The ICJ released today its Trial Observation Report on proceedings before the Colombo High Court in the prosecution of J.S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil journalist.
On 31 August 2009, Mr Tissainayagam was convicted under anti-terrorism laws and sentenced by Judge Deepali Wijesundara to 20 years “rigorous imprisonment.”
SriLanka-journalist-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ says the fight against impunity and for international justice has made positive progress in the last decade, not least with the commencement of the first cases at the International Criminal Court.
Nevertheless, international justice continues to encounter obstacles in its development. The ICJ, the legal community and all the human rights movement must continue their efforts to attain universal justice and an end to impunity.
Fight against impunity must be continued-web story-2009 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ is disappointed at verdict delivered by a Thai court.
“We are disappointed at the verdict delivered today by the Songkhla Provincial Court, which found that the 78 men who were transported from Tak Bai to Ingkayuthaborihaan Army Camp in October 2004 died as a result of suffocation, without acknowledging all the factual circumstances that caused their deaths,” said Roger Normand, Asia-Pacific Director of the ICJ.
Thailand-Court delivers disappointing post-mortem inquest findings-web story-2009 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ urged the UN Human Rights Council’s special session to call on the Government of Sri Lanka to take several human rights measures.
In particular, the Government of Sri Lanka must ensure unhindered humanitarian access and assistance to the internally displaced persons (IDPs), protection of IDPs, safeguards against attacks on journalists and human rights defenders and effective accountability, including through an independent international investigation into human rights and humanitarian law violations.
The ICJ deplored that the draft resolution L.1/Rev.2, which was later adopted by vote, failed to address the most pressing concerns.
SriLanka-UNcouncil-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ welcomes the convening of a Human Rights Council’s special session today in Geneva to address for the first time the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sri Lanka.
“The human rights and humanitarian crisis continues to unfold following the Government of Sri Lanka’s announcement last week that its military operations against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had ended and that all civilians had left the conflict zone,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists.
SriLanka-UNcouncil-IDPs-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
Myanmar: As armed conflict rages and military rule continues, critical measures can be taken towards eventual justice and accountability for victims of Enforced Disappearance
HRC63: ICJ Raises Alarm over Repression in Tunisia and Arbitrary Detention in El Salvador
HRC63: ICJ Calls for Protection of Lawyers and Accountability in Myanmar
More than fifty years on: enforced disappearance, the families who named it, and the reframing of international protection