Dec 6, 2018 | News
JOHANNESBURG – The ICJ condemns the ongoing violence committed against and intimidation of community members of the Marievale Community Association. Last night a petrol bomb was thrown onto the roof of Chris Koitsioe’s home at approximately 1am while his wife was asleep and alone.
Chris is a community leader and a former SANDF staff sergeant who has consistently opposed the community’s eviction and mistreatment by the SANDF.
The ICJ calls on President Ramaphosa, as Commander in Chief of the SANDF, the Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Lieutenant General Lindile Yam to condemn these outrageous and persistent attacks on members of the community. Furthermore, we call on the SANDF and Minister of Defence and other public officials to comply with and implement all court orders relating to the Marievale community and ensure the safe, expeditious and unimpeded return of community members to their homes. The ICJ further calls for the authorities to openly and transparently investigate this assault on Mr Koitsioe’s home and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Community was unlawfully evicted from their homes on an abandoned army base near Nigel, Johannesburg South, in late November 2017. They have won repeated court orders from the South and North Gauteng High Courts, ordering the SANDF to return them to their homes and condemning their ill treatment by SANDF members during and after their eviction.
Most recently, with the assistance of Lawyers for Human Rights, the community approached the North Gauteng High Court, seeking the arrest of the Minister of Defence and several army generals involved in the evictions for a failure to comply with orders of the High Court requiring them to be returned to their homes. Though last week, this contempt of court order was denied by the North Gauteng High Court, the court reiterated that the community is to be returned to their homes by Friday 7 December 2018.
Attorney at LHR, Ms. Louise Du Plessis expressed that the “LHR is deeply concerned about the ongoing unlawful conduct taking place at Marievale, especially because of the suspected involvement of the SANDF”. She added: “although, at this stage it is merely an allegation that the SANDF is responsible for the attack on Chris’ family, there is good reason to believe that [Chris] is being targeted for leadership role in the fight to see justice done for the Marievale community, after the appalling and callous eviction at the hands of the SANDF”.
This serious attack on Mr Koitsioe’s home occurred directly in this context.
Mr Koitsioe says “members of the community resisting their eviction in court, feel that the army has encouraged and sown divisions in our midst deliberately”. He adds, “whether this attack was perpetrated with or without the influence and knowledge of the army, it is critical that the SANDF roundly condemn such attacks to prevent further violence against innocent community members seeking only to protect our constitutional rights and internationally recognized human rights”. He concludes “my family and I are traumatised, I have reason to believe that this attack was deliberately perpetrated when it was known that I would be out of town speaking to a group of 25 magistrates in Limpopo about the importance of understanding and protecting communities’ housing rights”.
“While the army should be a source of security for everyone in South Africa, the Marievale community have faced persistent and repetitive violations of their economic, social and cultural rights at the hands of the SANDF. Such conduct is a significant and serious threat to the rule of law” lamented Arnold Tsunga, ICJ Africa Director. “The ICJ is concerned at the pattern of similar attacks against other communities claiming their rights in court such as AbahlaliBaseMjondolo in KwaZulu-Natal and the Amadiba Crisis Committee in Xolobeni who have faced similar harassment, assault and even assassination for claiming their rights” added Tsunga.
Public authorities in South Africa has an obligation under international human rights law and standards to ensure that the bombing of Chris Koitsioe’s home and other such acts of violence and intimidation are promptly, independently and impartially investigated. Those responsible for such attacks must be brought to justice and victims of any human rights violations involved must receive effective redress and remedy.
In October 2018, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted that it was “concerned at reports of human rights defenders, particularly those working to promote and defend the rights under the Covenant in the mining and environmental sectors, being threatened and harassed”. Koitsioe advises that the community has long suspected that part of the motivation for its eviction is the recent initiation of coal mining activities near their homes.
Further comment:
Chris Koitsioe| Marievale Community Association| C: +27738370265
Louise Du Plessis |Attorney | Lawyers for Human Rights C: +27823460744 E: louise(a)communitylaw.co.za
Timothy Fish Hodgson|Legal Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights| International Commission of Jurists| C: +27828719905 E; timothy.hodgson(a)icj.org
Further Resources:
The judgment handed down on 30 November 2018 is available here.
The judgment handed down in May 2018 is available here.
The judgment handed down in March 2018 is available here.
The judgment handed down in February 2018 is available here.
The South African Constitution is available here.
Dec 5, 2018 | News
From 28 November to 3 December 2018, a delegation of the ICJ carried out a learning and assessment visit to two factories in Indonesia that are part of the supplier network of the global brand adidas.
The ICJ delegation noted at the conclusion of the visit to two of the global brand’s supply chain factories a number of elements of good practice, highlighted in the full statement available below.
The mission did not aim to identify human rights impacts or to assess individual cases, their procedures and outcomes. While the ICJ assessment of the information gathered during the visit continues, the ICJ has already recommended improvements in transparency and public communication about the performance of adidas’ factory suppliers.
The ICJ also invited the companies to a broad reflection on the need to have a factory level grievance mechanism, instead of the existing compartmentalized system. Finally, adidas and partners need to also step up action in relation to the establishment of an effective community grievance mechanism.
The full statement can be downloaded in PDF format here: Statement-adidas-Indonesia-BusinessHumanRights-2018
Dec 2, 2018 | Events, News
On 1-2 December 2018, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) held its 2018 Southeast Asia Regional Judicial Dialogue on enhancing access to justice for women in the region.
Participants included judges from Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The discussions, held in Bangkok, were focused around resources important for judges to aid in enhancing the capacity of their peers in eliminating gender discriminatory attitudes and behaviours towards women in their work. These resources include a training manual on the use of the Bangkok General Guidance for Judges in Applying a Gender Perspective, and a draft reference manual on women’s human rights and the right to a clean, healthy, safe and sustainable environment.
Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Director of the Asia and the Pacific Programme, opened the dialogue by emphasizing how important it is for judges to be gender sensitive in their delivery of justice. This could only be done by applying a framework that gives primary attention on ensuring recognition of the applicable human rights, institutional support for the promotion of these rights, and accountability mechanisms for their implementation.
Roberta Clarke, Commissioner of the ICJ and Chair of the organization’s Executive Committee, noted that this judicial dialogue demonstrates the ICJ’s commitment to have a sustainable contribution to the implementation of international human rights standards at the domestic level. She hoped that the judges could contextualize the resources presented and bring these back to their countries for trainings of their peers.
This judicial dialogue is part of a joint project on access to justice for women that ICJ is implementing with UN Women.
Anna Karin Jatfors, UN Women-Asia Pacific’s Interim Regional Director shared that gender stereotypes and social norms which discriminate women are not unique in each country. She pointed out the importance of the ICJ and UN Women collaborating in this project to deconstruct this image to bring better access to justice to women in the region.
Overall, the dialogue was rich and substantive, with the full and active participation from all participating judges who shared their views and experiences on countering gender discrimination in cases before them. At the end of the judicial dialogue, the participating judges expressed strong interest to use the resources for capacity building initiatives of their peers in their own countries.
Contact
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser, t: +662 619 8477 (ext. 206), email: Emelynne.gil(a)icj.org
Nov 30, 2018 | Eventos
La conferencia sobre el tema ‘Las Empresas y los Derechos Humanos en el Departamento de Izabal, Guatemala’ que se llevó a cabo el 29 de noviembre en la Universidad de Ginebra, fue organizada por el Departamento de Derecho Público Internacional y las Organizaciones Internacionales de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Ginebra en colaboración con la Ciudad de Ginebra.
El evento fue moderado por la Dra. Antonella Angelini del Departamento de Derecho Público Internacional, experta en empresas y derechos humanos. Participaron también Ramon Cadena, Director de la oficina de la CIJ para America Central, Sandra Ratjen, de la Franciscans International, Maynor Alvarez, Director del Departamento de Asuntos Comunitarios de la CGN, Sra. Amalia Caal Coc, de la Fundación Guillermo Toriello, y el Prof. Marco Sassoli, Comisionado de la CIJ.
El principal problema discutido fue el impacto sobre las comunidades locales de las operaciones de la Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel (CGN-PRONICO), una compañía minera de níquel en El Estor, propiedad de Solway Investment Group, compañía registrada en Zug, Suiza.
Ramón Cadena, Director de la oficina de la CIJ para América Central, presentó un resumen de la situación en Guatemala, un país plagado por problemas de corrupción, violencia e impunidad. Enfatizó la necesidad de fortalecer el estado de derecho. Dijo que en el Departamento de Izabal existe mucha preocupación respecto a los impactos de la empresa sobre las comunidades locales de indígenas Q’eqchis. Explicó que estas comunidades no se oponen al desarrollo en sí, pero quieren asegurarse que esta actividad beneficiaría a la mayoría de la población. Concluyó diciendo que la iniciativa popular suiza referente a la responsabilidad social corporativa era sumamente importante ya que implicaría que las multinacionales basadas en Suiza serían responsables de los actos de sus sucursales en otros países.
En sus comentarios finales, el Prof. Marco Sassoli recomendó que se organizara una misión internacional a Izabal en Guatemala con el objetivo de tener una mejor comprensión de los problemas que se presentan a las comunidades locales de Q’eqchis como resultado de las operaciones mineras de níquel de la compañía Solway.
Un informe más detallado sobre la conferencia es disponible acá.
Nov 30, 2018 | Events
The conference on business and human rights in the Department of Izabal, Guatemala was held at the University of Geneva on 29 November 2018 and co-hosted with the Department of Public International Law and International Organization, Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva and the City of Geneva.
The main issue under review was the impact on the local communities of the operations of the Compañia Guatemalteca de Nickel (CGN-ProNico) a nickel mining company in El Estor, wholly owned by Solway Investment Group, a company registered in Zug, Switzerland.
Speaking at the conference, Prof. Marco Sassòli, a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), recommended there be an international mission to Izabal, Guatemala in order to understand the problems facing the local Q’eqchis communities as a result of the Solway nickel mining operations.
Other speakers included Ramon Cadena, the Director of the ICJ Central America office, Amalia Caal Coc, from the Guillermo Torielo Foundation in Izabal, Guatemala, Maynor Alvarez, the manager of the CGN Community Affairs Department, and Sandra Epal Ratjen, Deputb Executive Director at Franciscans International.
Dr Antonella Angelini from the Department of Public International Law and an expert in business and human rights was the conference moderator.
A more detailed account of the conference proceedings is available (download).
