Aug 3, 2015 | News
The ICJ is urging the Pakistani Government to immediately release, and drop all charges against, dozens of people arrested on 26 and 30 July in the context of a peaceful protest against forced evictions in Islamabad.
“This is yet another illustration of the Government using Pakistan’s counter-terrorism laws against peaceful protesters to clamp down on dissent,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Director for Asia and the Pacific.
“Peaceful protest is not an act of terrorism but a fundamental human right recognized by the Constitution as well as international human rights treaties that Pakistan is a party to,” he added.
The protest, forcibly dispersed by the police, was organized against the demolition of houses and the forceful eviction of over 8000 people residing in a slum in the city.
The Government alleges the slum is illegal and all residents are encroachers; the inhabitants claim that under Pakistani law, all informal settlements must either be formalized or the inhabitants must be provided alternate housing.
At least 66 individuals arrested were booked under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (ATA) for “obstructing the authorities”, “demonstrating force with a view to terrorizing citizens” and “creating mischief”.
Following a court order, they have been placed in police remand (custody of the police) for interrogation, where they may be at imminent risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
An anti-terrorism court released four of the detainees today. The rest, however, remain in police custody, and according to reports received by ICJ, many of them are being denied access to families and friends.
“The risk of abuse is inherent in the Anti-Terrorism Act, which defines terrorism in vague and overbroad terms. The Government must urgently amend the ATA to ensure it meets the internationally recognized tests of necessity, legality and proportionality,” Zarifi said.
Pakistan has a long history of using the ATA against political activists and human rights defenders.
In 2014, a dozen political activists, including Baba Jan, a prominent human rights defender from Hunza, were sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court for protesting against the government’s failure to assist victims of a landslide.
Before that, six power loom workers from Faisalabad were arrested in the context of a protest demanding minimum wage. In 2011, they were sentenced to 81 years in prison each under the ATA.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Pakistan ratified in 2008, obligates States to recognize the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes housing.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan too has reminded the Government of its duty to provide shelter to the people of Pakistan and make arrangements to provide alternate housing to inhabitants of informal settlements.
“Forcibly evicting people from their homes without providing them any alternate housing can in itself be a human rights violation. Arresting peaceful protesters and denying their right to a fair trial even further adds to the culpability of the authorities,” Zarifi added.
Contact:
Sam Zarifi, ICJ Asia Pacific Regional Director (Bangkok), t: +66 807819002; email: sam.zarifi(a)icj.org
Reema Omer, ICJ International Legal Advisor, South Asia (London), t: +447889565691; email: reema.omer(a)icj.org
Additional Information:
Under Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which Pakistan ratified in 2008, States Parties recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.
States Parties are to take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.
The right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed under international human rights law, including Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Pakistan ratified in 2010 and is legally obligated to implement.
The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders also reiterates that everyone has the right to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and obligates the State to take necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of peaceful protestors against “any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights”.
Photo by Geo News
Jun 21, 2015 | News
Today, one year on from the arrest and detention of human rights lawyer Yara Sallam and 22 peaceful demonstrators, the ICJ calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
On 21 June 2014, Yara Sallam, together with 22 others, was arrested and detained in the context of a peaceful demonstration in Heliopolis, Cairo.
“The Egyptian authorities must end their campaign to silence human rights defenders and all those suspected of opposing the military and the government through politically motivated prosecutions and trials,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme.
To this end, they must immediately and unconditionally release Yara Sallam and the 22 other detainees,” he added.
The demonstrators were calling for the revocation of Law No. 107 of 2013, on public meetings, processions and protests, and the release of all those detained under it.
They were forcibly dispersed by security forces and men in civilian clothes.
The ICJ has previously noted that this law is contrary to Egypt’s obligations under international law.
It imposes overly restrictive limitations on the exercise of the right to freedom of assembly and it grants sweeping powers to security forces to disperse non-violent protests, including authorizing the use of lethal force when it is not strictly necessary to protect lives, the Geneva-based organization says.
On 26 October 2014, the 23 accused were convicted by the Heliopolis Misdemeanour court and sentenced to three years in prison and three years of police monitoring on charges of, among other things, “participating in a procession of more than five people that put public safety in danger with the aim of committing the crimes of assault on people and property and influencing public authorities in their duties by using force and violence.”
Two months later, the Court of Appeal upheld the convictions, while reducing the sentence to two years imprisonment and two years of police monitoring. A challenge before the Court of Cassation is pending.
The trial of the 23 defendants violated their rights to a fair and public hearing under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a key human rights treaty ratified by Egypt in 1982.
Their lawyers were prevented from cross-examining witnesses. Members of the public, including family members, were prohibited from entering the courtroom, without any valid reason.
Further, based on its review of the case file and court judgments, the ICJ is also concerned that both courts convicted the accused in the absence of any substantial or credible evidence of the guilt of any of the 23 defendants, and without seeking to establish the personal criminal responsibility of each individual accused.
Contact:
Alice Goodenough, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +44 7815 570 834 ; e: alice.goodenough(a)icj.org
Nader Diab, Associate Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41 78 89 41 877 ; e: nader.diab(a)icj.org
Egypt-Release Yara-News-Press release-2015-Arabic (full text in PDF, Arabic)
Jun 1, 2015 | News
The Cambodian government should withdraw a proposed law that would severely limit the rights of non governmental organizations (NGOs) in Cambodia, the ICJ and 10 other international human rights groups said in a letter to 44 foreign governments and the European Union.
The groups urged donors and others to press the government not to revive a 2011 draft law that was shelved under domestic and international pressure because it threatened freedom of association and expression.
Cambodia’s Council of Ministers discussed the draft NGO law on May 29 and is scheduled to discuss it again on June 5 before sending the measure to the National Assembly, dominated by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party.
A new law is unnecessary because existing legislation already addresses legitimate government concerns about the operations of NGOs, the international organizations said.
The letter was signed by the ICJ, Article 19, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia), Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, Protection International, and Southeast Asian Press Alliance.
Cambodia-Australia & Cambodia lango letter-Advocacy-Open letters-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
Nov 18, 2014 | Advocacy, Cases, Legal submissions
On 17 November 2014, the ICJ and ILGA-Europe filed their joint written submissions with the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Milica Đorđević and others v. Serbia (Application Nos. 5591/10, 17802/12, 23138/13 and 25474/14).
The case concerns the authorities’ decision in 2009 to relocate the applicants’ “Pride Parade” to promote the equality and visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people away from central Belgrade, Serbia, and the authorities’ repeated banning of Pride Parades in central Belgrade in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
The ICJ and the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe)’s submissions to the Court focus on:
- the essential role of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in a democratic society, and the scope of discretion afforded to States in determining measures required to prevent disorder at an assembly where counter-demonstrators threaten violence against groups most at risk; and
- the nature and scope of the State’s obligation in relation to the right to freedom of peaceful assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, focusing in particular on States’ duty to adopt legislative and administrative measures in order to fulfil their legal obligations.
SERBIA-ECHR amicus Dordevic-Advocacy-Legal Submission-2014-ENG (full text in PDF)
