Aug 28, 2020 | News
The ICJ contributed to and has endorsed a groundbreaking new UN standard aimed at ensuring effective access to justice for persons with disabilities, published today in Geneva.
Published today by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Principles and Guidelines on Access to Justice for Persons with Disabilities were adopted jointly by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility. They have been endorsed by the ICJ and the International Disability Alliance.
The ICJ contributed to the development of the Principles and Guidelines, including through participation in expert consultations alongside disability rights experts, organizations of people with disabilities, State representatives, academics, and other judicial and legal practitioners. The ICJ also plans to assist with promotion and implementation of the Principles and Guidelines at the global and national levels.
Building on the provisions and interpretations of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international standards and best practices, the document affirms ten key principles of access to justice for people with disabilities and sets out detailed guidelines on how to implement each one.
The Principles and Guidelines are intended to be a practical tool to help inform the design and implementation of justice systems that provide equal access to justice for persons with disabilities, in line with international human rights standards.
The Principles and Guidelines can be downloaded by clicking here.
Further information about the process of their development is available here, and the UN press release announcing their publication is here.
Jul 16, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ and its Dutch national section today highlighted findings and recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, on her visit to the Netherlands.
The statement was prepared for the ICJ by its Dutch national section, Nederlands Juristen Comité voor de Mensenrechten (NJCM), for today’s interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur at the UN Human Rights Council, but could not be read out during the meeting due to limited time allowed for civil society statements:
“Madam Special Rapporteur,
The ICJ highly appreciates your dedicated work in the fight against racism, and welcomes your report following your country visit to the Netherlands last October. During this visit you met our colleagues from the Dutch section of the ICJ, who have prepared and join in this statement.
The ICJ shares your concern that the highest levels of political office in the Netherlands do not reflect the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity of its society. The extent in which under-representation still plays a role in the Netherlands is worrisome. This is reflected in the lack of inclusive and non-discriminatory policies.
The ICJ agrees that a full account of the history of slavery and colonialism is fundamental in Dutch education. The essence of this education must highlight how the exploitation of colonized peoples and territories normalized racial and cultural hierarchies. Racial relations in the Netherlands will not be understood in context without a fair and accurate account of history.
The ICJ commends you for addressing the systemic and institutional nature of racism within the Netherlands on an intersectional level and we call upon the government to fulfill its human rights obligations in this regard.
Madam Rapporteur could you share good practices in which governments collect data on ethnic minorities to help protect human rights while protecting against misuse of the data?
Thank you.”
Jul 14, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
At the UN Human Rights Council, the ICJ today highlighted the need for a range of measures to effectively address the continuing impunity for gross violations of human rights in Myanmar.
The oral statement, which was delivered in an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, read as follows:
“The ICJ welcomes and shares the concerns of the final report of the previous Special Rapporteur Ms Yanghee Lee, particularly with the lack of accountability for gross human rights violations against Myanmar’s ethnic minorities.
The ICJ recalls Myanmar’s international human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in The Gambia v. Myanmar case.
The ICJ underscores that directives enjoining government officials from engaging in further acts of genocide are not sufficient without comprehensive legal and constitutional reform to end impunity. This includes the amendment of laws such as the 1959 Defence Services Act and the 2014 Myanmar National Human Rights Commission Law.
National institutions continue to fail to conduct credible investigations into allegations of widespread human rights violations by the military against ethnic minorities. The final report of the Independent Commission of Enquiry, which was not made public, was transmitted to the Attorney General and the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s Armed Forces, implying that military courts will take jurisdiction over at least some of the cases, inconsistent with Principle 29 of the UN Principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity (UN doc E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1/).
Mr Andrews, as the new mandate-holder, the ICJ would like to invite you to elaborate on your priorities and strategies for addressing the continuing impunity for such violations in Myanmar.”
Jul 13, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council the ICJ today emphasized the need for a human-rights-based approach to addressing corruption in justice systems, and urged more attention be given to the abuse of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments.
The statement, delivered in an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, read as follows:
“Mr Special Rapporteur,
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concurs with the affirmation in your report that justice systems must effectively counter corruption; that corruption in justice systems negatively impacts human rights; and that addressing such impacts is within the mandate of the Human Rights Council.[1]
At the same time, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) already actively provides resources and specialized technical expertise to States and prosecutors in implementing the Convention against Corruption. Keeping the Human Rights Council’s focus on the specific value added by a human-rights-based approach to such overlapping issues makes the best use of the Council and OHCHR’s limited resources and special competence and expertise.
For example, this report could have presented a detailed analysis of, and recommendations on, the right to remedy and reparation of victims of human rights violations caused by corruption of prosecutors, judges and lawyers. However, while the report briefly mentions victims (para 30), human rights defenders (para 31), and human rights training (para 58), and that human rights issues can impede international cooperation (para 49), but otherwise it mostly addresses technical advice for effective counter-corruption measures. The ICJ invites you to elaborate on the specific new elements a human-rights-based approach adds to the expert advice already provided by UNODC in this regard.
We also urge you to devote a future report to the manipulation of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments to repress dissenting voices and human rights defenders, neutralize political opposition, shrink civil society space, and entrench impunity for human rights violations, which as our submission documented is no less urgent a global human rights issue than corruption, and is not a special focus of UN bodies other than the Council and OHCHR.
Thank you.”
[1] Indeed, twenty years ago the ICJ adopted a Policy Framework for Preventing and Eliminating Corruption and Ensuring the Impartiality of the Judicial System and its work against corruption in cooperation with judiciaries and prosecution services continues at the global and national levels.
Jul 10, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) today highlighted a range of human rights violations, including of freedom of association and assembly, in India’s repression of peaceful protests and the impact of COVID-19 measures in the country.
The joint statement “OMCT and ICJ welcome the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and echo his concerns over the intensity and seriousness of the threats to the enjoyment of these rights, including the impact of current Covid-19 pandemic on the already fragile civic space.
We are particularly alarmed over the increasingly violent repression of dissent in India and the arbitrary detention and harassment of activists and human rights defenders by the state in relation to their participation in peaceful protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA), the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens.
The repression of anti-CAA protests has been brutal, with the police reportedly using excessive force against demonstrators, including firing indiscriminately into crowds, using teargas and water cannons, beating bystanders and detaining and torturing protesters, including children. At least 31 persons were killed during these protests and scores were injured. No impartial and transparent investigations into the violence have been conducted to this day.
Reportedly fabricated charges of sedition, murder, and terrorism under repressive anti-terror and national security laws – such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the National Security Act – have been filed against activists and human rights defenders participating in the protests. Those arrested and detained include Gulfisha Fatima, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haider, Shifa ur Rehman, Isharat Jahan, Dr. Kafeel Khan, Sharjeel Imam, Akhil Gogoi and Asif Iqbal. They are still in prison despite repeated calls for their release by national and international human rights groups and the United Nations.
Severe restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly and association have been imposed in the framework of the Covid-19 emergency. These include blanket shutdown of internet services and the imposition in several areas of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a colonial law banning public protests and gathering of more than five people. While appreciating India’s efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19, we remind the government that restrictions must meet the requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality and shall not be abused to muffle dissent.
We call on the Government of India to take urgent steps to ensure that its people enjoy the rights to express dissent and to participate in peaceful protests without fear of being arrested, brutally beaten, tortured or killed. The right to life and from the prohibition of torture and other ill treatment as well as the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly are protected under international law including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which India is a party.
We further call for a thorough, prompt, transparent and impartial investigation into allegations of unlawful use of force by police, and for the immediate release of all unjustly detained activists and HRDs.”
