Jun 28, 2017
NGOs, including the ICJ, have sent an open letter to the OHCHR Petitions Unit and Treaty Bodies chairs on threats and assaults against Treaty Body petitioners.
The purpose of this letter is to encourage Treaty Bodies to proactively request that State parties adopt protection measures in cases of reprisals against Treaty Body petitioners, and seek follow-up to those measures by OHCHR field presences.
Universal-ReprisalsTreatyBodies-Advocacy-OpenLetter-2017-ENG (full text in PDF)
Jun 15, 2017
The ICJ and nine other human rights organizations decry the human rights crises taking place in Egypt in a letter published today. Repression of human rights defenders, journalists and political opposition has reached a level not seen in decades.
It require effective action including by the UN Human Rights Council.
The full letter is available here (in PDF).
The ICJ is also co-sponsoring a side event, Egypt: the Price of Silence, on Monday 19 June at 14:30 (pdf): HRC35-SideEvent-Egypt-2017
May 23, 2017
The ICJ signed the open letter to the President, Prime Minister and National Assembly Chair of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, calling them to release Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh unconditionally and immediately and end harassment of his family. Vietnam-Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh-Advocacy-Open letters-2017-ENG (full text in PDF)
May 19, 2017
The ICJ and Amnesty International expressed their concern at the district public prosecutor’s decision dated 8 May 2017 against appealing the Kavre District Court decision to acquit Major Niranjan Basnet in Maina Sunuwar’s murder case.
The two organizations call on the Attorney General to review the decision and pursue the appeal against the Kavre District Court judgment, as requested by Maina Sunuwar’s mother, Devi Sunuwar, in her letters to the district prosecutor and the AG’s office on 18 May 2017.
Full text of the letter here (in PDF): Nepal-AG letter Maina Sunuwar-Advocacy-Open letters-2017-ENG
Read also Nepal: need effective steps to enforce court verdicts
Feb 17, 2017
The ICJ and other NGOs have written to States urging action on human rights in China, at the upcoming March 2017 session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The joint letter highlights continuing concerns about arbitrary arrests, detentions, denial of access to lawyers, incommunicado and secret detention, and unfair trials of lawyers and other human rights defenders, as well as unjustified restrictions on freedom of expression, alongside other human rights issues in the country.
The letter calls on States at the Council to, among other things:
- Insist that China uphold its obligations to prevent, punish and remedy torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, including by ordering prompt, impartial, independent investigations into reports of torture of detained lawyers and human rights defenders.
- Urge China to amend or repeal the Overseas NGO Management Law, which contradicts international human rights standards and undermines the independence of civil society.
- Call for the repeal or revision of the Counter-Terrorism Law, and speak out against the increasing use of national security legislation and draft ‘regulations on religious affairs’ to criminalise and harass those exercising freedom of thought, conscience and religion and freedom of expression.
The letter comes as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed similar concerns, stating that, “Lawyers should never have to suffer prosecution or any other kind of sanctions or intimidation for discharging their professional duties”, emphasising that lawyers have an essential role to play in protecting human rights and the rule of law, and urging the Government of China “to release all of them immediately and without conditions.”
The joint letter can be downloaded in PDF format here: UN-HRC34-China-JointLetter-Advocacy-2017
