The ICJ is deeply concerned by the assassination attempt perpetrated against Mr. Akin Birdal, President of the largest Turkish non-governmental human rights organization, the Human Rights Association (IHD), on 12 May 1998.
Today, the ICJ stated that the critical political situation in Kenya required immediate action to avoid further deterioration of the political climate.
It has long been observed by the American Association for the ICJ (AAICJ) that one of the main instruments employed by governments to repress and deny the fundamental rights and freedoms of peoples has been the illegal and unwarranted Declaration of Martial Law or a State of Emergency.
Very often these measures are taken under the pretext of the existence of a “ public emergency which threatens the life of the nation” or “ threats to its national security.”
The abuse of applicable provisions allowing governments to limit and derogate from certain rights contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has resulted in the need for a closer examination of the conditions and grounds for permissible limitations and derogations in order to achieve an effective implementation of the rule of law. The United Nations General Assembly has frequently emphasized the importance of a uniform interpretation of limitations on rights enunciated in the Covenant.
With this in mind, the A AICJ initiated a colloquium composed of 31 distinguished experts in international law, held at Siracusa, Italy, in the Spring of 1984. This meeting, the first of its kind, was co-sponsored by the ICJ, the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences.
The participants examined the limitation and derogation provisions in the Covenant, seeking to identify:
The document contains:
Siracusa principles-ICCPR-legal submission-1985-eng (full text in English, PDF)
The ICJ and the Swiss Committee Against Torture advocated for the adoption of a European Convention against Torture. The text is annexed to the recommendations.
The setting up of a European Convention would represent a tremendous break-through towards an effective interstate system of control for the prevention of torture, and more generally, would be an important step towards a better respect for human rights at the international level.
Europe-draft convention torture-convention-1984-eng (full text in English, PDF)
Europe-Draft convention torture-convention-1984-fra (full text in French, PDF)
These Draft Principles were originally recommended in 1975 for incorporation in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Most violations of the hum an rights of arrested persons – particularly the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment – occur before a person is charged with a crime and while he is under interrogation or preventive detention. The International Commission of Jurists therefore recommended that the Standard Minimum Rules be broadened to protect such persons as well as form ally charged prisoners.
In response to the recommendation of the Fifth United Nations Congress and the United Nations General Assembly however, the Commission re-cast these principles as a separate instrum ent and subm itted it to the 32nd session of the United Nations Commission on H um an Rights, held at Geneva in February, 1976.
These principles, published here through the generosity of the J.M . Kaplan Fund, are still under consideration by the Human Rights Commission and its subordinate bodies.
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