May 1, 1975 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
In response to Resolution 7 (XXVII) (of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities), the ICJ submits the attached summary of developments in the field of the human rights of persons subjected to any form of detention or imprisonment.
The object of this material is not to suggest material for findings as to whether or not the rights of detainees and prisoners are being or have been violated in any particular country. Rather, the aim is to aid the Sub-Commission in determining the patterns of violations that have developed in several countries and the conditions which permit such violations, with a view to recommending measures which would prevent their occurrence.
Information compiled by the ICJ in recent years shows that the most frequently violated rights of detained persons are in fact those listed in the preamble of Sub-Commission Resolution 7 (XXVII).
In Part I we draw attention to certain problems relating to the enjoyment of these rights which, according to our files, seem to arise repeatedlyin many countries in all regions and under all regimes. Examples are provided, but they are only illustrative and in no way indicate that only in those countries are such problems known to occur.
Some of the situations mentioned have changed considerably and the practices described have ceased in those places; however, such information about the recent past can be of assistance in determining what measures could correct or prevent similar occurrences today and in the future.
Part II contains suggested measures which the Sub-Commission may wish to consider in connection with these materials. Included are proposals for judicial and administrative procedures which, if adopted, might help to prevent the occurrence of torture and other violations of detainees’ and prisoners’ rights; these proposals have also been submitted to the Fifth U.N. Congress on Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders.
Further details on questions discussed below can be made available by the International Commission of Jurists; in particular, documents mentioned in the footnotes contain much relevant information.
human rights of persons in detention-non legal submissions-1975-eng (full text in English, PDF)
May 1, 1975
This book, edited by the ICJ, is a presentation of the trial of the Reverend Dr C. F. Beyers Naudé, the Christian Institute and, by implication, any informed and responsible Christian conscience.
Dr Beyers Naudé affirmed that no one who believes in Jesus Christ should be excluded from any church on the grounds of colour or race, and that the rights to own land where he is domiciled and to take part in the government of a country is part of the dignity of any man.
He was tried for refusing to give certain evidence regarding the Christian Institute. The meticulous records of the trial gradually reverses the situation so that the man in the dock becomes the prosecutor and the prosecutor is in the dock. Here the South African government is put on trial before the court of humanity and history and found guilty by its own testimony. The record of the trial, the appeal, other relevant appeals, and the text of the famous statement Divine or Civil Obedience? are presented in the light on international jurisprudence.
South Africa-trial Beyers Naudé-thematic report-1975-eng (full text in English, PDF)
Apr 1, 1975
This report is based upon interviews and extensive research into the laws, executive decrees, judicial decisions and periodical collections.
The author examine firstly the position in which lawyers who engage in the defence of political detainees in Argentina find themselves. This position is one of the aspects of the process of political violence which the country is undergoing and concerning which, in the second part of the study ,the author presents certain data.
Part II covers
- the state of siege
- the subversive organisations
- the activities of the para-police groups
- attacks on the judiciary
- arrests
- torture on political prisoners
- freedom of the press
Argentina-defense lawyers-fact-finding mission report-1975-eng (full text in English, PDF)
Argentina-defense lawyers-fact-finding mission report-1975-spa (full text in Spanish, PDF)
Apr 1, 1975
Informe del Dr. Heleno Claudio Fragoso, abogado y profesor de derecho penal en la Universidad de Río de Janeiro, sobre La situación de los Abogados defensores en Argentina.
Argentina-defense lawyers-fact-finding mission report-1975-spa (en Español, PDF)
Jan 1, 1975
The International Commission of Jurists is a non-governmental and non-political international organisation which has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, UNESCO and the Council of Europe.
Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. It draws its support from judges, law teachers, practitioners of law and other members of the legal community and their associations.
ICJ-objectives, organisation and activities-publications-1975-eng (full text in English, PDF)
