On 26 June 2023, the UN Human Rights Council heard the reports by the UN Special Rapporteurs on independence of judges and lawyers, and on summary executions. The ICJ welcomes the two reports and raised concerns about the situation in various countries, in particular in Guatemala, Tunisia, Viet Nam, Thailand and Egypt.
Today, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), in cooperation with the Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA) of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Bar Association of the Republic of Tajikistan, has convened a roundtable discussion on the importance of preserving the independence and security of lawyers in Tajikistan.
At the final stage of the event, participants will formulate a robust set of recommendations. These recommendations will encapsulate the perspectives garnered throughout the event, strengthening the efforts to bolster the independence and security of lawyers in Tajikistan. The participants stressed the need for ongoing dialogue and collaboration involving the Bar Association and independent lawyers to address these issues.
Downloads
Agenda in English Round table on independence and security of lawyers in Tajikistan_eng
Lawyers for Lawyers, the Bar Human Rights Committee, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Committee (IBAHRI), International Commission of Jurists, the Law Society of England and Wales, and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) are concerned about the ongoing violations of fair trial rights in the ongoing trial of Sri Lankan lawyer and human rights defender Hejaaz Hizbullah. Key witnesses have been subject to threat, coercion, intimidation and arrest.
The full statement can be read here.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has welcomed the Supreme Court of Namibia’s recent landmark ruling ordering the government to interpret the country’s immigration laws so as to recognize same-sex marriages concluded abroad. Nonetheless, the organization is gravely concerned at the country-wide protests against the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) people and against the ruling, including through a petition calling for the removal of the judges responsible for it and for the Minister of Justice to be fired. Such public attacks on judges threaten judicial independence and, in turn, undermine the rule of law.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and its partners (Human Rights in Practice, Free Courts, aditus and Forum for Human Rights) organized a workshop on Institutional independence of the judiciary and autonomy of the prosecution service, on 13-14 June 2023 in Brussels.
Tunisia must quash guilty verdicts against anti-pollution protesters and investigate alleged torture of human rights activist
Egypt: NGOs demand the immediate and unconditional release of Ibrahim Metwally, detained solely for peacefully exercising his human rights
Egypt: Authorities must stop persecuting political opponent Ahmad Tantawi and his wife
Libya: Investigate unidentified bodies and reported mass graves in Abu Salim