Jul 29, 2020 | Advocacy
The Sri Lankan government should end the targeted arrests, intimidation and threats against the lives and physical security of lawyers, activists, human rights defenders and journalists, the ICJ and 9 other international human rights organizations said today.
A campaign of fear has intensified since the 2019 presidential election, and has cast a shadow over the 2020 parliamentary election campaign.
The United Nations, as well Sri Lanka’s partners and foreign donors, should immediately call for full respect, protection and fulfillment of the human rights of all Sri Lankans, and particularly to halt the reversal of fragile gains in the protection of human rights in recent years.
Numerous civilian institutions, including the NGO Secretariat, have been placed under the control of the Defence Ministry. Serving and retired military officers have been appointed to a slew of senior government roles previously held by civilians.
The authorities have recently established military-led bodies such as the Presidential Task Force to build “a secure country, disciplined, virtuous and lawful society,” which has the power to issue directives to any government official. This represents an alarming trend towards the militarization of the state.
Many of those in government, including the president, defense secretary, and army chief, are accused of war crimes during the internal armed conflict that ended in 2009.
Since the presidential election in November 2019, anti-human rights rhetoric intended to restrict the space for civil society has been amplified by senior members of government.
On 6 July 2020, at an election rally, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that “NGOs will be taken into a special attention under the new government formed after the General Election, specifically, how foreign monies and grants are received to the NGOs from foreign countries and further, activities of the international organizations will be observed.”
The government has also announced a probe into NGOs registered under the previous government.
In the months following the November 2019 presidential election, a number of organizations reported visits from intelligence officers who sought details of staff, programs and funding, in particular, organizations in the war-affected Northern and Eastern provinces of the country. Such visits are blatant attempts to harass and intimidate Sri Lankan civil society.
In February, the acting District Secretary in the Mullaitivu District (Northern Province) issued a directive that only non-governmental organizations with at least 70 percent of their activities focused on development would be allowed to work, effectively enabling arbitrary interference with and prevention of a broad range of human rights work.
A Jaffna-based think-tank was visited several times, including soon after the Covid-19 lockdown, and questioned about its work, funding and staff details.
Lawyers taking on human rights cases have been targeted through legal and administrative processes and have faced smear campaigns in the media.
Journalists and those voicing critical opinions on social media, have been arbitrarily arrested. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed alarm at the clampdown on freedom of expression, including the 1 April announcement by the police that any person criticizing officials engaged in the response to Covid-19 would be arrested.
It is unclear whether there is any legal basis for such arrests. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has cautioned against “an increasing number of such arrests since the issuing of a letter dated 1 April 2020”.
The targeting and repression of journalists and human rights defenders is not only an assault on the rights of these individuals, but an attack on the principles of human rights and the rule of law which should protect all Sri Lankans.
These policies have a chilling effect on the rights to freedom of expression and association, which are crucial for the operation of civil society and fundamental to the advancement of human rights.
Those working on ending impunity and ensuring accountability for past crimes, and especially victims, victim’s families, members of minority communities, and networks in the Northern and Eastern provinces, are particularly at risk of intimidation and harassment.
The Sri Lankan authorities must end all forms of harassment, threats, and abuse of legal processes and police powers against lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists. Human rights defenders living and working in Sri Lanka should be able to carry out their peaceful human rights work without fear of reprisals, which requires a safe and enabling environment in which they can organize, assemble, receive and share information.
Download:
Sri Lanka-Harassment civil society-Advocacy-2020-ENG (the full statement with additional information, in PDF)
Jul 22, 2020 | Advocacy, Cases, Legal submissions, News
The ICJ and Amnesty International have submitted a joint third party intervention before the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Judges Mariusz Broda and Alina Bojara.
The case concerns the premature termination of their mandates as vice-presidents of the regional tribunal of Kielce in Poland. The two judges, that had been appointed to six-year terms in 2014, had their position revoked by the Minister of Justice in 2018.
The revocation was based on article 17.1 of the Law of 12 July 2017 modifying the Law on the Judicial System. This provision, presented and approved by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), gave the Minister of Justice the power to revoke courts’ presidents and vice-presidents without justified grounds and with no possibility of appeal.
The two judges applied to the European Court of Human Rights alleging that they had been denied access to a tribunal to challenge the termination of their mandate .
In their third party intervention, the ICJ and Amnesty International analyze international standards on judicial independence, including as regards the role court presidents and vice-presidents, and the consequences of these standards for the right of access to court under Article 6.1 ECHR. The intervention also analyses the recent legislative and policy developments that have seriously undermined the independence of the Polish judiciary.
Read the full intervention here: Broda_v_Poland-AmicusCuriae-ICJ&AI-Cases-2020-ENG.
Jul 15, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today highlighted the lack of judicial independence and other obstacles to access to justice for human rights violations in Venezuela, at the UN Human Rights Council.
The statement, delivered in an interactive dialogue on the relevant report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, read as follows:
“Madame President,
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ on the situation in Venezuela pursuant to resolution 42/25. The ICJ regrets however that the report was not published sufficiently in advance of the Interactive Dialogue to allow for detailed analysis and response.
The report points to a wide range of violations of civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights in the country.
The ICJ has documented over many years the lack of judicial independence and the absence of domestic accountability for human rights violations in Venezuela. In the Arco Minero of the Orinoco, we have seen numerous alleged cases of enforced disappearances, human trafficking, threats to human rights defenders, and serious abuses of the rights of indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women and children.
The ICJ would like to ask the High Commissioner to elaborate on the long-entrenched obstacles to accountability for human rights violations in the Venezuelan justice system, and on the abuses against indigenous peoples in the Arco Minero.
The ICJ also looks forward to the discussion of and action on the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission’s report at the 45th session of the Council in September, and urges the Council to stand ready to extend the mandate, and to enlarge the scope, of the Fact-Finding Mission at that time.
Thank you.”
Jul 13, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council the ICJ today emphasized the need for a human-rights-based approach to addressing corruption in justice systems, and urged more attention be given to the abuse of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments.
The statement, delivered in an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, read as follows:
“Mr Special Rapporteur,
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concurs with the affirmation in your report that justice systems must effectively counter corruption; that corruption in justice systems negatively impacts human rights; and that addressing such impacts is within the mandate of the Human Rights Council.[1]
At the same time, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) already actively provides resources and specialized technical expertise to States and prosecutors in implementing the Convention against Corruption. Keeping the Human Rights Council’s focus on the specific value added by a human-rights-based approach to such overlapping issues makes the best use of the Council and OHCHR’s limited resources and special competence and expertise.
For example, this report could have presented a detailed analysis of, and recommendations on, the right to remedy and reparation of victims of human rights violations caused by corruption of prosecutors, judges and lawyers. However, while the report briefly mentions victims (para 30), human rights defenders (para 31), and human rights training (para 58), and that human rights issues can impede international cooperation (para 49), but otherwise it mostly addresses technical advice for effective counter-corruption measures. The ICJ invites you to elaborate on the specific new elements a human-rights-based approach adds to the expert advice already provided by UNODC in this regard.
We also urge you to devote a future report to the manipulation of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments to repress dissenting voices and human rights defenders, neutralize political opposition, shrink civil society space, and entrench impunity for human rights violations, which as our submission documented is no less urgent a global human rights issue than corruption, and is not a special focus of UN bodies other than the Council and OHCHR.
Thank you.”
[1] Indeed, twenty years ago the ICJ adopted a Policy Framework for Preventing and Eliminating Corruption and Ensuring the Impartiality of the Judicial System and its work against corruption in cooperation with judiciaries and prosecution services continues at the global and national levels.
Jul 9, 2020 | Agendas, Events, News
The ICJ is holding an online discussion for lawyers and other representatives of civil society in Tajikistan on access to justice in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The discussion is held on 10 July 2020 from 14.00 to 17.00 Dushanbe Time (GMT + 5) on the GoToMeeting platform
The discussion aims to raise some of the main issues that lawyers face in providing legal representation both in and outside of courts.
The event will present an opportunity for practicing lawyers, NGOs and IGOs to discuss the recent challenges that the legal profession faced in Tajikistan as well as seek some of the solutions based on international law and best practices of other countries.
During the discussion, relevant international law and standards as well as comparative examples from the Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan will be discussed.
To participate in the discussions registration is required on the following link : https://forms.gle/QRywqBFPSxfR5eyk7
Working languages of the event are Russian and Tajik.
Contact:
Dilshod Juraev, t: +992 77 700 18 34 ; e: Dilshod.jurayev(a)icj.org
