Dec 9, 2020
The ICJ today released two practical guides aimed to assist practitioners to advance accountability and justice through the Specialized Criminal Chambers (SCC) in Tunisia.
Practical Guide 2 addresses the investigation and prosecution of gross human rights violations under Tunisian and international law, while Practical Guide 3 covers the principles and best practices on evidence in the administration of justice. Practical Guide 1, which was released in December 2019, considered the role of international law and standards in proceedings before the SCC.
Trials before the SCC started in May 2018. Since the opening of the first hearing, it has been evident that gaps in the rules and procedures governing the investigation, prosecution and evidence in the SCC cases have served to endanger efforts to hold perpetrators to account and bring justice to victims for past violations of human rights.
“The credibility of SCC trials largely depends on their capacity to ensure effective and fair investigations and prosecutions based on strong, compelling and untainted evidence,” said Said Benarbia, the ICJ’s MENA Programme Director.
“These practical guides should serve to assist those working in the Tunisian justice sector to make the most of this opportunity to end impunity and enable victims to obtain redress, all while ensuring the highest possible fair trial standards.”
Practical Guide 2 sets out the international law and standards governing the obligation to investigate and prosecute gross human rights violations, the accused’s right to a fair trial, and the rights of victims and their families to participate in proceedings and to an effective remedy.
Practical Guide 3 describes the principles and best practices under international law that apply to the collection, admissibility and evaluation of evidence in the investigation and prosecution of gross human rights violations.
Both guides aim to provide options for applying Tunisia’s law and procedures on investigation, prosecution, and evidence in SCC cases in compliance with international law and standards.
“Tunisians have waited so long to see justice for the many human rights abuses that were committed in the past,” said Kate Vigneswaran, the ICJ’s MENA Programme Senior Legal Adviser.
“The SCC holds out the promise that this wait might end, but only if the trials are grounded on solid proceedings that put accountability, human rights and fairness at the forefront.”
Contact
Said Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41-22-979-3817; e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Kate Vigneswaran, Senior Legal Adviser, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +31-62-489-4664; e: kate.vigneswaran(a)icj.org
Background information
The SCC were established in 2014 to adjudicate cases involving alleged “gross human rights violations” between 1955 and 2013 referred by the Truth and Dignity Commission (Instance Verité et Dignité, IVD).
At the end of its mandate in December 2018, the IVD’s referred to the SCC 200 cases of arbitrary deprivations of life, arbitrary deprivations of liberty, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, rape and sexual assault and crimes against humanity committed by the past regime.
Practical Guides 2 and 3 are preceded by Practical Guide 1 on The Adjudication of Crimes Under Tunisian and International Law, which examines the principles of legality and non-retroactivity under international law and their application in the domestic system, and conducts an analysis of the definition of crimes under Tunisian law vis-à-vis international law for arbitrary deprivations of life, arbitrary deprivations of liberty, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, rape and sexual assault and crimes against humanity. The three Guides will also be followed by Practical Guide 4 on modes of liability under Tunisian and international law.
In a briefing paper published in October 2020, the ICJ also called on the Tunisian authorities to undertake substantial legal and policy reforms with a view to strengthening accountability and removing the obstacles that impede the SCC work.
Download
Tunisia-SSC guide series no2-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2020-ENG (Guide 2 in English, PDF)
Tunisia-SSC guide series no3-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2020-ENG (Guide 3 in English, PDF)
Tunisia-Launch Guides-News-2020-ARA (story in Arabic, PDF)
Tunisia-SSC guide series no2-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2020-ARA (Guide 2 in Arabic, PDF)
Tunisia-SSC guide series no3-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2020-ARA (Guide 3 in Arabic, PDF)
Dec 9, 2020
In a new report released today, the ICJ called on the Vietnamese authorities to take swift measures to reform its laws and practices around the use of the internet and to stem the pattern of accelerating human rights abuse of individuals online.
The paper, Dictating the Internet: Curtailing Free Expression and Information Online in Vietnam, details the deteriorating human rights environment online in Vietnam. The paper tracks, in particular, how State authorities have increasingly abused laws and the administration of justice to violate the rights to freedom of expression, opinion and information online.
The paper follows on from the ICJ’s 2019 regional report entitled Dictating the Internet: Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia assessing non-human rights compliant legal frameworks and case studies across Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.
The paper outlines emerging developments and trends in 2020 and tracks interferences not only with freedom of expression, opinion and information online, but also the rights to privacy, liberty, fair trial, freedom of association and assembly, life and health.
Multiple case studies highlight how affected individuals have been subject to harassment, investigation, criminal charges, prosecution, and imprisonment for exercising their rights to free expression and information on online platforms. The Dong Tam dispute and trial – which reflected the abuse of rights online and offline of individuals seeking to bring to light human rights violations relating to the land rights dispute – is also highlighted as an emblematic case study.
The paper further explains how, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, freedom of expression and information online has been arbitrarily curtailed by the State in the misguided name of protecting public health.
Along with applying ill-conceived laws to harass individuals, Vietnamese authorities have continued to employ other tactics to ensure State control of expression and content online, including through cybersurveillance and policing of online platforms, and applying pressure on technological companies to comply with demands for censorship by silencing human rights defenders on their platforms.
The paper provides specific recommendations to the Vietnamese Government to safeguard in law and practice the rights to freedom of expression, opinion and information online as well as offline, in line with the State’s international human rights obligations.
The full report is available in English here. (PDF)
Contact
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser, email: kingsley.abbott@icj.org
See also
ICJ, ‘Southeast Asia: ICJ launches report on increasing restrictions on online speech’, 11 December 2019
Dec 8, 2020 | News
The ICJ with partners has intervened in European Court for Human Rights case concerning collective expulsions, including of children from Croatia.
The ICJ and partners (European Council for Refugees and Exiles, Dutch Council for Refugees, AIRE Center and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee) intervened today in the case S.B. v Croatia (Application No. 18810/19) at the European Court for Human rights.
The case concerns collective expulsion of migrants, including children, from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and excessive use of force.
In the intervention, the organisations have highlighted international legal standards regarding the principle of non-refoulement and prohibition of collective expulsions. They also point to the need to take into account specific vulnerabilities of asylum seekers and children in order to guarantee enhanced safeguards afforded to them under international and EU law.
The organisations also note that in operations aimed at imposing restrictions on freedom of movement or deprivation of liberty to carry out an expulsion, the use of force should only be employed exceptionally and subject to strict necessity and proportionality requirements. The lack of resistance to law enforcement officials, per se renders force unlawful.
Please find the third party intervention here.
Dec 8, 2020 | Editorial, Noticias
Una opinión editorial de Carolina Villadiego Burbano, Asesora Legal para America Latina de la CIJ, y Carlos Lusverti, Consultor de la CIJ.
Los derechos humanos de las mujeres se han visto severamente afectados durante la pandemia de COVID-19 alrededor del mundo y Venezuela no es una excepción a esta tendencia. En medio de la crisis de derechos humanos generalizada que el país atraviesa desde 2014, y que ha tenido un impacto desproporcionado en mujeres y niñas, la COVID-19 y las medidas extraordinarias adoptadas por el gobierno para atender la pandemia han agravado la situación de derechos humanos de las mujeres.
En octubre de 2020, esta situación fue reconocida por el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas.
Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, en este texto analizamos las afectaciones al derecho a la salud y al derecho a una vida libre de violencia que enfrentan las mujeres en Venezuela durante la pandemia, con el objetivo de presentar algunas recomendaciones.
La salud de las mujeres está en riesgo
De acuerdo con la Comisión Económica para America Latina (CEPAL), las mujeres en Latinoamérica están significativamente afectadas durante la pandemia, y en el sistema de salud “representan el 72,8% del total de personas ocupadas en ese sector en la región.”
En Venezuela, el sistema de salud ya se encontraba en estado crítico antes que la pandemia envolviera al país, y la COVID-19 ha agravado la situación.
Durante varios años, distintas instituciones y organizaciones han descrito el terrible estado del sistema de salud en el país, y desde que estalló la pandemia, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) y Human Rights Watch han mencionado la necesidad de proteger el derecho a la salud de las personas en Venezuela; la Alta Comisionada de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos ha dado declaraciones similares.
Durante la pandemia, los limitados servicios de salud fueron direccionados principalmente a atender la COVID-19.
Esto tuvo como resultado una disminución del acceso a los servicios de salud no relacionados con COVID-19, incluidos aquellos necesarios para la atención en salud sexual y reproductiva y para mujeres gestantes.
Así, un grupo de 91 organizaciones de la sociedad civil y varias personas expresaron su preocupación por casos de mujeres embarazadas con sospechas de COVID-19 a quienes se les habría negado la atención oportuna, así como la suspensión de servicios pre y post natales en los centros de salud materna.
Este grupo destacó la necesidad de que las autoridades garanticen los derechos de las mujeres y niñas, incluyendo la atención en salud sexual y reproductiva.
Además, en cantidades alarmantes, las mujeres son responsables principales del cuidado de personas dependientes o que necesitan cuidado en el hogar, lo que las ha expuesto a riesgos adicionales durante la pandemia.
La Asociación Venezolana de Educación Sexual Alternativa (AVESA), una ONG local, ha documentado cómo las medidas de encierro y cuarentena han incrementado las tareas domésticas y han profundizado los problemas económicos que las mujeres ya estaban experimentando antes de la pandemia.
Las autoridades venezolanas deben actuar de manera más efectiva para proteger los derechos de las mujeres durante la pandemia de conformidad con sus obligaciones legales derivadas del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos.
En efecto, Venezuela es parte de varios tratados de derechos humanos que prevén estas obligaciones, incluyendo la Convención Interamericana para Prevenir, Sancionar y Erradicar la Violencia contra la Mujer (“Convención de Belém do Pará”) y la Convención de la ONU sobre la Eliminación de todas las Formas de discriminación contra la mujer (“CEDAW” por sus siglas en inglés).
El Comité de la CEDAW ha declarado que los Estados deben “[a]bordar el impacto desproporcionado de la pandemia en la salud de la mujer”; “[g]arantizar los servicios de salud sexual y reproductiva en tanto servicios esenciales”; “[p]roteger a las mujeres y niñas de la violencia de género”; y “[f]ortalecer la respuesta institucional, la difusión de información y la recopilación de datos”, entre otras recomendaciones.
Adicionalmente, las autoridades venezolanas deben adoptar políticas para la prevención y tratamiento de la COVID-19 con perspectiva de género, considerando un enfoque interseccional y los diferentes contextos en los que las mujeres pueden vivir en Venezuela, incluyendo la situación de pobreza.
Además, las autoridades deben asegurar la asignación adecuada de recursos al sistema de salud, garantizar el derecho a la salud del personal de la salud, y brindar servicios de salud sexual y reproductiva para todas las mujeres.
El hogar es un lugar inseguro para las mujeres
En 2019, organizaciones de la sociedad civil venezolana reportaron que en el 58.6% de los casos de violencia contra las mujeres, los perpetradores fueron sus parejas. Adicionalmente, en un 7,7% de los casos, los ataques fueron perpetrados por exparejas. De acuerdo con el monitoreo de medios que realiza COTEJO, durante ese año, 107 mujeres fueron víctimas de feminicidios.
El representante en Venezuela del Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas (UNFPA) dijo que, durante el primer semestre de 2020, ocurrieron más feminicidios que muertes por COVID-19. Por su parte, el Ministerio Público reportó el ingreso de 185 causas del delito de feminicidio durante 2020.
De otro lado, desde el inicio de la pandemia y hasta comienzos de octubre, la mayoría de juzgados y tribunales estuvieron cerrados, por lo cual, las mujeres han enfrentado mayores obstáculos para acceder a la justicia durante la pandemia.
Además, la Oficina de la ACNUDH dijo en julio que ha observado “una falta de diligencia debida en los procesos de investigación relativos a casos de violencia de género” en Venezuela.
Asimismo, según informó el Centro de Justicia y Paz (CEPAZ), una ONG local, existen varios obstáculos para el acceso a la justicia de las mujeres, incluida la evasión de las responsabilidades policiales cuando las mujeres acuden a presentar denuncias o la falta de respuestas rápidas por parte las fiscalías que dan lugar a que las víctimas tengan que pedir información de manera reiterada.
Por este motivo, las autoridades venezolanas deben abordar la violencia de género de conformidad con sus obligaciones legales derivadas del derecho internacional, incluyendo aquellas contenidas en la Convención Interamericana de Belem Do Pará que enfatiza que el Estado debe “actuar con la debida diligencia para prevenir, investigar y sancionar la violencia contra la mujer” (artículo 7b).
Asimismo, las autoridades venezolanas deben garantizar que el sistema de justicia brinde servicios a las mujeres víctimas de violencia de género, e incluir la adopción de protocolos específicos para la investigación efectiva y la protección de las víctimas.
Las autoridades deben cumplir la reciente sentencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (caso Lopez Soto de 2018), y deben implementar programas de capacitación permanentes y obligatorios para los servidores públicos que laboran en el sistema judicial y en el sistema de salud, y que intervienen en los casos de mujeres víctimas de cualquier tipo de violencia.
Finalmente, las autoridades venezolanas deben permitir la acción legítima de las organizaciones humanitarias, quienes pueden brindar ayuda humanitaria con perspectiva de género durante la pandemia.
Dec 8, 2020
An opinion editorial by Carolina Villadiego Burbano, ICJ Latin America Legal and Policy Adviser, and Carlos Lusverti, ICJ consultant.
Around the world, women’s human rights have been severely and adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Venezuela is no exception to this trend.
The more general ongoing human rights crisis that Venezuela has faced since 2014, which has had a disproportionate impact on women and girls, and the COVID-19 pandemic and the sometimes ill-conceived government measures to tackle the pandemic have combined to aggravate the situation of women’s human rights.
This was recently well expressed in a 2020 October Resolution on Venezuela by the UN Human Rights Council. It is against this backdrop that we discuss the health risks and the gender-based violence that women are facing during the pandemic in Venezuela with the aim to provide some recommendation for authorities.
Health risks for women
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), women in Latin America are “particularly affected by the pressure on health systems because they account for 72.8% of people employed in the sector in the region”.
The Venezuelan healthcare system was in a critical state before the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the country, and the pandemic has aggravated the situation. For many years, several institutions and organizations have been expressing about the dire state of the health system in the country.
Since the pandemic struck, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and Human Rights Watch have called on the need to protect Venezuelans’ rights to health; the OHCHR has provided similar statements.
During the pandemic, the already limited health services have been primarily focused on responding to COVID-19. This has resulted in a diminished access to non-COVID-19 related health services, including those needed for sexual and reproductive care and for pregnant women.
A group of 91 Civil society organizations and additional individuals have expressed concerns about cases of pregnant women suspected of COVID-19 who have been denied timely care and the suspension of pre and postnatal care services in maternal health centers.
They stressed the need for the authorities to act to guarantee women’s rights, including access to sexual and reproductive care for women and girls.
Also, women in disproportionate numbers are responsible for dependents or people in need of care within their homes, and this has exposed them to additional risks during the pandemic.
The Asociación Venezolana de Educación Sexual Alternativa (AVESA), a local NGO, documented how the lockdown/quarantine measures increased home care tasks and deepened the economic problems women were already experiencing.
It is clear the Venezuelan authorities must act more effectively to protect women’s rights during the pandemic in line with their legal obligations under international human rights law.
Venezuela is party to several human rights treaties that provide for this legal obligation, including the Inter-American Convention for the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (“Convention of Belém do Pará”) and the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”).
The CEDAW Committee has stated that States should “address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women’s health”; “provide sexual and reproductive health as essential services”; “protect women and girls from gender-based violence”; and “strengthen institutional response, dissemination of information and data collection”, among other recommendations.
Additionally, Venezuelan authorities should adopt policies related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 with gender perspective, considering the intersectional approach and the different contexts in which may women live in Venezuela, including situations of poverty.
Also, authorities should ensure proper resource allocation to the health system, guarantee the health right of the health workers, and provide sexual and reproductive health services for all women.
Home is an unsafe place for women
In 2019, Venezuelan civil society organizations reported that in 58.6% of the cases of violence against women, the perpetrators were their current partners; and in an additional 7.7% of the cases, the attacks were perpetrated by former partners.
According to the media monitoring done by COTEJO, during that year around 107 women were victims of femicides.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFP) representative in Venezuela said that during the first semester of 2020 there were more femicides than people dying from COVID-19. Also, the Attorney General’s office reported on 185 cases during 2020.
From the start of the pandemic and until early October, most courts and tribunals were closed. As a result, women faced even greater obstacles in securing access to justice.
The OHCHR has reported that it observed “a lack of due diligence in investigative proceedings related to cases of gender-based violence” in Venezuela.
In addition, as reported by the Centro de Justicia y Paz (CEPAZ), a local NGO, there are several obstacles for access to justice for women, including the dereliction of police responsibilities when women go to file complaints or the lack of rapid answers from prosecutors that result in victims needing to repeatedly to ask them for information.
The Venezuelan authorities must better tackle gender-based violence according with their legal obligations under international law, including the Inter-American Convention of Belem Do-Pará that stresses that the state must “apply due diligence to prevent, investigate and impose penalties for violence against women” (Article 7b).
Also, authorities should do better to ensure that the justice system provide services for women victims of gender-based violence, including the adoption of specific protocols for the effective investigation and the protection of victims.
Venezuelan authorities should comply with the recent ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Lopez Soto case of 2018), and must implement compulsory permanent training programs for public servants that work in the justice and the health care systems, who intervene in cases of women victims of any type of violence.
Finally, Venezuelan authorities must allow the legitimate action of the humanitarian organizations, who can provide humanitarian aid with gender perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Venezuela-Women at Risk-News-op-eds-2020-ENG (full op-ed in PDF)
