Sep 1, 2013
The ICJ organized a high level mission to the Kingdom of Lesotho in March 2013 to gather facts concerning a crisis in judicial leadership in this country.
The dispute emerged from a dispute between the office of the Chief Justice, presently occupied by the Honourable Justice M Lehohla1, and the office of the President of the Court of Appeal, presently occupied by the Honourable Justice M Ramodibedi, over the issue of which of them is the head of the judiciary.
The mission team’s objective was also to make recommendations on possible solutions to the crisis.
The ICJ considers that a resolution of this crisis is necessary to bring about harmony in the administration of justice in Lesotho, to facilitate access to justice, to protect the independence of the judiciary and to preserve public confidence in Lesotho’s judicial institutions.
The full mission report can be downloaded below.
Lesotho-Crisis judicial leadership-Publications-Mission report-2014-ENG (full text in pdf)
Jul 23, 2013
The European Court of Human Rights ruled today that the 17-month detention of a Sierra Leone national asylum seeker was in breach of Article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Ibrahim Suso Musa had been detained in the Safi Barracks, an administrative detention centre for undocumented migrants located in a military base, for more than six months pending his asylum application.
He was then held for a further eleven months with view of deportation, after his asylum request had been rejected on 2 April 2012.
The Court further held that Maltese authorities had breached his right to an effective and speedy remedy to challenge the lawfulness of his detention under Article 5(4) ECHR.
The ICJ submitted a third party intervention in the case, arguing, among other things, that the mechanism of review of the legality of detention in Malta was at odds with ECHR standards and that conditions of detention should be taken into account when assessing the arbitrariness of the detention under Article 5 of the European Convention.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Maltese legislation did not provide any effective and speedy remedy to challenge detention of undocumented migrants or asylum seekers. It furthermore held that his detention pending his asylum application was arbitrary because it was excessively long, particularly considering the poor conditions of detention in the Safi Barracks detention centre. Finally, it ruled that, because of the conditions of detention, the absence of a means under Maltese law to challenge the detention’s legality and the fact that effective efforts towards deportation had not been pursued, “the national system failed as a whole to protect [Suso Musa] from arbitrary detention”.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes today’s ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Suso Musa v. Malta, which corroborates some of the findings of its report, Not Here to Stay, documenting an ICJ mission to Malta in September 2011.
“This ruling is an authoritative statement that the migration detention system is not in line with Malta’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights”, said Massimo Frigo, Legal Adviser for the Europe Programme. “The system as it stands opens the door to substantial abuses, adding to the extraordinary strains that are faced by many asylum seekers. The ICJ shares the Court’s view that “general measures at national level are undoubtedly called for in execution of the present judgment” and calls on Maltese authorities to implement the Court’s recommendations on specific measures to bring the system up to standard.”
The ICJ acknowledges that Malta’s situation is particularly difficult and that the European Union must also play its role as guarantor of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and of EU standards on asylum. “The EU should intervene to ensure that the Maltese system is put in line with EU and ECHR human rights standards and its Member States should cooperate including by facilitating the resettlement of persons recognized for international protection”, said Massimo Frigo.
SusoMusa-Malta-ECtHR-Statement-2013 (download the statement)
SusoMusa-ECtHR-Intervention-Malta-2013 (download the third party intervention)
SusoMusa-ECtHR-Judgment-Malta-2013 (download the Court’s judgement)
Contact:
Massimo Frigo, ICJ Legal Adviser of the Europe Programme, tel: 41 22 979 38 05, e-mail: massimo.frigo(a)icj.org
Róisín Pillay, ICJ Director of the Europe Programme, e-mail : roisin.pillay(a)icj.org
Jun 19, 2013 | Multimedia items, News, Video clips
Okay Machisa is the National Director of Zimrights, one of Zimbabwe’s leading human rights organizations, supported by the ICJ. Listen to his video interview.
Jun 10, 2013 | Agendas, Events
On Friday 7 June 2013, the ICJ convened a parallel event during the Human Rights Council’s 23rd regular session held in Geneva.
The event, held in Room IX of the Palais des Nations, addressed key issues concerning past and present challenges to the rule of law in Zimbabwe in the context of the upcoming elections and the need for the international community to remain vigilant about the necessity for free, fair and peaceful elections in the country. The event was chaired by Martin Okumu-Masiga, Deputy Director of the ICJ’s Africa Regional Programme. Panelists were MacDonald Lewanika, Director of Crisis Coalition; Okay Machisa, Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association; and Irene Petras, Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold general elections before the end of 2013. Past elections in the country have been marred by violence and attacks on human rights defenders and the rule of law more generally. In the period leading to the 2013 elections, there have been several incidents of crackdown on political dissents and independent voices. The impunity enjoyed by past and current perpetrators electoral violence has continued to exacerbate fears for the integrity, peaceful conduct and fairness of the upcoming elections.
Zimbabwe-HR Council side event on elections in Zimbabwe-event-2013 (event flyer in pdf)
ICJ draws attention to risks of violence in the forthcoming general elections in Zimbabwe
Jun 3, 2013
The ICJ has forwarded information to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression concerning signs of impending violence surrounding the general elections to be held in Zimbabwe.
In statement prepared for an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr Frank La Rue, the ICJ drew attention to current and possible further attacks against political dissent or non-aligned opinions. As well as drawing attention to tensions between the newly promulgated Constitution of Zimbabwe and existing repressive laws affecting the freedom of expression, the ICJ called on the Council and the Special Rapporteur to urge Zimbabwe to:
- Ensure the effective and unimpeded exercise of freedom of expression before, during and after the general elections to be held by the end of this year;
- Amend or repeal all laws restricting the freedom of expression; and
- Establish mechanisms to prevent and address partisan conduct by police and intelligence officers.
The statement was to have been delivered under Item 3 (promotion and protection of all human rights) of the agenda of the Human Rights Council’s 23rd regular session (27 May to 14 June 2013). Due to restrictions in the time available under the debate, the oral statement could not be delivered during the session of the Council.
Zimbabwe-HRC23-OralStatementFOE-LegalSubmission-2013 (download statement in PDF)
