At the 55th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) made an oral statement condemning the practices in Egypt’s and Myanmar’s detention facilities amounting to torture and other ill-treatment. The statement was made on 8 March 2024 in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Highlighting the systematic and widespread practice of torture in Egypt, which in the ICJ’s view amounts to a crime against humanity, the ICJ called for the establishment of an independent entity to monitor places of detention to safeguard detainees’ rights. In Myanmar, the ICJ called attention to various forms of torture perpetrated in detention, including sexual and gender-based violence.
On 12 March 2024 in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, the ICJ called attention to alarming trends in Tunisia and India, including the resort to measures purporting to counter terrorism that fail to comply with human rights obligations and their use to suppress freedom of expression, including dissenting voices.
The ICJ denounced the recent spate of arbitrary dismissals and prosecutions of some judges under such laws in Tunisia, and in India the use of legislation that facilitates prolonged preventive detentions without bail, including against people exercising fundamental freedoms. The ICJ urged the Special Rapporteur to continue monitoring these situations and engage with the authorities to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations.
For further details, access the full statement delivered by the ICJ during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council. Read the full statement presented to the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment here: ICJ OS – ID with the SR on Torture HRC 55, and access the full statement presented to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism here: ICJ OS – ID with SR on Counter-Terrorism HRC 55.