Sep 14, 2016 | Events
This panel discussion features two Iraqi torture survivors, Salah Hassan Nsaif and Ali Shallal Abbas, who will share their first-hand accounts serious abuse suffered at Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, and the role of U.S. contractors in that torture and abuse.
The event organised by the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and the Center for Constitutional Rights, takes place 15 September 2016, 11:00-12:00, at the Palais des Nations Room XXVII in Geneva, Switzerland.
CCR Senior Staff Attorney Katherine Gallagher will discuss legal cases, Saleh v Titan and Al Shimari v CACI, brought in the United States on behalf of victims as they seek justice. The cases will be placed in context of broader corporate accountability efforts, including those of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries and the Open-Ended Working Group on a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises.
Speakers:
Salah Hassan, journalist and photographer for Al Jazeera network and Abu Ghraib torture survivor
Ali Shallal Abbas, Founder and President of the Association of victims of the American and Iranian prisons in Iraq, and Abu Ghraib torture survivor
Katherine Gallagher, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
Carlos Lopez, Senior Legal Adviser, Business and Human Rights, International Commission of Jurists (moderator)
Remarks will also be made by Patricia Arias, Chair of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries.
Following the event, there will be the opening of an art exhibit organized by the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries. Ms. Arias, Mr. Nsaif, and Mr. Abbas will make remarks, and guests are invited to engage with the photographs, multimedia display, and virtual reality film. The exhibit is open to delegates, NGOs, and the public. “Private Actors in Warfare: Stories from victims of private military and security companies and foreign fighters” will take place at 13:00 – 15:00 in Palais des Nations Room XXIII.
A flyer for the event may be downloaded, in PDF format, here: side-event-pmsc-abu-graib-sept2016
Jul 21, 2016
Libya must reform its legal framework and make revisions to the current draft Constitution in order to consolidate the rule of law and judicial independence and to address ongoing impunity in the transitional process, the ICJ said today.
The statement came as the ICJ released its new report Challenges for the Libyan Judiciary: ensuring independence, accountability and gender equality.
In the report, the ICJ calls on the Libyan authorities to revise the legislation governing the organization of the judiciary, the Supreme Judicial Council, (SJC), the prosecutor’s office and the use of military tribunals in line with international law and standards on the independence and accountability of the judiciary and on gender equality.
The ICJ also calls on the Constitution Drafting Assembly to revise the latest draft of the Constitution to ensure that it fully accords with international law and standards.
In May, the ICJ held a high level conference, in part to discuss the report’s findings bringing together senior judges, former ministers, members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly, lawyers, prosecutors and legal academics from across Libya.
Participants recognized the need for reforms and expressed their commitment to strengthening the independence of the judiciary and consolidating the rule of law in Libya.
“If Libya is to move forward towards a new era where the rule of law is held paramount, the new Constitution and legislation on the administration of justice must conform to the principles of judicial independence, impartiality and accountability,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the MENA programme at the ICJ.
The report emphasizes the need for the Supreme Judicial Council to be institutionally, financially, and administratively independent from the executive.
It is also important that its membership be pluralistic and gender-representative, with a majority of judges elected by their peers, the report says.
The existing Statute on the Judiciary needs revision to provide fair and transparent procedures for the selection, appointment, promotion and discipline of all judges, according to the report.
It also needs to provide for specific measures aimed at increased representation of women in the judiciary, including in senior positions.
The ICJ report also calls on the Libyan authorities to ensure the functional independence of the prosecutor’s office from both the executive and the rest of the judiciary.
Such independence is important to ensure that any past and ongoing gross human rights violations in Libya are impartially and thoroughly investigated and prosecuted and that all those responsible for such violations are criminally held to account, the ICJ says.
The report underlines that the jurisdiction of military tribunals must be restricted only to cases involving members of the military for alleged breaches of military discipline.
Alleged violations of human rights committed by the military or armed forces must be investigated and prosecuted by civilian authorities, it says.
The report recommends that immediate measures be taken to end arbitrary detention across Libya and ensure to all detainees the right to a fair trial.
Contact
Doireann Ansbro, Associate Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, email: doireann.ansbro(a)icj.org
Libya-IoJ report launch-News-Pres releases-ARA-2016 (full press release in Arabic, PDF)
Libya-Challenges the Judiciary-Publications-Reports-Thematic report-2016-ENG (full report in English, PDF)
Libya-Challenges the Judiciary-Publications-Reports-Thematic report-2016-ARA (full report in Arabic, PDF)
Jul 7, 2016 | News
Following reports that Saif al Islam Gadhafi has been released from prison in Libya, the ICJ today called for him to be promptly arrested and surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Saif al Islam Gadhafi was convicted by the Tripoli Criminal Court in July 2015 and sentenced, along with eight other former officials of the Moammar Gadhafi regime, to the death penalty.
At the time, the ICJ expressed its concern that the trial had not been fair, expressed its opposition to the death penalty, and called on the Libyan authorities to surrender Saif al Islam Gadhafi to the ICC.
In 2011, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Gadhafi, who faces two counts of Crimes against Humanity including murder and persecution of civilians, allegedly conducted as part of an orchestrated campaign against demonstrators during the uprising in Libya in 2011.
Gadhafi was reportedly released from a prison in Zintan in April 2016, following instructions from the Minister of Justice to the city’s chief prosecutor. The instructions were reportedly based on a general amnesty law that was promulgated by the Libyan House of Representatives in August 2015.[1]
“Granting amnesty for crimes such as those for which Saif al Islam Gadhafi was allegedly responsible is totally incompatible with the rule of law, the right of victims to justice, and Libya’s international human rights obligations”, said Said Benarbia, Director of the MENA programme at the International Commission of Jurists.
“Instead of shielding him from accountability, the Libyan authorities should ensure that all those responsible for past and ongoing gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law are brought to justice in fair and effective criminal trials. A first step in this direction would be for the Libyan authorities to arrest Saif al Islam Gadhafi and surrender him to the ICC as a matter of urgency.”
The ICJ believes that impunity for gross human rights violations and war crimes, including impunity resulting from amnesties, is not conducive to peace, political stability and national reconciliation in Libya.
Indeed, such impunity may be perceived by those who continue to systematically violate rights and freedoms as a signal that they may never be criminally held to account.
At the same time, the ICJ absolutely opposes the death penalty, which it considers inherently to violate the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
Gadhafi would not face the death penalty in any ICC trial.
Saif al Islam Gadhafi’s lawyer has reportedly indicated that he will argue to the ICC that it should drop its proceedings, on the basis of article 20 of the Statute of the ICC, which addresses the circumstances in which a person who has already been tried for certain conduct by another court, may subsequently be tried by the ICC.
The ICJ stresses that any hearing to consider such arguments should not in any way suspend Libya’s obligation immediately to implement the ICC arrest warrant and to surrender Saif al Islam Gadhafi to the ICC.
“Libya should comply with its obligations under international law and dismantle the structural impunity that continues to prevail in the country, including by putting an end to politicized judicial proceedings and ensuring that prosecutors carry out their functions independently, impartially, and in defence of human rights,” added Benarbia.
[1] Law No. 6 of 2015
Contact
Doireann Ansbro, Associate Legal Adviser, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +216 71 841 701, e: doireann.ansbro(a)icj.org
Libya-Saif al Islam Gadhafi-News-Press Releases-2016-ARA (full press release in Arabic, PDF)
Jun 23, 2016
The ICJ has joined other international NGOs in a joint statement of concern about the severe and worsening repression of civil society in Egypt.
Together with, Amnesty International, CIVICUS, EuroMed Rights, FIDH, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch, IFEX, the International Service for Human Rights, People in Need and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the ICJ highlights a number of anti-civil society measures and cases in Egypt, ultimately calling on Egyptian authorities to immediately take the following steps to address the severe violations against human rights defenders:
- Abide by their own pledges made in March 2015 at the conclusion of Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review before the United Nations Human Rights Council to “respect the free exercise of the associations defending human rights,” and comply with their obligations under Article 75 of the 2014 Constitution, which protects civil society organizations from interference by the government.
- Close the politically-motivated Case 173 of 2011, known as the “foreign funding case,” and withdraw all measures of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders taken with reference to that case, including travel bans, the asset freeze order and trumped-up tax investigations.
- Amend penal code Article 78, which in very broad terms penalises the receipt of foreign funding without government approval and imposes a penalty of up to life imprisonment, which in practice in Egypt is 25 years, in addition to a 500,000 Egyptian pound fine (US$56,300).
- Cease all additional forms of legal and other harassment of human rights defenders.
- Repeal the Protest Law (Law 107 of 2013), which severely restricts the right to peaceful assembly, or amend it in order to bring it in line with international human rights law and the Egyptian constitution.
- Repeal the Counter-Terrorism Law (Law 94 of 2015), which effectively criminalizes freedom of expression, association and assembly, or amend it substantially to bring it in line with international human rights law and standards.
- Immediately release all individuals imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly; drop the charges against them and ensure that any who have been convicted have their convictions quashed.
The full statement may be downloaded in PDF format here: Egypt-Advocacy-JointNGOStatement-2016
Jun 8, 2016
In a memorandum published today, the ICJ called on the Tunisian authorities to implement a comprehensive set of measures to fully realize women’s right of access to justice.
Despite some progressive legislation protecting women’s human rights, and the recent adoption of institutional and legal reforms of the justice system, the ICJ identified significant remaining obstacles undermining women’s access to justice in breach of Tunisia’s obligations under international human rights law.
“Women in Tunisia face numerous barriers accessing justice. While some are specific to their status as women, such as explicitly discriminatory laws, others are common to men and women but affect women and men differently or are predominantly experienced by women,” said Shirin Abu Fannouneh, Legal Researcher for the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme.
The ICJ memorandum analyzes some of the main obstacles to women’s effective access to justice in Tunisia, including inadequate laws failing to fully protect women’s human rights, such as the Criminal Code’s flawed, discriminatory definitions of rape and sexual harassment; laws perpetuating gender discrimination, such as certain child custody provisions of the Personal Status Code; structural and practical obstacles related to the administration of justice; gender stereotypes and norms undermining women’s ability and/or willingness to seek justice; and economic and social barriers.
“Obstacles in the way of women exercising the right of access to justice take various forms in Tunisia. Even if certain legal provisions were to be reformed in line with international human rights law, other hurdles – such as the biased attitudes of justice-sector actors and women’s own disadvantaged social and economic realities – would, if unaddressed, continue to undermine women’s ability to claim and obtain respect for their human rights,” added Abu Fannouneh.
The ICJ stresses that, under international human rights law, Tunisia is not only required to adopt a wide range of legislative, administrative, educative and practical measures to realize the right of access to justice for all, but it must also take specific steps to address women’s experiences and the numerous, specific obstacles they face when seeking to exercise their right of access to justice.
“Effective access to justice for women is not merely a matter of the right to access a mechanism to claim their rights. It also requires prohibiting all forms of discrimination and ensuring that men and women enjoy equal rights, including equality before the law and equal protection of the law, in law and in practice,” said Abu Fannouneh.
The ICJ identified a wide range of measures Tunisia must implement to eliminate these obstacles. These reforms include:
- amending existing legislation, including through the Draft Law on Violence against Women, to ensure that certain violations of women’s human rights are adequately criminalized, such as rape, including marital rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment;
- providing adequate legal aid and protection measures, for example to victims of domestic violence;
- training for judges, prosecutors, police officers and lawyers in addressing and overcoming discriminatory attitudes and gender stereotypes within the administration of justice; and
- taking steps to address certain social and practical realities, such as women’s disadvantaged status in society, their lack of financial independence and societal gender-based stereotypes and prejudices that ultimately impede the effective exercise by women of their right of access to justice.
“If women’s effective access to justice is to become a reality, women must be fully empowered to seek and obtain respect for their human rights. The Tunisian authorities for their part must adopt and implement comprehensive reforms to address all types of obstacles to making women’s right of access to justice a reality so that legislative advancements are not nullified by persisting discriminatory attitudes and practices,” added Abu Fannouneh.
Contact
Theo Boutruche, ICJ Legal Adviser, Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +96 170 888 961, e: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
Tunisia-Memo WA2J-Advocacy-Analysis brief-2016-ENG (full Memo in English, PDF)
Tunisia-Memo WA2J-News-Press releases-2016-ARA (full news in Arabic, PDF)
Tunisia-Memo WA2J-Advocacy-Analysis brief-2016-ARA (full Memo in Arabic, PDF)
