Nov 23, 2020 | Incidencia, Publicaciones
El documento informativo contiene un resumen de los aspectos claves del marco jurídico internacional en materia de desaparición forzada y ejecución extrajudicial.
Para ello, en primer lugar, el documento contiene una conceptualización (definición y elementos constitutivos) de estos crímenes, según el derecho internacional.
Adicionalmente, el documento presenta las instancias internacionales que monitorean específicamente el cumplimiento de las obligaciones de los Estados en materia de desaparición forzada y ejecuciones extrajudiciales.
Por último, el documento cierra con un recuento de los principales estándares internacionales relacionados con los derechos de las víctimas y el deber de los Estados de investigar, enjuiciar y sanciona a los responsables de estos crímenes.
El documento informativo fue elaborado como parte del proyecto “Promoviendo justicia para ejecuciones extrajudiciales y desapariciones forzadas en Colombia, Guatemala y Perú”, que se implementa con el apoyo de la Unión Europea. El proyecto hace parte la Iniciativa Global de Justicia y Rendición de Cuentas de la CIJ.
Contactos:
Kingsley Abbott, Director de la Iniciativa Global de Justicia y Rendición de Cuentas de la CIJ, correo electrónico: kingsley.abbott@icj.org
Rocío Quintero M, Asesora Legal, América Latina, correo electrónico: rocio.quintero@icj.org
Carolina Villadiego Burbano, Asesora Legal, América Latina, correo electrónico:
carolina.villadieg@icj.org
Colombia-Marco juridico-Advocacy-Analysis brief-2020-SPA (documento en español, PDF)
Nov 23, 2020 | Agendas, Events, News
The International Commission of Jurists and the Human Rights Joint Platform (IHOP) invite you to a Zoom workshop where Turkish and international experts will discuss the plight of violence against women in Turkey in light of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention.
To participate, please register by writing an email to ihop@ihop.org.tr (the Human Rights Joint Platform).
Join our great panel of speakers:
– Dame Silvia Cartwright, ICJ Commissioner, former Governor-General and High Court judge of New Zealand, former CEDAW member
– Prof. Dr. Feride Acar, former Member of CEDAW, former Chair of GREVIO
– Zuzanna Warso, Lawyer, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights of Poland
– Hülya Gülbahar, Women rights activist, Lawyer
– Nebahat Akkoç, Chair of KAMER Foundation
– Yasemin ÖZ, Lawyer, Kaos GL
– Feray Salman, General Coordinator of the Human Rights Joint Platform (IHOP)
– Massimo Frigo, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser
IHOPICJ-ZoomConference-WomenAccess2Justice-Agenda-2020-ENG (download the agenda in English)
IHOPICJ-ZoomConference-WomenAccess2Justice-Agenda-2020-TUR (download the agenda in Turkish)
The event is part of the REACT project: implemented jointly by ICJ and IHOP, this project seeks to support the role of civil society actors in turkey in ensuring effective access to justice for the protection of human rights. This project is funded by the European Union. The views expressed in the event do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the EU.
Nov 23, 2020
The ICJ has published a legal briefing paper setting out the international legal framework concerning enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings.
The paper analyses the elements and characteristics of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings; describes the international institutions in charge of monitoring relevant States’ obligations; and summarizes key international standards on victims’ rights and on the duty to investigate, prosecute and sanction.
The briefing paper is published as part of ICJ’s project “Promoting justice for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Colombia, Guatemala and Peru,” supported by the European Union and is implemented under the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative.
The briefing paper is available in Spanish.
Contacts:
Kingsley Abbott, Director of Global Accountability and International Justice, email: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
Rocío Quintero M, Legal Adviser, Latin America, email: rocio.quintero(a)icj.org
Carolina Villadiego Burbano, Legal and Policy Adviser, Latin America, email: carolina.villadiego(a)icj.org
Colombia-Marco juridico-Advocacy-Analysis brief-2020-SPA (full report in Spanish, PDF)
Nov 20, 2020 | News
The ICJ today called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release human rights defenders Gasser Abdel-Razek, Mohamed Bashseer and Karim Ennarah.
The detainees, senior staffers of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), a leading human rights organization, were targeted in connection with their human rights work.
The arrests are part of a broader, relentless campaign by the military and government to intimidate and silence civil society organizations, including through such means as trumped-up “terrorism” charges and sham judicial proceedings.
“By arresting Mohamed Bashseer, Karim Ennarah and Gasser Abdel-Razek, and charging them with terrorism-related offences, the Egyptian government led by President Al-Sisi are writing a new, terrifying chapter in their repression playbook,” said Said Benarbia, Director of ICJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Their crackdown on independent civil society must end.”
On 19 November 2020, Gasser Abdel-Razek, EIPR’s Executive Director, was arrested by security forces from his home in Maadi, Cairo. He appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) and charged in case No. 855/2020 with, among other charges, “joining a terrorist group” and “spreading false news.”
On 15 November 2020, EIPR’s Administrative Manager Mohamed Bashseer, was arrested at his house in Cairo. On 17 November 2020, Karim Ennarah, EIPR’s director of the criminal justice programme, was also arrested.
They both face similar charges in the same case No. 855/2020, together with other numerous lawyers and human rights defenders, including Mohamed El-Baqer and Mahienour al-Massry.
Over the past seven years, EIPR has been subjected to a pattern of harassment and persecution by the military and government.
In 2016, the assets of EIPR’s founder and former executive director, Hossam Bahgat, were frozen and he was subjected to a travel ban since then.
On February 2020, Patrick George Zaki, an EIPR researcher, was arrested at Cairo Airport by National Security Agency officers who reportedly subjected him to torture, including with electric shocks. He was charged by a public prosecutor with, among other charges, “spreading false news” and “inciting protest without authorization”. He remains in custody
The recent arrests of the three senior EIPR officials follow a visit by a number of European ambassadors and other diplomats to the EIPR Cairo offices on 3 November 2020, during which the human rights situation in Egypt was discussed.
“The international community and in particular States engaging in political and security cooperation with Al-Sisi’s regime must not overlook the serious violations against human rights defenders taking place in the country,” added Benarbia.
“They should demand an end to these violations and ensure that individuals and independent human rights groups are able to do their legitimate and critical human rights work freely and without intimidation.”
Contact
Said Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41-22-979-3817; e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Download the Arabic version
Egypt-EIPR crackdown-News-2020-ARA
Nov 20, 2020
In a report published today, the ICJ calls on the Lebanese authorities to adopt and enforce a just, fair and effective legal and policy framework to address the plight of refugees, migrants and stateless persons and ensure the protection of their human rights in full compliance with Lebanon international law obligations.
In particular, the ICJ calls on the Lebanese authorities to strictly comply with their non-refoulement obligations, including by ensuring that no individual is transferred to a country where he or she faces a real risk of persecution or other forms of serious harm, such as torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
“Lebanon has the highest refugee population per capita of any country in the world, yet it lacks any framework or procedures for individuals claiming international protection to have access to an effective process for determining their entitlement to such protection”, said Said Benarbia, ICJ MENA director.
“It is high time for the Lebanese authorities to address this normative gap and reverse their harmful policies and practices that undermine refugees’ human rights, including their right to not be subjected to refoulement.”
In its report Unrecognized and Unprotected: The Treatment of Refugees and Migrants in Lebanon the ICJ analyses how normative gaps, together with restrictive provisions of the 1962 Law of Entry and Exit, including those criminalizing “irregular entry”, undermine the right of refugees to an individual examination of their asylum claim, their right to liberty and security of person, and their right to an effective legal remedy against human rights violations.
The Lebanese authorities should ensure that no-one is deprived of their liberty solely on grounds of their immigration status, including in cases of “irregular entry” or stay. Detention must only be resorted to when there is both a clear legal and factual basis to justify it, and when it is necessary, reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances of the individual case at hand.
In the report, the ICJ expresses concern that legal and policy gaps – coupled with excessive and unchecked powers to adopt and implement migration and asylum-related policies on the part of the authorities, such as the General Security Office, local municipalities, the Ministry of Labour and the Lebanese army – are the reasons why violations of the human rights of refugees, migrants and stateless persons are rife in Lebanon.
In light of this, the ICJ calls on the Lebanese Council of Ministers and Parliament to ensure that all migration and asylum-related policies fully comply with Lebanon’s obligations under international law.
The restrictions on Syrian refugees with respect to their residency and freedom of movement and the raids and arbitrary arrests and detentions they are subjected to effectively continue to force many of them to return to Syria. Their return in those circumstances is anything but voluntary and amounts to constructive refoulement.
“Lebanon should establish a moratorium on all removals to Syria and ensure that internationally protected individuals are not transferred to a country where they face a real risk of persecution,” Benarbia added.
The restrictions and high costs imposed for obtaining or renewing legal residence permits in Lebanon force many migrants and refugees to remain in the country “illegally”, contributing to significant violations of their right to freedom of movement and to making them further liable to detention and deportation.
Background:
The ICJ addresses a number of recommendations for the Lebanese authorities in this report, including the following:
1. Become a party to the following treaties:
- the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and to its 1967 protocol;
- the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;
- the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families;
2. Ensure that people entitled to international protection, chiefly refugees, are not penalized for their “illegal” entry and stay;
3. Ensure that migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons have – at all times and regardless of their immigration status under domestic law – the right to access the courts, to claim and be granted an effective remedy and reparation for violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights recognized under international law;
4. Ensure that all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment against refugees and migrants, including those instances linked to death in police and military custody, be investigated promptly, independently and thoroughly, and those responsible be held to account.
Contact
Said Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41-22-979-3817; e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Download
Lebanon-Migrant rights-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2020-ENG (full report in English, PDF)
Lebanon-refugees report-News-2020-ARA (story in Arabic, PDF)
Lebanon-Migrant rights-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2020-ARA (full report in Arabic, PDF)
