Apr 19, 2012
In this submission, the ICJ highlights the failure of the Syrian authorities to comply with the Committee’s previous recommendations.
By letter of 23 November 2011 to the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to UNOG, the Committee against Torture requested Syria to present a special report, prompted by by the Committee’s deep “concern at numerous, consistent and substantiated reports and information, from various reliable sources, about the widespread violations of the provisions of the Convention by the authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic since the adoption of the Committee’s Concluding Observations on the State Party’s initial report to the Committee (CAT/C/SYR/CO/1), in May 2010”.
In response to this special reporting procedure, the ICJ is highlighting the Syrian authorities failures to: incorporate into Syrian domestic legislation the crime of torture as defined in the Convention; reform the Syrian legal framework in accordance with international human rights standards; investigate thoroughly all cases of torture and ill-treatment committed in Syrian prisons and detention facilities; and address the pressing issue of impunity for acts of torture and other serious human rights violations in Syria.
Syrian Arab Republic-Special report Torture- non-legal submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Apr 17, 2012
The ICJ presented a third party intervention in the case of Kudeshkina v. the Russian Federation before the European Court of Human Rights.
The third party intervention focuses on issues of jurisdiction of the Court, on the right to reparation, and on freedom of expression and the judiciary.
Russian Federation-Written submission-legal submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Feb 9, 2012
The ICJ and Interights submitted a third-party intervention in this case.
In the case of Vejdeland and Others v Sweden, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously held that the conviction of the four applicants for “agitation against a national or ethnic group” was not contrary to Article 10 of the European Convention. The applicants had distributed leaflets at a school about the negative influence of “homosexual propaganda” in education and stating that “homosexuality has a morally destructive effect on the substance of society.” The ICJ and Interights argued that sexual orientation should be treated in the same way as categories such as race, ethnicity and religion, which are commonly covered by hate speech and hate crime laws, because sexual orientation is fundamental to a person’s sense of self and is used as a marker of group identity. The Court agreed, stressing that “discrimination based on sexual orientation is as serious as discrimination based on race, origin or colour.” The interference pursued a legitimate aim, that of protecting the reputation and rights of others, and was necessary in a democratic society. There was therefore no violation.
Case Vejdeland Sweden-Judgment-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Case Vejdeland Sweden-legal submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Jan 23, 2012
Vrinda Grover, the ICJ South Asia Advocate for India, prepared a legal opinion on the Revised 2010 Prevention of Torture Bill.
The ICJ legal opinion sets out eighteen recommendations on how India may better comply with its obligations under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) as well as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
India-opinion prevention torture-legal submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
Photo by Joe Athialy
Nov 18, 2011
Under the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the UPR will be undertaking a review of Indonesia during its 13th session in June 2012.
In a submission to the Working Group, the International Commission of Jurists has focused on the discrete issues of: the recently enacted State Intelligence Law; and Indonesia’s party status to international human rights instruments and its cooperation with the UN treat bodies and the Council’s Special Procedures.
Indonesia-ICJ submission UPR-legal submission-2011 (full text in English, PDF)
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