Jan 21, 2014 | News
The ICJ today condemned the imposition of the death penalty on 30 people found guilty of drug trafficking in Viet Nam and urged its government to amend laws and take steps towards abolishing the death penalty.
On 20 January, 21 men and nine women were convicted of drug trafficking following a 17-day trial held within the compound of a detention center rather than in a court.
“Viet Nam has the highest number of executions in the ASEAN,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. “This is really of serious concern, especially since its courts have been widely criticized as lacking independence, and judicial proceedings have frequently violated international fair trial standards.”
The ICJ repeatedly has criticized Viet Nam’s violations of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law.
Under international law, the death penalty may only be lawfully pronounced as a sentence for the most serious crimes, after a full and fair trial. The imposition of the death penalty in this case — a prosecution for drug trafficking — is inconsistent with international law and standards that define the most serious crimes as those involving the intention to kill and resulting in the loss of life.
“Viet Nam’s failure to abolish the death penalty goes against the global trend,” said Zarifi. “The country has chosen to act contrary to repeated calls in several resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on the issue.”
According to a report by the Secretary General to the General Assembly in 2012, 150 of the 193 UN member states either have abolished the death penalty or introduced a moratorium on it.
Among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines has ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (OP2), abolishing the death penalty. Cambodia also has abolished the death penalty. Lao PDR, Myanmar and Brunei have not carried out the death penalty in several years. Aside from Viet Nam, four other ASEAN Member States still retain the death penalty: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
In November 2013, Viet Nam was elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
Sam Zarifi noted, “The recent death sentences handed down in Viet Nam, in violation of international law, suggest a lack of respect for international law at odds with the spirit of a country newly taking its seat at the UN Human Rights Council.”
It is estimated that more than 600 prisoners are now awaiting execution in Viet Nam. It last imposed the death penalty on 19 December 2013 on two former shipping executives found guilty of embezzlement.
The ICJ considers the death penalty a violation of the right to life and the right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
The ICJ calls on the Government of Viet Nam to immediately establish a moratorium on executions and take steps towards the complete abolition of the death penalty.
CONTACT:
Emerlynne Gil, ICJ International Legal Advisor for Southeast Asia, tel. no. (Bangkok) +66840923575, email: emerlynne.gil(a)icj.org
Craig Knowles, ICJ Media & Communications, (Bangkok), tel.no. +66819077653, email: craig.knowles(a)icj.org
Jan 21, 2014 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions, Position papers
The ICJ submitted today its contribution to the public consultation of the European Commission on the future of home affairs policies in the European Union.
In its contribution, the ICJ highlighted the need to increase human rights protection in EU home affairs legislation and in its implementation.
The ICJ submission recommends an increased monitoring of the human rights compliance of draft legislation; calls for increased transparency in the legislative process; and for a better use of infringement proceedings by the European Commission to ensure the effective implementation of EU home affairs legislation with particular attention to the protection of human rights.
The ICJ addressed, in its contribution, the importance of a correct and human rights compliant implementation of the new Common European Asylum System, and the need of further reforms in the EU legislation on asylum, migration and border control.
Finally, the ICJ stressed the poor record of the EU institutions, besides the European Parliament, in ensuring accountability for human rights violations committed in countering terrorism, for example in the cases of the National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programme scandal and in the cases of alleged complicity of European States in the US-led system of renditions and secret detentions.
EU-PublicConsultation-ICJ-FutureHomeAffairs-2014-Final (download the contribution)
Jan 21, 2014 | News
The ICJ is deeply concerned by reports that the President of Nauru has prevented the island nation’s Chief Justice from returning to the country and expelled the sole Resident Magistrate in violation of international standards on the independence of the judiciary.
According to media reports, Nauru President Baron Waqa on January 19 removed Resident Magistrate Peter Law in violation of an injunction issued by Chief Justice Geoffrey Eames. Subsequently, Chief Justice Eames, who was in Australia at the time, had his visa cancelled. Both judicial officials are Australian citizens.
Australia administered Nauru as a dependent territory until 1968 and the two countries retain strong bilateral relations. Australian judges and magistrates often serve on Nauru Courts.
“Removing judges from office, without any process whatsoever, breaches clear international standards on the independence of the judiciary,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. “It also jeopardizes the right of people in Nauru, especially those currently engaged in legal proceedings, to have a fair trial.”
Nauru is an island state in Micronesia in the South Pacific.
The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (CIJL) is monitoring developments.
Contact:
Sam Zarifi, ICJ Asia-Pacific Regional Director, (Bangkok), t:+66 807819002, e-mail: sam.zarifi(a)icj.org
Craig Knowles, ICJ Media & Communications, (Bangkok), t:+66 819077653, e-mail: craig.knowles(a)icj.org
Jan 20, 2014
The ICJ has submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child an alternative report in advance of the Committee’s examination of the fourth and fifth periodic reports of the Russian Federation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The ICJ submission draws the Committee’s attention to concerns related to:
- The detrimental impact of extractive and mining companies’ activities on children’s rights;
- The detrimental impact of asbestos production on children’s rights;
- The impact on children’s rights of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The Committee will examine the fourth and fifth periodic reports of the Russian Federation during its 65th session held in January 2014, following which it will adopt Concluding Observations setting out recommendations to the Government of the Russian Federation.
RussianFederation-CRC65-AlternativeReport-LegalSubmission-2014 (download full submission in PDF)
Jan 18, 2014 | Адвокаси, Юридические заявления
МКЮ подала заявку в Комитет по ликвидации всех форм дискриминации в отношении женщин (CEDAW) до рассмотрения объединенного третьего и четвертого периодических докладов Казахстана в соответствии со статьей 18 одноименной Конвенции.
В представлении МКЮ обращается внимание Комитета на проблемы, связанные с насилием и дискриминацией по признаку пола.
Он также включает в себя ряд широко сформулированных рекомендаций, призывающих власти в Казахстане решить эти проблемы и вступить в силу обязательства государства-участника по Конвенции.
Комитет рассмотрит объединенные третий и четвертый периодические доклады Казахстана на своей 57-й сессии в феврале 2014 года, после чего он примет заключительные замечания с изложением рекомендаций правительству Казахстана.
Kazakhstan-ICJ Submission to CEDAW-advocacy-legal submission-2014 (скачайте документ на английском, PDF)
