Sep 11, 2012 | Events
During the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council (10-28 September 2012), the ICJ and the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights will convene a high-level discussion on ensuring human dignity during detention.
The parallel event will be held in the Palais des Nations in meeting room XXI on Tuesday 25 September 2012 from 14h to 16h.
The event will discuss the need and options for an international instrument clarifying and enhancing the human right legal framework applicable to persons in detention. Panelists include Professor Manfred Nowak, former Special Rapporteur on torture and former member of the Working Group on enforced disappearances; Judge Theodor Meron, Judge on the Appeals Chambers of the ICTY and ICTR; Professor Shaheen Sardar Ali, Vice-Chair of the Working Group on arbitrary detention; and Ian Seiderman, Law and Policy Director of the ICJ. The event will be moderated by Hina Jilani, member of the Panel on Human Dignity and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The event is open to all persons with access to the Palais des Nations.
HRC21-DetentionEvent-Flyer-2012 (download flyer)
HRC21-DetentionEvent-ConceptNote&BackgroundPaper-2012 (download concept note and background paper)
Mar 17, 2011 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Since 1963, under the framework of a State of Emergency, serious and widespread human rights violations have been committed in Syria, including torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests and detentions.
Suspected political opponents, human rights lawyers and other defenders have been regularly and arbitrarily detained, ill-treated and, in many cases, held without charge or trial for several years. Others have been convicted and sentenced, under the emergency law and other restrictive dispositions of the Syrian Penal Code (in particular Articles 267,273, 285, 286, 287, 288, and 307),to lengthy prison terms after grossly unfair trials before military courts, the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), or civilian courts.
In spite of the persistent and consistent reports of these human rights violations, Syrian authorities have failed to investigate them promptly and independently, and to bring to justice State officials and laws enforcement officers allegedly responsible for these violations. They have enjoyed effective impunity.
Syria-UPR submission ICJ-non-legal submission-2011 (full text, PDF)
Mar 9, 2011 | News
The new government of Nepal should respect the rights of Tibetans in Nepal to freedom of expression, assembly and association, the ICJ and other human rights groups said today. These rights are guaranteed for all persons in Nepal by international human rights treaties to which Nepal is a party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Feb 4, 2010 | News
A new ICJ report released today warns that the the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Thailand risks undermining the rule of law by conferring broad preventative powers to the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC).
Sep 21, 2009 | Advocacy, Open letters
The ICJ urged the UN Human Rights Council to establish a new expert mandate to exercise early-warning of human rights violations in crisis situations, aimed at securing the protection of civilians in conflicts.
Such a mandate would carry out a fact-finding and make recommendations to the UN in order to prevent and help stop human rights violations and crimes, and to ensure accountability of their perpetrators.
ICJ Intervention Following the Update by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights-Open Letters-2009 (Full text, PDF)