Apr 22, 2015 | Communiqués de presse, Multimédia, Nouvelles
Les trois finalistes défenseurs des droits de l’Homme en lice pour le prix sont Ahmed Mansoo (Emirats Arabes Unis), Robert Sann Aung (Myanmar) et Asmaou Diallo (Guinée).
La CIJ est membre du jury du Martin Ennals Award (MEA).
La sélection des nominé-e-s au Prix est effectuée par la communauté internationale des droits humains. Le Prix est attribué à des défenseur-e-s des droits humains qui ont montré un engagement important et font face à un risque personnel sérieux. L’objectif du Prix est de mettre en lumière leur travail et de les protéger à travers une visibilité accrue.
Universal-MEA Final Nominees 2015-News-Press Release-2015-FRE (Communiqué de presse officiel en PDF)
Apr 14, 2015 | News
The ICJ is deeply concerned over the decision of the High Judicial Council and the President of the Cairo Court of Appeal to investigate two judges with a view to referring them to the disciplinary Council.
Media reports have indicated that Assem Abdel Jabar, deputy president of the Cassation Court, and Hicham Raouf, a judge in Cairo’s Appeal Court, are being investigated over their individual participation, together with other leading lawyers and legal experts, in a workshop organized by an Egyptian organization, United Group, to discuss and propose new legislation on the prevention of torture.
According to information available to the ICJ, the two judges have so far not been formally notified of any charges against them and have received no information about the allegations on which they are based.
The actions against these judges continue a pattern of intimidation and attempted silencing of judges who are seen by authorities as not aligning themselves with government objectives.
The apparent investigation is only the latest in a string of cases where judges have been subject to arbitrary disciplinary proceedings for legitimately exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
On 14 March 2015, the Disciplinary Council forced 31 judges into retirement for signing a statement, on 24 July 2013, which criticized the “attack on the constitutional legitimacy and the ouster of the legitimate president that was elected”.
The disciplinary proceedings against these judges were marred with violations of due process rights.
The judges were not adequately informed of the date and location of the hearings, defence witnesses were not called and requests by the judges that the hearings be public were disregarded.
On 4 April 2015, a disciplinary hearing took place against Zakaria Abdelaziz, former president of Egypt’s Judges Club and one of the leading advocates for judicial independence in Egypt.
The charges alleged “involvement in politics” and “breaking into the State Security Building during a demonstration on 5 March 2011”.
According to information available to the ICJ, the case files were not made available to Zakaria Abdeaziz until the first hearing despite repeated requests to obtain them.
Under international human rights law and standards, judges are guaranteed the right to freedom of belief, association, assembly and expression, including by commenting on matters of public concern and matters pertaining to the rule of law and human rights situation in a country.
“Instead of subjecting judges to arbitrary proceedings for lawfully exercising their rights, the Egyptian authorities should stop its sustained campaign to muzzle judges who are seen as not friendly to the authorities,“ said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ MENA programme. “The Egyptian authorities must reinstate all judges who were removed from office solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly and drop all charges against those currently subject to disciplinary proceedings for charges stemming from the exercise of these rights.”
Contact:
Alice Goodenough, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +44 7815 570 834, e-mail: alice.goodenough(a)icj.org
Nader Diab, Associate Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41 229 793 804, e-mail: nader.diab(a)icj.org
Egypt-Judges harassed-News-web story-2015-ARA (full text in PDF)
Apr 8, 2015
The ICJ calls on member States of the League of Arab States (LAS) to refrain from ratifying the Statute of the Arab Court of Human Rights unless and until it is comprehensively amended.
In a report published today, the ICJ highlights numerous failings in the drafting process and the provisions of the Statute that fall short of international standards.
The Statute, approved by the Ministerial Council of the LAS on 7 September 2014, does not permit individuals or groups, including victims of human rights violations, to file a complaint directly with the Court. Only States parties, and NGOs that are both accredited in a State party and are specifically permitted to do so by that State, can bring cases before the Court.
“By denying the right of victims to have direct recourse to the Court, the Statute defeats the very purpose and objective of establishing the Arab Court of Human Rights,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ’s Middle East and North African Programme. “Amendments to the Statute’s access provisions should be introduced to ensure direct access at a minimum for individuals who allege they have been a victim of a violation of a right within the jurisdiction of the Court.”
Further reforms needed include proper guarantees for the independence and impartiality of the Court and its judges, a requirement for the Court to interpret the Arab Charter of Human Rights consistently with States’ other international law obligations, and for the Court to have broad discretion to decide whether cases are admissible, without the undue restrictions of a strict requirement to exhaust local remedies.
In addition, if the Court is to be effective, it must be able to order interim or provisional measures; to order measures capable of protecting victims, witnesses and other participants in Court proceedings from reprisals; the host State must be required to provide the necessary guarantees for the Court and its staff; and there must be mechanisms to ensure that the Court’s judgments are actually implemented in practice.
“Member States of the LAS must refrain from ratifying the Statute in its current form and should instead launch a transparent and inclusive process to amend the Statute in full accordance with international standards,” Benarbia added. “All stakeholders, including victims of human rights violations and their representatives, civil society organizations, judges, academics and Bar Associations, should be given the opportunity to participate in all stages of the process of establishing the Arab Court, including the reform of the Statute.”
Said Benarbia was speaking at a joint conference of the ICJ and Legal Agenda in Tunis, from 8 to 9 April 2015, bringing experts on international and regional mechanisms and courts, together with judges, lawyers and civil society organizations from LAS member states, to examine the Statute of the Arab Court in light of international standards and experiences.
Contact:
Said Benarbia, ICJ Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, e: said.benarbia@icj.org
MENA-Arab Court of Human Rights-Publications-Report-2015-ENG (full report in PDF, English version)
MENA-Arab court of Human Rights-Publications-reports-2015-ARA (full report in PDF, Arabic version)
MENA-Arab Court Report-News-Pressrelease-2015-ARA (full Arabic version of press release in PDF)
MENA-Arab Court Tunis Declaration-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
MENA-Arab Court Tunis Declaration-Advocacy-2015-ARA (full text in PDF, Arabic)
MENA-Arab Court Speech Monageng-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
MENA-Arab Court Memo Monageng-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
MENA-Conference Agenda-News-Event-2015-ENG (full agenda in PDF, English)
MENA-Conference Agenda-News-Event-2015-ARA (full agenda in PDF, Arabic)
Mar 20, 2015 | Advocacy
The ICJ today joined a call with Libyan, regional and other international NGOs for the Human Rights Council to create an independent inquiry mechanism into serious human rights and humanitarian law violations in Libya.
The escalating armed conflict and significantly deteriorating human rights situation in Libya requires a strong and urgent response from the Human Rights Council.
The statement calls for the creation of an independent inquiry mechanism with the mandate to investigate and ensure accountability for gross human rights and humanitarian law violations occurring throughout the country including attacks on civilians, the widespread use of torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and unlawful killings.
The statement outlines the ongoing impunity for those responsible for violations, the inability of the Libyan criminal justice system to deal with such crimes and it calls on the Human Rights Council to encourage Libya’s cooperation with the ICC.
Libya-HRC joint Statement-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
Libya-HRC joint Statement-Advocacy-2015-ARA (full text in PDF)
Mar 3, 2015 | Advocacy
Thirteen human rights organizations, including the ICJ, call on the United Arabe Emirates government to release the activists jailed following the UAE 94 trial.
On the second anniversary of the start of the mass “UAE 94” trial that imprisoned dozens of government critics and reform activists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including prominent human rights defenders, judges, academics, and student leaders, a coalition of 13 organizations calls on the UAE government to release immediately and unconditionally all those imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association following this grossly unfair trial, as well as those who remain detained or imprisoned for publicizing concerns about it.
The organizations also call on the authorities to ensure that the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment that the individuals were subjected to prior to and following their trial are promptly, independently, impartially and thoroughly investigated, that those responsible are held to account, and that the victims have access to effective remedies and to reparation.
The organizations share the serious concerns raised since 2011 by several UN human rights bodies and human rights organizations regarding the UAE government’s continuing pattern of harassment, secret, arbitrary and prolonged incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, and unfair trials targeting activists and those critical of the authorities, as well as its increasing use of national security as a pretext to clamp down on peaceful activism and to stifle calls for reform.
The space for dissent in the UAE is increasingly shrinking. The repression has been entrenched with the enactment in 2012 of the cybercrimes law, which the government has used to silence social media activists and others who support and defend freedom of expression online, and the enactment of the 2014 counter-terror law.
The vague and overly broad definition of terrorism in the 2014 law, which treats a wide range of activities, including those protected by human rights standards, as amounting to terrorism, may be used to sentence human rights defenders or critics of the government to lengthy prison terms or even death.
The organizations call on the UAE government, which currently is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, to adhere to its obligations to uphold human rights at home, including respecting the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, and to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.
The full statement can be found here in English and Arabic:
United Arab Emirates-Release activists convicted at the UAE94 trial-Advocacy-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
United Arab Emirates -Release activists convicted at the UAE94 trial-Advocacy-2015-ARA (full text in PDF)
Read also:
UAE: Fear that Anti-Terrorism Law will be used to curtail human rights and target human rights defenders, Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Front Line Defenders, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, 13 December 2014,
Mass convictions following an unfair trial: The UAE 94 case, an ICJ report, October 2013,
United Arab Emirates: ICJ condemns blatant disregard of the right to a fair and public trial, ICJ, 12 March 2013
