May 18, 2009 | News
“Reviving Military Commissions is a setback for the rule of law. It will entrench a fundamentally flawed system with some amendments and set a terrible precedent to the rest of the world.”
“We need a clear break with the past and the laws and policies grounded in the ill-conceived concept of a ‘war on terror’,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting ICJ Secretary General.
The comment comes as the US administration announced that it would revive the suspended military commission system to try certain detainees presently held in Guantánamo Bay.
According to this information the administration will introduce amendments to the Military Commission Act (MCA) 2006 increasing legal protections, including the prohibition of evidence obtained by torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the introduction of greater choice of legal counsel.
United States-Reinstituting military commission wrong way out-Press releases-2009 (full text, PDF)
Mar 27, 2009 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ intervention focuses on aspects of the Security Bill and the Law Decree which give rise to particular human rights concerns.
Mar 13, 2009 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ urged all Governments to review and repeal laws and policies on operations of intelligence services in countering terrorism that had served to deprive victims of their right to an effective remedy and reparation.
The call was made in interaction with the UN Special Rapporteur.
ICJ intervention in the interactive dialogue-non-legal submission-2009 (full text, PDF)
Dec 10, 2008 | News
The declaration has become a beacon for the development of international law, the institution of universal human rights mechanisms and procedures and a primary instrument for those who struggle for dignity.
Nevertheless, the promise of the Universal Declaration has yet to be fully realised.
“Despite the burgeoning of a culture of human rights in parts of the world, major objectives of the Universal Declaration remain unfulfilled, as the efforts to implement human rights have left many men and women behind”, said Lukas Machon, ICJ Representative to the UN.
UN-Universal declaration of human rights at its 60th anniversary-news-2008 (full text, PDF)
Jul 28, 2008 | News
The ICJ welcomed the nomination of the South African judge Ms. Navanethem Pillay by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the UN’ next High Commissioner for Human Rights.
