Dec 11, 2015
In a letter, the ICJ and eleven other organizations call on the authorities to drop the charges against Hendry for screening an award-winning human rights documentary. Her trial is slated to begin on Monday 14 December 2015.
The organizations say they are deeply concerned by the decision of the Malaysian authorities to prosecute Lena Hendry for her involvement in the screening of No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka in Kuala Lumpur on July 9, 2013.
The charges against her violate Malaysia’s obligations to respect the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, notably to receive and impart information.
The full letter can be downloaded here:
Malaysia-Drop Charges against Lena Hendry PM-Advocacy-open letters-2015-ENG (letter to Prime Minister, in PDF)
Malaysia-Drop Charges against Lena Hendry AG-Advocacy-open letters-2015-ENG (letter to Attorney General, in PDF)
Nov 24, 2015
The ICJ and Human Rights Watch have expressed concerns regarding the detention of non military persons in a military base facility and the deaths of two detainees held there.
In an open letter to the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva, the ICJ and Human Rights Watch today raised their serious concern at the establishment of a detention facility holding non-military persons named the Nakhon Chaisri temporary remand facility (“the Facility”) inside the 11th Army Circle military base in Bangkok, and the recent deaths of two detainees who were held there.
The ICJ and Human Rights Watch concluded the letter by making six urgent recommendations to the Royal Thai Government, including to:
1. Immediately transfer all non-military persons detained at the Facility to an officially recognized civilian place of detention that complies with international law and standards and ensure no further non-military prisoners are detained at this Facility or any other similar facility; and
2. Carry out a prompt, impartial, and effective investigation into the recent deaths of Suriyan Sucharitpolwong and Prakrom Warunprapa,prosecute and bring to justice any party found responsible, and ensure the victims’ families have access to effective remedies and reparation.
The letter was also copied to the Prime Minister of Thailand, the Director General of the Department of Corrections and the Minister of Justice.
Contact:
Wilder Tayler, Secretary-General, wilder.tayler(a)icj.org
Open letter:
Thailand-Detention-Advocay-OpenLetter-2015-ENG (English – in PDF)
Thailand-Detention_Advocacy-OpenLetter-2015-THAI (Thai – in PDF)
Nov 10, 2015
The ICJ today joined other organisations in calling for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to address the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Burundi.
The joint letter cited, among other concerns, continuing unlawful killings and other human rights violations and abuses, as well as the use of incendiary language by a number of high-level officials in the last two weeks. The organisations fear that Burundi may be on the verge of widespread violence. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed extreme concern about the situation.
On 6 November, the body of Welly Nzitonda, the son of prominent human rights defender Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, was found dead a few hours after he was arrested in the Mutakura neighborhood of Bujumbura where protests have taken place. On 3 August, Mr. Mbonimpa was himself shot in the face and neck. He was forced to seek medical treatment abroad. His son-in-law, Pascal Nshimirimana, was shot dead outside his home in Bujumbura on 9 October.
The open letter can be downloaded here (in english, PDF format): Burundi-UN-OpenLetter-2015
(en français): Burundi-UN-OpenLetter-2015-FR
Nov 2, 2015
In a letter to Prime Minister Najib Razak, the ICJ today called on the Government of Malaysia to discontinue investigations of the organizers of Bersih 4.0 (photo) and drop all charges against Maria Chin Abdullah and Jannie Lasimbang.
The ICJ also called on the Government of Malaysia to amend the Peaceful Assembly Act of 2012 to ensure conformity with international standards, and to protect the right of Malaysians to organize and participate in peaceful assemblies.
Malaysia-Bersih letter-Advocacy-open letters-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
Oct 25, 2015
In a letter to the President of the Socialist Republic, the ICJ today called on Vietnam to immediately halt the execution of 32 year-old Le Van Manh scheduled on 26 October 2015 and to promptly and impartially investigate allegations he was tortured by the police in order to extract a confession.
In 2005, Le Van Manh was charged with the rape and murder of a 13 year-old girl in Thanh Hoa Province.
He confessed to the crimes but later retracted his statement, alleging that he had been severely beaten by the police.
On 25 November 2008, the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam upheld his convictions and death sentence imposed following a third trial.
He had previously successfully appealed the convictions and sentence imposed following his first two trials arguing errors of fact and violations of his fair trial rights.
“The execution of Le Van Manh would be a denial of the right to life constituting a serious violation of Vietnam’s international legal obligations and must be halted immediately,” said Kingsley Abbott, International Legal Adviser at the ICJ.
“Furthermore, the fact that Le Van Manh’s confession, allegedly obtained by torture, was relied on at trial strongly suggests that the legal process fell far short of international law and standards which, alone, is reason to grant Le Van Manh a permanent reprieve,” he added.
“After halting the execution, Vietnam must carry out a prompt, independent and effective investigation into the allegations of torture. If proven, the perpetrators must be brought to justice and Le Van Manh must be provided remedies and reparation in line with international law and standards,” Abbott further said.
As a State party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture (CAT), Vietnam has a duty to protect the right to life; the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and the right to a fair trial.
Background
Many governments, the United Nations and civil society organizations, including the ICJ, agree that the death penalty constitutes a denial of the right to life and is a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, and is therefore never justified.
Countries where the death penalty is imposed must ensure, at a minimum, that it is only used in cases of “the most serious crimes” following a trial that meets the highest level of compliance with international law and standards of fairness.
In December 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, for the fifth time since 2007, emphasizing that the use of the death penalty undermines human dignity and calling on those countries that maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on its use with a view towards its abolition.
Some 117 UN Member States, a wide majority, voted in favor of a worldwide moratorium on executions as a step towards abolition of the death penalty.
The UN Human Rights Committee, the supervisory authority for the ICCPR, has emphasized: “In cases of trials leading to the imposition of the death penalty scrupulous respect of the guarantees of fair trial is particularly important. The imposition of a sentence of death upon conclusion of a trial, in which the provisions of article 14 of the Covenant have not been respected, constitutes a violation of the right to life.”
Article 15 of the CAT places an obligation on States parties to “ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made.”
Contact:
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ International Legal Adviser, (Bangkok), t:+66 944701345, e-mail: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
Vietnam-Execution Le Van Manh-Advocacy-open letters-2015-ENG (full text of letter in PDF)
