Mar 27, 2018 | Advocacy, News
Today, the ICJ testified before the Canadian House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights on the human rights and rule of law crisis in Cambodia.
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Senior International Legal Adviser, addressed the Subcommittee on two key issues:
- The misuse of the law in Cambodia under the pretext of the “Rule of Law”; and
- The lack of an independent and impartial judiciary.
Other witnesses were former members of the Cambodian Parliament for the main opposition party, the CNRP, before its dissolution in November 2017, Mu Sochua and Kong Sophea.
Kingsley Abbott also requested that the ICJ’s October 2017 Baseline Study on the state of the rule of law and human rights in Cambodia be added to the record.
Contact:
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, e: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
Thailand-SDIR-Statement-ABBOTT-Advocacy-2018-ENG (Full opening statement ENG, PDF)
Nov 30, 2004 | News
The ICJ said today that the Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) must take urgent steps now to end the human rights crisis if any future political process and negotiations are to be successful.
Nov 23, 2004 | News
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) begins an eight-day high-level mission today to assess the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation and the rule of law in Nepal.
The ICj will also discuss with the government, judiciary and civil society effective means to address the spiralling crisis.
The Mission will be led by ICJ Secretary-General Nicholas Howen and be accompanied by human rights jurist Periathamby Rajanayagam and ICJ Legal Adviser Ian Seiderman.
Nepal is embroiled in an eight-year internal conflict between the government and insurgent Maoist rebels. Over the past three years, wide-scale abuses have been committed by both sides to the conflict. Since King Gyanendra dissolved the Parliament in 2002, the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) and other government security forces have operated without effective civilian accountability and have been implicated in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, torture and secret incommunicado detention. Well-documented abuses have resulted in impunity. The Maoist rebels have engaged in a pattern of violations of international humanitarian law, including summary killings of non-combatants.
The ICJ believes that taking practical steps to address the human rights crisis would be essential confidence-building measures on a road to a negotiated settlement of this brutal conflict.
In early 2003, the ICJ visited Nepal and concluded that a breakdown in the rule of law in the country was under way. The present mission will build on the findings and recommendations of the earlier mission.
While in Nepal, the mission team will meet with Nepali Government officials, the RNA and other security forces, the National Human Rights Commission, leading members of the judiciary and bar, non-governmental human rights organisations, human rights victims, and the international community.
Nepal-ICJ high-level mission-press release-2004 (full text, PDF)
Jun 9, 1995 | News
Today, the ICJ received news of the arrest of Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (photo), the President of the Civil Liberties Organization. This arrest is the latest in a series of disturbing developments occurring in Nigeria.
Oct 23, 1992 | News
The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers is seeking an investigation into the death of Orton Chirwa, a pro-democracy activist and Malawi’s first Minister of Justice, who had been imprisoned since 1981.
