Nepal: Prime Minister, victims’ groups and other stakeholders agree that proposed transitional justice bill needs revision to ensure real accountability

Nepal: Prime Minister, victims’ groups and other stakeholders agree that proposed transitional justice bill needs revision to ensure real accountability

At a National Conference organized on 4 September by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in collaboration with Advocacy Forum, Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) committed his government to establishing a credible and effective transitional justice process and to ensuring that proposed legislation was amended to make it fit for the purpose.

Joint Statement: Sri Lanka’s Flawed Plans for a ‘Truth Commission’

Joint Statement: Sri Lanka’s Flawed Plans for a ‘Truth Commission’

We, nine international human rights organizations, have grave reservations about the Sri Lankan government’s proposed National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. Our concerns echo many of those already raised by victims of conflict-related abuses and their families. Sri Lanka has a long history of convening similar bodies, none of which has provided justice, truth or reparation to the many people who have engaged with them. The latest initiative risks repeating the mistakes of the past, exposing victims to renewed security threats and re-traumatization without any realistic chance of a different outcome. There have not been any genuine confidence-building measures, or steps to ensure a safe and conducive environment for such a commission to function effectively.

Sri Lanka: Parliamentary privilege used to undermine independence of the Judiciary

Sri Lanka: Parliamentary privilege used to undermine independence of the Judiciary

The ICJ expressed concern about attacks on the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka under cover of parliamentary privilege.

On 22 August 2023, Sarath Weeresekera, a former Minister and a Member of Parliament belonging to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the country’s ruling political party, made an inflammatory speech with racist undertones in Parliament, referring to T. Saravanaraja, the Mullaitivu Court’s Magistrate repeatedly as “a mentally ill person”, and criticizing a court order Judge Saravanaraja had made, while making personal remarks about him, including a mention of his wife. Judge Saravanaraja has been the target of this invective following an order he made upholding the right of religious worship of Hindu devotees at a Hindu shrine on Kurundur Hill, a contested religious site in the North of the country.

Tunisia: End Judicial Harassment of the President of the Tunisian Judges’ Association

Tunisia: End Judicial Harassment of the President of the Tunisian Judges’ Association

البيان باللغة العربية على هذا الرابط

On August 21, Judge Anas Hmedi, President of the Tunisian Judges’ Association (Association des Magistrats Tunisiens, AMT), is set to appear before an investigating judge at the Kef Court of First Instance, facing charges of “inciting to cease work” arising from a judicial strike in 2022, seven human rights groups said today.

The undersigned human rights organizations call on the Tunisian authorities to drop the charges against Anas Hmedi and end all forms of harassment against judges exercising their rights to peaceful freedom of expression, assembly, and association.

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