Jun 4, 2009 | Advocacy, Open letters
The ICJ drew the attention of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants to the fact that between 6 and 10 May 2009 the Italian authorities intercepted some 500 migrants in international waters.
These people were trying to reach Italy in small boats. Italian authorities escorted them back to Libya, without taking due account of Italy’s obligations in relation to potential asylum-seekers or others who may not be transferred to Libya for reasons of non-refoulement, as stipulated in Article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Italy-intervention SR Migrants-non-legal submission-2009
Jun 2, 2009 | News
The ICJ is concerned by the government’s failure to enact legislation that would criminalize the practice of enforced disappearances, investigate past cases, prosecute the perpetrators and provide reparation to victims.
Nepal-After Two Years, Government Still in Non-Compliance-Press releases-2009 (full text, PDF)
May 28, 2009 | News
The ICJ urged the UN Human Rights Council’s special session to call on the Government of Sri Lanka to take several human rights measures.
In particular, the Government of Sri Lanka must ensure unhindered humanitarian access and assistance to the internally displaced persons (IDPs), protection of IDPs, safeguards against attacks on journalists and human rights defenders and effective accountability, including through an independent international investigation into human rights and humanitarian law violations.
The ICJ deplored that the draft resolution L.1/Rev.2, which was later adopted by vote, failed to address the most pressing concerns.
SriLanka-UNcouncil-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
May 27, 2009 | News
The ICJ welcomes the convening of a Human Rights Council’s special session today in Geneva to address for the first time the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sri Lanka.
“The human rights and humanitarian crisis continues to unfold following the Government of Sri Lanka’s announcement last week that its military operations against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had ended and that all civilians had left the conflict zone,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists.
SriLanka-UNcouncil-IDPs-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
May 22, 2009 | News
The ICJ is alarmed by the plans of the Obama administration to regularize the indefinite detention without trial that has been emblematic of the worst US abuses in its counter terrorism programs since 11 September 2001.
USA-President signals continuation of detention without trial-Press releases-2009 (full text, PDF)
