The ICJ today urged the Government of Nepal to reverse its decision to extend the tenure of Colonel Raju Basnet, alleged to have been involved in systematic enforced disappearance and torture and ill-treatment.
“Since the attacks of September 2001, decisions being taken at both national and international levels have been touching all regions of the world,” Michèle Rivet said as a preamble.
Many States or governments have adopted measures: pre-emptive detention without charge, long periods of pre-trial detention, restriction to the access to legal counsel, expulsion of foreigners without due consideration to the non refoulement principle, and finally, establishment of special courts that do not meet the minimum requirement of independence and impartiality.
Some governments have carried out activities shrouded in secrecy, and introduced measures that deny individuals the right to test or to challenge the legality of the actions taken against them or the lawfulness of their detention.
Many detainees have been summarily taken or expelled without due process in violation of usual extradition procedures to a country where they can be tortured with impunity. We have seen basic fair trial guarantees ignored, rights of defence cut down, and rights of appeal removed.
Genevaforum-fairtrial-advocacy-2010 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ is concerned by a recent series of attacks on lawyers in Kyrgyzstan, and called on the government to take urgent steps to ensure the security of lawyers, defendants and other participants in criminal proceedings.
On 10 October 2010, the 8th World Day Against the Death Penalty is dedicated to the US which executed 52 people and handed down 106 death sentences in 2009.
The ICJ today urged the Government of Nepal to take swift action to enforce pending judicial orders regarding serious crimes allegedly committed by members of both the Nepal Army and the Maoist Party.
These include the 2004 murder of 13-year-old Maina Sunuwar while detained at the Army’s Peacekeeping Training Centre and the 1998 murder of Ujjan Kumar Shrestha by Constituent Assembly (CA) Member Balkrishna Dhungel.
Nepal-cease obstruction justice-press release-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
Nepal-cease obstruction justice-press release-2010 (full text in Nepali, PDF)
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