Apr 22, 2016 | News
The ICJ welcomes the decision of the Almaty City Court in favour of Ayman Umarova, a lawyer who received repetitive demands from the investigative authorities to testify as a witness in a case in which she represented a client.
The Court decided that those demands were contrary to the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Earlier this month, on 8 April, Umarova (photo) had challenged the official summons of Baurzhan Muzhikov, the head of an investigative group of the Anti-Corruption Service of Almaty, to testify as a witness.
The Medeu Regional Court confirmed the lawfulness of such demands, concluding that it was not related to her professional activity.
On 18 April, the Appeals Collegium of the Almaty City Court overturned the decision of the Medeu Regional Court.
Umarova was represented in the case by 28 lawyers as a demonstration of solidarity by the profession.
“The matter concerns not only Ayman Umarova but the entire legal community. If the case sets a precedent, the rights of our citizens will be in jeopardy,” Anuar Tugel, the President of the Republican Collegium of Lawyers, was reported to have said.
“The decision of the Almaty City Court is an important step in protecting the independence of the legal profession,” said Temur Shakirov, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Europe Programmme.
“While it is welcome that the Court remedied the practice of a forced testimony contrary to the international standards on the role of lawyers, it is worrying that such instances of obstruction of the work of lawyers continue to occur,” he added.
The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, in Principle 22, stipulate that: “Governments shall recognize and respect that all communications and consultations between lawyers and their clients within their professional relationship are confidential”.
The UN Human Rights Committee has expressed concerns where “lawyers are released from their obligation of professional confidentiality and obliged to testify or face the risk of imprisonment” (UN Doc CCPR/C/TUN/CO/5 (2008), para. 15).
The ICJ recalls that, in accordance with of the UN Basic Principles, lawyers should be able to perform their professional duties without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference (Principle 16) and should never be identified with their clients’ causes (Principle 18).
Contact:
Róisín Pillay, Director, Europe Programme, roisin.pillay(a)icj.org
Temur Shakirov, Legal Adviser, Europe Programme, temur.shakirov(a)icj.org
Additional information:
On 28 March 2016, Ayman Umarova started her representation of Sayat Nadirbayev in a criminal case related to Talgat Ermegiyaev, former head of the Astana EKSPO-2017 company, accused of embezzlement.
On 2 April, after a request on the phone by the head of the Investigative Department of the Anti-Corruption Service of Almaty Baurzhan Muzhikov, Ayman Umarova received an official demand to appear and testify as a witness in the case. Since then she was required to appear and testify several times.
On 6 April, the Chair of the Almaty Collegium of Lawyers received a letter signed by Baurzhan Muzhikov, the head of an investigative group of the Anti-Corruption Service of Almaty, asking it to “facilitate the appearance of lawyer Umarova Ayman … to question her as a witness”.
On the same day, the Republican Collegium of Lawyers issued a statement where it qualified this request as a “violation of the guarantees of advocates’ activities” and urged that “appropriate measures [be taken] in regard to the officers of the Anti-Corruption Service”.
Kazakhstan-Landmark decision-News-Web Stories-2016-RUS (full text in Russian, PDF)
Apr 21, 2016 | News
The ICJ welcomed today’s decision of the UN Human Rights Committee in the case of Azimzhan Askarov, a Kyrgyz human rights activist, sentenced to life imprisonment in Kyrgyzstan.
The Committee found multiple violations of Azimzhan Askarov’s human rights related to his arrest, detention and trial, including violations of Articles 7 (freedom from torture), Article 9 (prohibition of arbitrary detention); Article 10 (right to humane treatment in detention), Article 14 (right to a fair trial) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Azimzhan Askarov, a prominent human rights defender working in the South of Kyrgyzstan, was convicted in December 2015 of serious crimes, including the murder of a police officer, which took place during the violent ethnic clashes in the South of Kyrgyzstan in June 2010.
The ICJ observed the appeal hearing in the case before the Supreme Court on 20 December 2011. Based on the results of the mission as well as the documents of the case, the ICJ published a detailed Report on the arrest, detention and trial of Azimzhan Askarov.
The report established multiple violations of human rights in the arrest and trial of Azimzhan Askarov.
The decision of the UN Committee is an important step in providing a legal framework to remedy the violations in the case.
The ICJ calls on the relevant authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic to take urgent measures to implement the decision of the Human Rights Committee.
In particular, in accordance with the decision of the Committee, the Kyrgyz Republic must now immediately release Azimzhan Askarov; quash his conviction and provide him with adequate compensation.
Kyrgyzstan-Askarov-CCPR-Statement-2016-RUS (download the statement in Russian)
Apr 21, 2016 | Новости, Статьи
МКЮ приветствует решение Комитета по правам человека ООН, вынесенное сегодня по делу Азимжана Аскарова, кыргызского правозащитника, приговорённого к пожизненному лишению свободы.
Комитет констатировал несколько нарушений прав человека в отношении Аскарова в связи с его задержанием, заключением под стражей и судебным разбирательством по его делу, в том числе нарушения статьи 7 (свобода от пыток), статьи 9 (запрет произвольного содержания под стражей), статьи 10 (право на гуманное обращение во время заключения под стражей) и статьи 14 (право на справедливое судебное разбирательство) Международного пакта о гражданских и политических правах.
В декабре 2015 года Азимжан Аскаров, известный правозащитник, борющийся за соблюдение прав человека на юге Кыргызстана, был признан виновным в совершении ряда тяжких преступлений, включая убийство сотрудника милиции, которые предположительно имели место в ходе вооружённых этнических столкновений на юге страны в июне 2010 года.
МКЮ провела наблюдение за апелляционным заседанием по делу Аскарова, которое прошло в Верховном Суде 20 декабря 2011 года. По итогам миссии, а также на основании материалов дела, МКЮ опубликовала подробный Доклад о задержании, заключении под стражу и судебном разбирательстве по делу Азимжана Аскарова.
В докладе был сделан вывод о нарушении ряда прав человека в ходе задержания, заключения и судебного разбирательства по делу Аскарова.
Решение КПЧ ООН является важным шагом с точки зрения создания правовой базы для исправления допущенных нарушений.
МКЮ призывает компетентные органы власти Кыргызской Республики принять срочные меры по выполнению решения Комитета по правам человека.
Так, в соответствии с решением Комитета, власти Кыргызской Республики должны безотлагательно освободить Аскарова, отменить обвинительный приговор по его делу и выплатить надлежащую компенсацию.
Kyrgyzstan-Askarov-CCPR-Statement-2016-RUS (полная статья на русском, PDF)
Apr 19, 2016 | Адвокаси, Краткий анализ
Сегодня, МКЮ представила комментарии по проекту Постановления Пленума Верховного Суда Российской Федерации «О судебной практике применения законодательства, регулирующего вопросы дисциплинарной ответственности судей».
В настоящем документе рассматривается ряд связанных с дисциплинарной системой вопросов, которые МКЮ считает особенно важными в данном отношении.
Так, МКЮ считает, что в Проекте постановления следует:
- Более подробно определить понятие «дисциплинарный проступок»;
- Запретить привлечение судей к дисциплинарной ответственности за вынесение судейских решений; и
- Дополнительно разъяснить исключительный характер такой меры взыскания, как досрочное прекращение полномочий судьи.
В основу данных комментариев легли рекомендации, представленные в докладе МКЮ «Защита правосудия: Дисциплинарное производство в отношении судей в Российской Федерации», опубликованном в 2012 г. по итогам миссии в Российскую Федерацию.
В докладе был рекомендован ряд конкретных практических мер, направленных на дальнейшее продвижение реформы системы дисциплинарной ответственности судей в Российской Федерации.
Помимо прочего, в докладе делался вывод о том, что «необходимо всестороннее реформирование системы, с тем чтобы создать судебную власть, которая станет надёжным блюстителем верховенства права, будет соответствовать международным стандартам независимости судей и выступать в качестве гаранта права на справедливое судебное разбирательство».
Russia-Recommendaitons on Draft Resolution-Advocacy-Analysis Brief-2016-RUS (полный текст на русском, PDF)
Apr 15, 2016 | News
The Nepal government should immediately stop all intimidation and harassment of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and its staff and respect its independence in line with international standards, the ICJ and other rights groups said today.
The attempts to intimidate the NHRC are a direct contradiction of the United Nation’s Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (the Paris Principles) as well as Nepal’s constitution, the ICJ Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.
According to the commissioners and confirmed by independent media accounts, on April 3, 2016, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli summoned the National Human Rights Commission chair, Anup Raj Sharma, and other commissioners to question them about the NHRC’s statement delivered by Commissioner Mohna Ansari during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the human rights situation in Nepal before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March.
In its statement, the commission highlighted various ongoing human rights concerns, including discriminatory citizenship provisions in the new constitution, the continued failure to properly investigate alleged unlawful killings and excessive use of force during protests in the Terai region in 2015, violations of the economic, social, and cultural rights of earthquake victims (photo), and the need for credible transitional justice for conflict victims.
“As the principal independent constitutional body mandated to promote and protect human rights in the country, the NHRC plays a vital role in ensuring governmental accountability, and was well within its authority under both the Nepali Constitution and international standards when it delivered its submission to the UN Human Rights Council during the UPR,” said Nikhil Narayan, ICJ’s South Asia Senior Legal Adviser.
“The PM’s blatant attempt to intimidate the NHRC members for that submission is a flagrant violation of the government’s basic obligation to ensure the NHRC’s ability to carry out its work independently and without undue interference,” he added.
While it is entirely appropriate for the prime minister, like other stakeholders, to consult with the NHRC, such exchanges should be conducted with due respect for the legitimate exercise of the institution’s constitutional mandate, independently and free of undue interference or intimidation, the rights organizations said.
NHRC members present at the meeting uniformly expressed the sentiment that Oli, through his aggressive questioning and reprimanding of the commissioners over the contents of certain sections of its submission, was trying to intimidate the commission and in particular Commissioner Ansari, at whom the questioning appeared exclusively directed.
“The line and manner of questioning, including insinuations of bias and a lack of neutrality, particularly those aimed at Commissioner Ansari, the public face of the NHRC in Geneva, revealed an intent not of clarification, but intimidation that seeks to limit the role and effectiveness of the NHRC,” said Champa Patel, director of the South Asia Regional Office at Amnesty International.
Based on media accounts, discussions between the commissioners and the prime minister reflected an apparent attempt by the prime minister to discredit the commission’s statement by portraying it as the personal views of Commissioner Ansari alone or those of a nongovernmental organization.
Sharma promptly rebutted this characterization in a public statement on April 10, clarifying that “the statement delivered by NHRC Spokesperson Ansari at the UPR session was that of the commission and not her own,” and that “[i]mpunity has affected the overall promotion and protection of human rights.”
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the ICJ have consistently and repeatedly highlighted rights concerns similar to those the commission expressed in its UPR submission. The prime minister and government of Nepal should implement without delay the commission’s recommendations concerning discriminatory constitutional provisions, impunity for perpetrators of Terai violence on all sides, ensuring justice in the process of transition, and protecting the rights of earthquake victims.
The prime minister and the government of Nepal must publicly state that they will respect and guarantee the independence and integrity of the National Human Rights Commission, as the principal constitutionally mandated human rights body in the country, in accordance with international standards.
“The prime minister overstepped his authority, and his attempts to intimidate and intervene in the work of the NHRC contravene the Paris Principles, which clearly provide for the establishment of autonomous and independent institutions,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The prime minister seems unwilling to recognize that the NHRC acts independently and is not an arm of the executive, subject to governmental dictates.”
Contact:
Nikhil Narayan, ICJ’s South Asia Senior Legal Adviser, t: +97-7-981-318-7821 ; e: nikhil.narayan(a)icj.org
Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Asia Director, t: +66-807-819-002 ; e: sam.zarifi(a)icj.org
Additional information:
The Paris Principles set out internationally agreed upon standards designed to guide the work of national human rights institutions in a credible, independent and, effective manner. Crucially, the Paris Principles define the role, composition, status, and functions of these bodies, which include engaging with the UN and regional institutions and states’ obligation to ensure their real independence through a broad mandate, adequate funding, and an inclusive and transparent appointment process.
Furthermore, the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Declaration on Human Rights Defenders) reaffirms the right of human rights defenders and institutions to advocate for human rights at the national and international level, including by engaging with the UN and other intergovernmental organizations.
