International Commission of Jurists
ICJ convenes Regional Judicial Dialogue to promote and protect human rights in the ASEAN

ICJ convenes Regional Judicial Dialogue to promote and protect human rights in the ASEAN

Nov 5, 2014 | Events, News

On 6 and 7 November 2014, judges and representatives of judicial training institutions from most ASEAN Member States will gather in Manila to discuss recent developments in international human rights law on questions relating to the right to life. 

Among the areas of consideration will be custodial deaths and other extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

The two-day event, entitled Judicial Dialogue on Deciding Cases Involving Human Rights Violations in the ASEAN, is organized by the ICJ in collaboration with the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism.

This initiative is also part of ICJ’s continuous efforts to support Southeast Asian judiciaries through the facilitation of colloquia and dialogues.

Among the event’s participants are Honourable Dato Seri Paduka Hj Kifrawi bin Dato Paduka Hj Kifli, Chief Justice of Brunei Darussalam; ICJ Commissioners Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna and Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn; and Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, Co-Chairperson of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism and Former UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of Judges and Lawyers.

This Judicial Dialogue is aimed to be a platform for peer-to-peer sharing of experiences among judges, representatives from judicial training institutions, and lawyers and other jurists in the ASEAN.

Some of the discussions expected to take place include the international legal framework on the right to life, including custodial deaths and other extrajudicial executions; landmark cases that have previously found state authorities accountable for serious violations of human rights; and challenges faced by judges in cases involving serious violations of human rights and practical solutions to overcome them.

ASEAN-Programme Judicial Dialoghe-News-Events-2014-ENG (full text PDF)

ICJ joins in call for attention to deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt

ICJ joins in call for attention to deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt

Oct 22, 2014

The ICJ today joined a call with six other international NGOs for members and observers of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to pay special attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt ahead of and following the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Egypt.

The HRC Working Group on the UPR will, on 5 November 2014, be undertaking a review of the human rights situation in Egypt. This comes at a critical time for human rights, freedoms and independent Egyptian civil society, including rights defenders and democracy activists. Noting that the Government of Egypt has reaffirmed a deadline for 10 November 2014 for all civil society organisations to register with the Government under the highly repressive Law on Associations, the ICJ and others called on members and observers of the HRC to, at a minimum, address several key issues, including:

  • Threats against human rights defenders and civil society organisations and activists;
  • The need for new legislation to guarantee freedom of assembly through a transparent and simple notification process;
  • The need for judicial investigations into the ordering and carrying out of unlawful killings in the course of suppressing mainly peaceful protests;
  • Respect for and non-interference with the independence of the judiciary;
  • The need for immediate and unconditional release of persons detained solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association; and
  • The need to immediate end the use of torture and other ill-treatment.

Egypt-UPR-OpenLetter-2014-EN (download open letter in PDF)

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