Sep 24, 2019 | News
The ICJ today called for an end to criminal proceedings against Dagir Hasavov, a prominent Russian lawyer facing prosecution on allegations of obstruction of justice.
On 17 September, less than a week after lawyer Dmitriy Sotnikov was physically attacked in court, Dagir Hasavov was detained by police in the Lefortovo court building in Moscow. He was charged with “obstruction of justice” and “bribery or coercion to testify or evasion of giving evidence” (articles 294.1 and 309.4 of the Russian Criminal Code). On 18 September, Moscow Basmanny court authorised the detention of Hasavov until 16 November.
“There are strong indications that these charges are spurious and that the arrest of Dagir Hasavov is an attempt to obstruct him in carrying out his professional duties, and to prevent his clients from having a fair trial. The proceedings should be discontinued and he should be immediately released.” said Róisín Pillay, ICJ Europe and Central Asia Programme Director. “Such arrests also send a clear message of intimidation to other lawyers. Without urgent measures to end harassment of lawyers, the ability of the legal profession to protect human rights will be increasingly jeopardized”.
Dagir Khasavov represented the former Dagestan Prime Minister Abdusamad Hamidov, who was detained together with his deputy Rayudin Yusufov by the FSB in February 2018 as part of a special anti-corruption operation and was charged with multiple criminal offences, including embezzlement.
Prosecutors allege that Dagir Hasavov threatened Albert Havchaev, a witness in the trial, and attempted to coerce him to testify in court for the benefit of the defence. Hasavov’s home was also searched.
Eduard Isetskiy, another lawyer of the former Dagestan Prime Minister, has stated that after the arrest of Hasavov he and other colleagues were told by investigators that they would face similar prosecution. He added that towards the end of a trial, about a week before the Hasavov’s arrest, the State Prosecutor on the case was replaced and the courtroom became increasingly surrounded with armed and masked security forces. The new prosecutor called lawyers “extremists” and filed a motion to have all their social networks accounts blocked.
Any criminal proceedings against the lawyer amounting to harassment or reprisals for his professional activities would constitute not only an assault on the legal profession in the Russian Federation, but also a violation of the right to a fair trial, protected under international human rights law.
Moreover, international standards on the rights of lawyers, including the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, provide that governments must ensure that lawyers “are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference” and “shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.”
The ICJ stresses that these attacks, arrests and criminal proceedings that have been taking place in Russia lately, create a chilling effect on the proper exercise of professional duties by lawyers, endangering the right to a fair trial and undermining the justice system.
Additional information:
Dagir Hasavov is a prominent lawyer in Russia who has taken many cases dealing with allegations of religious extremism or terrorism. He has defended among others the Moscow imam Mahmud Velitov, convicted for justification of terrorism; the former representative of the President in Sakhalin oblast charged with extremism; several persons accused of participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir, the organization banned in Russia. He also represented pro bono the parents of a murdered 5-year-old Tajik girl Huvaido Tillozoda.
It has been reported that around 100 lawyers are joining together to defend Hasavov as the Russian legal community has realized the need for corporate solidarity in the face of the increasing threats to the security of lawyers and independence of the profession.
Sep 24, 2019 | Events, News
The side event aims to identify current threats against lawyers’ professional rights and guarantees in the OSCE region.
The speakers will identify and analyze the current trends through a discussion of recently gathered data and specific cases of violation of lawyers’ rights from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Russia and Belarus. They will also make recommendations regarding the way forward to increase protection for lawyers and the independent legal profession in these countries and the OSCE region as a whole.
A flyer for the event is available here.
The agenda for the event available here.
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 21, 2019 | Advocacy
The ICJ has joined several hundred organizations working to defend human rights, the environment, and climate justice in a bold declaration setting out a vision and objectives for addressing the climate crisis and the devastating human rights and environmental impact of catastrophic climate change.
The Declaration was adopted at a gathering of the the Peoples’ Summit on Climate, Rights and Human Survival in New York on 18-19 September, which brought together some 200 representatives of Indigenous Peoples, workers, academia, environmental and human rights groups, including the ICJ.
The Declaration warns that “the climate emergency threatens human survival, the environment and the enjoyment of all human rights, for present and future generations.”
It emphasizes that governments and corporations bear the primary responsibility for acting to address and reverse the drivers of climate change.
The signatories to the Declaration agreed to 10 types of actions, including, among others, placing human rights at the core of climate activism, demanding effective access to justice for individuals and communities whose rights are impacted by the climate crisis, and support for environmental human rights defenders.
Download
Universal-Peoples Summit Declaration CC-Advocacy-2019-ENG (full declaration in PDF)
Sep 20, 2019 | News
The ICJ today expressed concern at the killing of lawyer Derk Wiersum, who was shot on 18 September 2019 in broad daylight in front of his home in Amsterdam.
Derk Wiersum was representing a key witness for the prosecution in a high-profile criminal trial against 16 members of a criminal organization, accused of five murders and an attempted murder between 2015 and 2017.
The Netherlands’ counter-terrorism agency, NCTV, is leading a team of police and prosecutors carrying out an investigation into the killing; other lawyers and officials involved in the case have been put under emergency protection.
“The killing of a lawyer, apparently in connection with his work, raises serious concern both for security of lawyers and for the rule of law. We welcome the prompt measures taken by the Dutch authorities to initiate an investigation into this crime, which should lead to the identification and prosecution of the perpetrators. It is also crucial that measures be taken to ensure the safety of other lawyers and other individuals who may be at risk,” said Róisín Pillay, ICJ Europe Programme Director.
Dutch lawyers, prosecutors and judges have issued a joint statement expressing their shock and raising concern at the threat of this attack to the country’s legal system.
Additional information:
International human rights law, including the European Convention on Human Rights to which the Netherlands is a party, requires that States take steps to protect the life and physical integrity of persons who they know or ought to know are at real risk of violence.
According to the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, governments must ensure that lawyers are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference (principle 16). The UN Basic Principles specify that “[w]here the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities” (principle 17).
