Oct 16, 2019 | Multimedia items, News, Video clips
ICJ’s first ever fundraising gala took place on 14 October at the iconic setting of the Palais Eynard in Geneva.
Sami Kanaan, Counselor and former Mayor of the City of Geneva, which provided its generous support, opened the event by speaking of the importance of the ICJ cooperation with the local legal community.
Next, several speakers offered a few answers to the theme of the evening: ‘Geneva, the defense of the Rule of Law: what can I do?’.
Pierre de Preux, former Bâtonnier, explained the great value that can be brought to defending rule of law in the world by supporting the ICJ through missions, as he himself did in Tunisia in the 80s.
He was followed by ICJ Commissioners Sir Nicolas Bratza (former President of the European Court of Human Rights), who discussed backsliding on human rights in contemporary Europe; lawyer Reed Brody, who discussed his work in bringing powerful dictators to account for human rights atrocities; and Justice Martine Comte of France, who described her experience in leading ICJ missions in Central Asia.
The ICJ President Prof. Robert Goldman and ICJ Secretary General Sam Zarifi also addressed the attendees.
The exchange was then followed by an inspiring concert by the young virtuosi of the Menuhin Academy and a delicious Buffet cocktail provided by refugee Chefs Jena Hamza (Syrian Kurd) and Sritharan Tambithurai (Sri Lanka). All in all, a wonderful evening combining substance, beauty and friendship.
Watch the video here:
Sep 25, 2019 | Events, News
The ICJ is organizing its first fundraising Gala concert on Monday 14 October at 7:30pm in the Palais Eynard, 4 rue de la Croix Rouge, Geneva. The event will support the ICJ and its fight for the defense of the Rule of Law in the world and marks the end of the series of events we organized for our 60th anniversary in the city of human rights.
The theme of our Gala will be: “Geneva, the Defense of the Rule of Law: What can I do?”
After a welcome from the Mayor of Geneva and an introduction from Me Pierre de Preux, former Bâtonnier of the Geneva Bar, ICJ Commissioners including Sir Nicolas Bratza (former President of the European Court of Human Rights), Dame Silvia Cartwright (former Judge and Governor General of New Zealand), Professor Bob Goldman (ICJ President and former President of the Inter-american Commission on Human Rights) and Ms Roberta Clarke (ICJ Executive Chair, UN Women’s Office for the Caribbean, UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific) will give concrete answers to this question.
But the evening is also to enjoy a wonderful Concert of the ‘Soloists of the Menuhin Academy’ (photo) and the cocktail after that.
To reserve: Pascale.andris@icj.org
You cannot come but still want to make a donation: please click here
Download the invitation
Invitation Gala 14 Oct
Sep 25, 2019 | News
The Moroccan authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni and drop all charges against her, says the ICJ.
She was arrested on 31 August 2019, and has been detained since then on charges relating to “extra-marital sexual relations” and, purportedly, having consented to an “illegal abortion”.
Alongside Raissouni, the Moroccan authorities arrested and detained a medical doctor and two medical staff of the clinic where she had undergone medical treatment, and her fiancé. They too should be immediately and unconditionally released and have all charges against them dropped.
Raissouni is a journalist working for the independent daily newspaper Akhbar al-Yaoum. On 31 August, Raissouni and her fiancé were stopped in Rabat as they left the clinic where, according to her lawyers, she had been undergoing treatment for internal bleeding.
Plainclothes police officers questioned the couple about the medical treatment she had been receiving, and accused the journalist of having had an abortion.
After her arrest, Raissouni was forcibly subjected to a vaginal examination. She was then charged with “having an extramarital relationship” and with “consenting to have an illegal abortion”.
“Ms Raissouni’s rights to privacy, to bodily integrity and to be free from torture and other ill-treatment, as well as her rights to liberty and security of person, including her freedom from arbitrary detention, and her right to sexual and reproductive health, have been violated by the very same authorities that are supposed to respect and protect them,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
“She and others detained in connection with this case must be immediately and unconditionally released, the charges against them must be dropped, and their right to an effective remedy, including reparation must be ensured,” he added.
Raissouni, who was questioned after her arrest about her work as a journalist, recently covered mass demonstrations in the Rif region in the North of Morocco, where the protests by the local population were met with police repression.
This raises legitimate concerns over the political nature of the charges and prosecution against her.
On 5 September, the Rabat prosecutor’s office issued a public statement revealing that the results of the so-called medical examination to which Raissouni had been subjected purportedly indicated that she had undergone an abortion. The prosecutor also rejected all accusation that the charges against her were motivated by Raissouni’s work as a journalist.
On 23 September, Raissouni and the other accused, who remain in custody after their request for provisional release was rejected, appeared before the First Instance Tribunal of Rabat where they denied all charges.
Background
In Morocco, abortion is only allowed “if necessary to protect the mother’s health” (article 453 of the Penal Code) and is otherwise publishable with up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine (article 454). Consensual sex out of wedlock is also a criminal offence under article 490 of the Penal Code, punishable with up to one year’s imprisonment. These provisions are not consistent with Morocco’s obligations under international human rights law obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Morocco is a State party.
In its 2019 report Obstacles to Women’s and Girls’ Access to Justice for Gender-based Violence in Morocco, the ICJ urged the Moroccan authorities to amend these provisions in order to recognize one’s right to sexual autonomy, among others, and to facilitate access to safe and legal abortion.
Download
Morocco-Abortion-News-web stories-2019-ARA (full story in Arabic, PDF)
Sep 23, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today drew the attention of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, to the Bangkok General Guidance for Judges on Applying a Gender Perspective, in the context of a discussion of “Gender-responsive initiatives to accelerate gender equality”.
The oral statement read as follows:
“International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes this opportunity to share information on our ongoing work with women judges in many parts of the world, supporting them and their male colleagues to better ensure women’s access to justice and gender equality.
As part of these efforts, facilitated by the ICJ and UN Women, in 2016 judges from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Timor Leste developed and adopted The Bangkok General Guidance for Judges on Applying a Gender Perspective.
Among many other provisions, the Guidance urges States to achieve gender parity in appointments to the bench.
The Guidance provides that: “Gender equality should be a principle that guides judicial appointments. Women and men must be equally represented on the bench as they bring a diversity of perspectives, approaches and life experiences to adjudication, which influence the interpretation and application of laws.”
It further recommends that “[i]f necessary, temporary affirmative measures – like quotas which should be consistent with requirements of integrity and high competency – should be implemented in order to assure that women are adequately represented in the judiciary” and that “[e]valuation panels for the appointment and promotion of judges should be composed of men and women.”
The Guidance builds on global standards such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ provisions on equality, non-discrimination, and equal access to public service; article 10 of the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, on non-discrimination in judicial selection processes; and related articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
We hope the Bangkok Guidance will be a useful reference both in considering how to improve gender parity within the Council’s mechanisms, and as a resource for the Council and its mechanisms to cite in their analysis and recommendations to governments and other stakeholders, on improving access to justice for women in Southeast Asia and around the world.”
Sep 10, 2019 | News
ICJ expressed concern over the decision given on 27 August 2019 by the Malaysian High Court that a fatwa issued against the women’s organization, Sisters in Islam, should be referred to the Syariah Court.
The High Court used as a basis Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution, which states that secular courts do not have jurisdiction over matters pertaining to Islam.
The ICJ called on the Malaysian authorities to ensure that custom, tradition, and religion should not be used as a justification to undermine human rights, including women’s human rights.
In 2014, the Selangor Fatwa Council issued a fatwa declaring the Sisters in Islam a “deviant organization.” For many years, Sisters in Islam has been promoting more egalitarian interpretations of Islamic laws with the aim of ending discrimination against women and achieving equality in the Muslim family.
“For women to fully exercise their religious freedom, they must be able to retain or adopt the religion of their choice, and they must be able to continue belonging to this religion without being discriminated against within the religion,” said Emerlynne Gil, ICJ’s Senior International Legal Adviser.
The ICJ stressed that under international law, States have an obligation to protect people who are prevented from exercising their religious freedom by private actors, such as their own religious communities.
“The Malaysian government, including the judiciary, has the obligation to protect groups like Sisters in Islam when they face persecution from within their religious communities for propounding alternative views about their religion,” said Emerlynne Gil.
Furthermore, the ICJ had previously underscored in a 2019 briefing paper on the challenges to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Malaysia, the tensions emerging from jurisdictional disputes between civil courts, which apply federal and state laws, and Syariah courts, which apply Islamic laws.
In 2018, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in reviewing the performance of Malaysia, voiced its own concern over “the existence of a parallel legal system of civil law and multiple versions of Syariah law, which have not been harmonized in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).” The CEDAW Committee concluded that this “leads to a gap in the protection of women against discrimination, including on the basis of their religion.
Contact:
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Advisor, ICJ, e: emerlynne.gil(a)icj.org
