Nov 4, 2014
The ICJ has submitted information to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in advance of its examination of Nepal’s third periodic report under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The ICJ submission draws the Committee’s attention to issues concerning Nepal’s failure to comply with certain obligations under ICESCR as a result of the fact that Nepal has undermined the independence and effective functioning of the National Human Rights Commission. The submission also voices concern over Nepal’s failure to provide a) an effective remedy for forced displacements during the armed conflict, and b) adequate rehabilitation support and compensation for human rights abuses during the armed conflict.
The Committee will examine Nepal’s third periodic report during its 53rd session in November 2014, following which it will adopt Concluding Observations setting out recommendations to the Government.
Nepal-CESCR53-LegalSubmission-2014-EN (download full ICJ submission in PDF)
Oct 21, 2014
The ICJ, REDRESS and OMCT have submitted information to the UN Committee against Torture in advance of its examination of the combined 3rd to 5th periodic reports of the USA under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).
The joint submission draws the Committee’s attention to issues concerning the CIA ‘Rendition, Detention and Interrogation’ Program, detention at Guantanamo Bay, and Military Commission proceedings. It identifies key violations of the CAT, including those concerning:
- Article 13 on the right to complain of torture;
- Article 14 on the right to redress for torture and ill-treatment;
- Article 9 concerning failures to cooperate with criminal investigations in other jurisdictions;
- Article 15 on the prohibition against the use of evidence obtained by torture.
The Committee will examine the combined third to fifth periodic reports of the United States of America during its 53rd session in November 2014, following which it will adopt Concluding Observations setting out recommendations to the Government.
USA-CAT53-LegalSubmission-2014-EN (download full submission in PDF)
Oct 9, 2014
The ICJ has submitted information to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in preparation for the Committee’s examination of the initial periodic report of Uganda under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
During its pre-sessional working group meeting in December 2014, the Committee will adopt a ‘List of Issues’ for the examination in June 2015 of the initial periodic report of Uganda under ICESCR.
In this submission, the ICJ draws the Committee’s attention to the detrimental impact of the adoption and enforcement of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014, as well as the effect of pre-existing and extant criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual conduct on the respect for and the protection and realization of certain Covenant rights.
The organization considers that those laws violate the following Covenant rights of Uganda’s population generally, and in particular of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, living or working in Uganda:
- The principle of non-discrimination (article 2(2));
- The right to work (article 6) and to just and favourable conditions of work (article 7);
- The right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing (article 11);
- The right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (article 12);
- The right to education (article 13).
Uganda-CESCR_LOI-legalsubmission-2014-ENG
Oct 3, 2014
The ICJ has made a submission to the CEDAW in advance of the examination of the combined combined initial and second periodic reports of Brunei Darussalam under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The ICJ submission draws the Committee’s attention to concerns related to the criminalisation of consensual adult sexual relations and marital rape.
The Committee will examine the combined initial and second periodic reports of Brunei during its 59th session from 20 October to 7 November 2014, following which it will adopt Concluding Observations setting out recommendations to the Government of Brunei Darussalam.
Brunei-CEDAWsubmission-LegalSubmission-2014-ENG
Oct 2, 2014
The International Commission of Jurists submitted today its contribution to the European Commission in the framework of the public consultation on the renewal of the EU Internal Security Strategy (“ISS”).
The contribution provides recommendations on two questions posed by the consultation, relating to (1) actions at EU level in the next five years, and (2) what is needed to safeguard European citizens when developing future EU security actions. Its starting point for this paper is the need to give continued and increased priority to protection of human rights and the rule of law, which must be central to the activities and policies of the strategy as well as security objectives themselves.
The first European Union’s ISS (“Towards a European Security Model”) was adopted in 2010 by the European Council, following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm Programme in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.
In this submission, the ICJ made the following recommendations.
- The future ISS must be centred on human rights and the rule of law. In the context of a wider EU fundamental rights strategy, it must include protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law as a security objective, and must strive to ensure compliance with fundamental rights and principles of rule of law in all security related laws, policies and practices.
- The future ISS should clarify its objectives on “border management”, ensuring that issues of migration, including asylum, are not represented mainly as security issues, but as matters primarily concerned with the protection of human rights. The EU must ensure better protection of human rights in “border management”, and this should be reflected in the ISS.
- Data protection of all individuals subject to EU jurisdiction and/or affected by EU policies must be prioritized under the ISS, since large-scale violation of privacy rights poses a serious threat to the protection of rights of privacy and data protection, and therefore to security, within the EU.
- The ISS should critically evaluate its counter-terrorism strategies and the counterterrorism activities of the Member States, ensuring that fundamental rights and the rule of law are protected, in particular in regard to securing accountability and reparation for complicity in rendition and secret detention practices.
- The ISS should also include a security objective relating to justice and the rule of law, as a basis for further EU legislative protection for fair trial rights.
- The proposed European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) can play a potentially significant in fighting corruption. It will remain important to clarify the specific aim of the EPPO to ensure safeguards for human rights and the rule of law, including by providing appropriate guarantees for respect of fundamental rights.
EU-ISSSubmission-Advocacy-LegalSubmission-2014-eng (full text in PDF)
