunga(a)icj.org
Rumbidzai Muyendesi, t: +263771666579; e: rumbidzai.muyendesi(a)icj.org
Oct 20, 2019 | Advocacy, News
From 18 and 19 October 2019, the ICJ, in collaboration with UN Women and the Federal Court of Malaysia, convened the 2019 Southeast Asia Regional Judicial Dialogue in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The judges from Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste discussed how to apply the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other international legal instruments in their work at the domestic level to eliminate the negative impact of stereotyping and gender bias in the judiciary.
“We need to ensure that CEDAW and international human rights obligations are fully applied by national authorities, and not just taken as aspiration or long-term goal,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
“These standards need to have the force of law and made real, in workplace and in domestic settings, to ensure that women are free from violence and that there is access to justice when violence does occur.”
The judicial dialogue was opened by Malaysia’s first female Chief Justice, The Right Honourable Tan Sri Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat. The Chief Justice emphasized during her keynote speech the need for regular capacity strengthening initiatives for judges to be aware of gender-related issues. She emphasized further that “Judicial stereotyping can undermine the ability of women to exercise and enforce other rights guaranteed by law.”
This message was echoed by Carla Silbert of UN Women who said: “We see that women are often impacted disproportionately and thus judges should uphold women’s rights as human rights. It is a crucial role for the court to deliver justice with gender sensitivity.”
ICJ Commissioner Dato Ambiga Sreenavasan and the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia, Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt addressed the ongoing reforms in Malaysia and gender equality.
“Malaysia has its first female Chief Justice and has shown a remarkable growth of female leaders in influential positions. However, the participation of women in the labor workforce is still very low and it remains a challenge for us,” said Dato Ambiga Sreenavasan, Commissioner of the ICJ.
“The drive for democracy is to support and strengthen gender equality and the rule of law,” said Ambassador Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt. “ICJ’s Bangkok General Guidance for Judges on Applying a Gender Perspective in Southeast Asia is an important tool to address gender equality in judiciary.”
The dialogue included discussion on the topics of equality & non-discrimination, access to justice under international human rights law, gender stereotyping and gender discriminatory practices in cases involving women who are victims of trafficking.
Many participating judges said that they would be applying in their judicial work the tools introduced to them in the dialogue, including the Bangkok General Guidance. These could be used in decision-making, assessing evidence presented before them, and handling witnesses in their courts. Some also said that they plan to disseminate the information and tools to their colleagues in the judiciary.
Contact
Boram Jang, International Legal Adviser, Asia & the Pacific Programme, e: boram.jang(a)icj.org
Resources:
To access pictures from the event, click here.
