Feb 3, 2018 | Agendas, Events, News
Today begins in Ankara (Turkey) a two-day training for lawyers and CSO practitioners representing and working with migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.
This event is organized by ICJ, in cooperation with its partners Refugee Rights Turkey, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), Mülteci-Der (MD) and ICJ-EI, as part of the EU co-financed project Fostering Access to Rights for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Turkey.
30 lawyers and civil society practitioners – representing nine different bar associations and relevant organisations from the Ankara area and other nearby key migration and asylum locations – are taking part in the training on 3 and 4 February.
The training aims to update lawyers and CSOs on the international and national law on the rights of refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers in order to be effective in their work at both the national and international levels. It aims at an effective implementation of the Turkish legal framework on asylum and migration.
The main thematic areas to be discussed will be the principle of non-refoulement, international protection, detention and access to economic, social and cultural rights.
The training will use as a basis the draft training materials prepared by the ICJ and its partners (to be published an the end of 2019) and, among other sources, the ICJ Practitioners Guide no. 6: Migration and International Human Rights Law.
The project “Fostering Access to Rights for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Turkey” is funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) of the European Union.
Turkey-Training-Ankara-MigrationAsylum-Agenda-2018-tur-eng (download the agenda in Turkish and English)
Jan 30, 2018
Today, the ICJ filed its submission to the UN Committee against Torture on the compliance by Azerbaijan with its obligations under the UN Convention against Torture.
The Committee will consider it during the adoption of a list of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR) for the examination of the Fifth Periodic Report of Azerbaijan under Article 19 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).
During its 63rd session, from 23 April to 18 May 2018, the Committee will prepare and adopt a LOIPR on Azerbaijan.
Once adopted, the LOIPR will be transmitted to the State party. Azerbaijan’s formal response to the LOIPR will then constitute its Fifth Periodic Report under article 19 of the Convention.
Azerbaijan ratified the CAT in 1996. The last Concluding Observations on the compliance by Azerbaijan with its obligations under the Convention were adopted in 2015.
The ICJ submission to the Committee highlights a number of ongoing concerns with respect to the country’s implementation of and compliance with the provisions of the CAT:
- Azerbaijan’s legislation governing the legal profession;
- the situation of lawyers in practice;
- the lack independence of the legal profession;
- the role of the Bar Association with regard to attacks on lawyers.
The observations made in this submissions are based on the ICJ’s report “Defenceless defenders: Systemic problems in the legal profession of Azerbaijan”, published in September 2016 following a research mission to the country. The report analyses Azerbaijan’s legislation governing the legal profession; the situation of lawyers in practice, in particular, in relation to the lack independence of the legal profession; as well as the role that the Bar Association plays in attacks on lawyers.
ICJ-AzerbaijanCAT-ListofIssues-Jan18-final (download the submission)
Jan 30, 2018 | Agendas, Events
The ICJ invites you to an event to discuss challenges in prevention of, and accountability for, violations of human rights in renditions and other transfers of suspects, including through past European complicity in US-led renditions, and in ongoing transfers of suspects in the CIS region.
Join us for a discussion marking the EU launch of the International Commission of Jurists’ report, Transnational Injustices: National Security Transfers and International Law. The event is kindly hosted by Ana Gomez and Eva Joly, MEPs.
Panelists will discuss the ongoing practice of states unlawfully rendering people accused of terrorism, accountability for violations of human rights in past renditions, and how the EU institutions and EU Member States should address these.
When: Tuesday 30 January 16.00 – 18.00
Where: Room A5G305, European Parliament, Brussels
RSVP to: anamaria.gomes@europarl.europa.eu
Speakers include:
- Ana Gomes, Member of the European Parliament
- Eva Joly, Member of the European Parliament
- Róisín Pillay, International Commission of Jurists
- Natacha Kazachkine, Open Society European Policy Institute
A flyer for this event is available in PDF format by clicking here.
Jan 26, 2018
An opinion piece by Massimo Frigo, Senior Legal Adviser, ICJ Europe Programme.
A legal dispute between first instance ordinary courts and the Constitutional Court in Turkey is leading the country into a major constitutional conflict and severely limiting the chance of people in Turkey to access effective remedies for human rights violations.
On 11 January, two criminal courts in Istanbul refused to apply the rulings of the Constitutional Court ordering a remedy for breaches of the right to liberty and freedom of expression of two journalists, Mehmet Altan and Şahin Alpay, detained on remand while under trial for terrorism offences and alleged links to the attempted coup of 15 July 2016.
The full piece and legal analysis can be read on the Opinio Juris blog.
Jan 15, 2018 | News
The ICJ is concerned at allegations that the recent arrest and detention of Oyub Titiev, the head of the Chechen branch of the Russian human rights organisation Memorial, were carried out as retaliation for his human rights activity.
The ICJ is particularly concerned at the more recent reports that family members of Oyub Titiev have had to leave Chechnya for security reasons following threats.
The ICJ calls on the Russian federal and local authorities to conduct a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into allegations that criminal charges against Oyub Titiev have been fabricated by police.
Oyub Titiev should be immediately released pending the outcome of this investigation, and measures should be taken to protect his security and that of his family.
On 9 January 2018, at 10.30, according to an official statement of the Ministry of Interior of Chechnya, Oyub Titiev’s car was stopped near Kurchaloy town to check his documents.
During a search of his car, a plastic bag with approximately 180 grams of a substance identified as marijuana was allegedly found.
Titiyev was charged with possession of a large quantity of narcotics under article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, he has stated that the narcotics were planted and has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office to initiate an investigation into these allegations.
Oyub Titiev, the head of Memorial in Chechnya, is one of very few human rights defenders who continue their work in Chechnya despite significant obstacles and threats.
He took over this position following the murder of the former head of Memorial in Chechnya, Natalya Estemirova in 2009.
In accordance with Article 2(a) of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), human rights defenders have a right to conduct human rights work individually and in association with others.
Under the same Declaration, States have a duty to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of everyone against any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate activities as a human rights defender.
Threats of violence and the falsification of evidence by public officials constitute crimes under the Russian Criminal Code. Reliance in criminal proceedings on evidence falsely planted by the police or other State actors would violate international human rights law including fair trial guarantees under the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights.
Attacks on human rights defenders working in an extremely difficult human rights environment such as that of Chechnya, or attacks on their family members, have a chilling effect on work to defend human rights there. If further such attacks are to be prevented, individuals responsible for them must be brought to justice through a fair procedure, the ICJ stressed.
