International Commission of Jurists
Disappearances and procedural guarantees in Turkey and Tajikistan (UN Statement)

Disappearances and procedural guarantees in Turkey and Tajikistan (UN Statement)

Sep 21, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions

At the interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Enforced and Involunatary Disapparances during the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the ICJ has called on Tajikistan and Turkey to comply with the recommendations by the Working Group and to end practices of abduction and forced return.

The Chair of the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disapperances in his replies to the questions pressed Turkey to implement the recommendations of the Working Group’s report.

The oral statement read as follows:

Mr Vice-President

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the report by the Working Group on the follow up of its recommendations on its visit to Turkey (A/HRC/45/13/Add.4) and shares its concerns at the lack of implementation by the Turkish authorities and at the State-sponsored practice of “abductions and forced returns” (para 8). The ICJ agrees with the Working Group that a critical factor that fosters impunity in Turkey is “the lack of judicial independence and impartiality” (para 17).

The ICJ also welcomes the Working Group’s report on Tajikistan (A/HRC/45/13/Add.1). The ICJ shares its concern at the forcible return of Tajikistan nationals to the country, involving enforced disappearances (para 53), the harassment of  lawyers (para 9) including the lengthy imprisonment of Buzurgmehr Yorov and Nuriddin Makhkamov, the obstruction of lawyers’ access to detainees, and inadequate judicial review of detention (para 47).

The ICJ urges both countries to fully implement the recommendations of the Working Group and particularly:

  • on Tajikistan, to end forced return of their nationals, and to ensure prompt and confidential access to lawyers for detainees and prompt and independent judicial review of detention.
  • on Turkey, to stop all practices of abduction and forced return from other countries and to restore the independence of its judiciary.

 

The increase and “normalisation” of enforce disappearances and abductions worldwide (UN Statement)

The increase and “normalisation” of enforce disappearances and abductions worldwide (UN Statement)

Sep 16, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions

The ICJ today put the spotlight the increase and “normalisation” of enforce disappearances and abductions worldwide, with examples about Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The statement, made during the general debate, reads as follows:

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) shares concerns highlighted by the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances in its report (UN doc. A/HRC/42/40) at the “increasing use of extraterritorial abductions” and at the “normalization of these practices” globally. ICJ previously documented such practices in our 2017 report, Transnational Injustices.

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia is an example of particular concern, as is the reported abduction, by Turkish authorities, of persons they claim to be linked to “terrorist organisations.” Several of these people, who later reappeared in Turkish prisons, are currently facing serious challenges in mounting a proper legal defence. Complaints of the families have not been properly investigated.

In Egypt, the National Security Agency (NSA) has been abducting and forcibly disappearing hundreds as a technique to suppress dissent. This year, the ICJ and Adalah reported on the disappearance of 138 detainees for between 10 to 219 days, many of whom were subjected to torture.

The ICJ urges the Council to address these worrying developments and calls on all countries:

  • to stop all practices of enforced disappearance, abduction or informal international transfer;
  • to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and
  • to provide to the victims of enforced disappearance and their families full access to their rights, including an effective remedy.

 

Translate »