IBAHRI Update - Edition 9 - 2020
IBAHRI urges Iranian authorities to release lawyers Nasrin Sotoudeh and Amirsalar Davoodi
On 3 September, the IBAHRI and Raoul Wallenberg Institute made an emergency submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention requesting urgent action to protect Nasrin Sotoudeh following her decision to go on hunger strike. Ms Sotoudeh embarked on an open-ended hunger strike on 11 August, calling for the release of political prisoners whose lives are at risk due to the spread of Covid-19 in Iran’s overcrowded prisons.
IBAHRI calls for urgent release of Liliya Vlasova and Maria Kolesnikova
On 7 September, the IBAHRI urged for the release of detained prominent Belarusian lawyer and international mediator Liliya Vlasova. She is the third member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council to be detained. On 11 September, the IBAHRI called for the urgent release of abducted prominent Belarusian protest leader and opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova. Her abduction adds to a string of recent arrests of peaceful protesters and figures opposing incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko.
People, Power & Politics: Protecting & Promoting Human Rights in Belarus
On 3 September, the IBAHRI held a webinar with the Bar Human Rights Committee, Doughty Street Chambers and the University of Liverpool. The joint event, titled ‘People, Power & Politics: Protecting & Promoting Human Rights in Belarus’, featured an in-depth and insightful discussion on the current situation in the country. It aimed to explore and discuss what options there are in the short, medium and long-term to resolve the Belarusian crisis. IBAHRI Director Baroness Helena Kennedy QC chaired the webinar.
Crackdown in Zimbabwe: a serious challenge to the rule of law and human rights
On 11 September, the IBAHRI held a webinar on the crackdown on dissent in Zimbabwe and against human rights lawyers. Chaired by IBAHRI Director Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, IBAHRI Council Member Beatrice Mtetwa spoke to her recent disbarment from her client, Hopewell Chin’ono, a persecuted journalist. This followed a joint statement, on Thursday 3 September, with the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) regarding her case. In the statement, the CFJ and IBAHRI called on the Magistrates Court to revoke its decision so Ms Mtetwa may continue, without impediment, to represent Mr Chin’ono.
IBAHRI condemns non-transparent trial of Jamal Khashoggi killers
On 12 September, the IBAHRI condemned the secret trial that led to the final verdict against the unnamed defendants who killed prominent dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on 2 October 2018. ‘The secret trial which took place in Saudi Arabia in no way conformed to the standards of due process and was a cover for those who bore the real culpability for this egregious assassination,’ says IBAHRI Director Baroness Helena Kennedy.
Anatomy of Guilt
On 1 September, IBAHRI Director Baroness Kennedy’s BBC Radio 4 show on the anatomy of guilt aired. It took the legal notion of guilt as a verdict and ventured outwards, drawing on religious ideas, psychoanalytic insight, political grievance and the meaning of historic justice. Baroness Kennedy asked: what is guilt - is it a legal verdict, a state of mind or a moral idea? Why do we feel guilty? And is there such a thing as collective guilt, by which a whole community or even country may be judged? Click here to listen.
IBAHRI Covid-19 Human Rights Monitor
The IBAHRI has issued four more editions of its Covid-19 Human Rights Monitor. Topics covered include: a fire in Moria refugee camp forced refugees ill with Covid-19 to flee and the growing crisis for worldwide refugee camps; the effect of Covid-19 on low-income earners; the difficulties for those living with disability in the reopening of schools; food inequality for members of the LGBTQI+ community; the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the mental health of people living with disabilities; and an update on freedom of assembly protests around the world.
Freedom of Expression Bulletin
The IBAHRI has issued two more editions of its Freedom of Expression Bulletin – a fortnightly bulletin that provides insight into issues relating to the freedom of expression globally, highlights current threats and trends to this fundamental right, and monitors cases and situations where this right is violated. Topics covered in these two editions include: an update on states of emergency during the pandemic; privacy concerns regarding contact tracing apps; and an update on the situation in Belarus.
Virtual training: Toolkit for Lawyers at Risk
IBAHRI Senior Programme Lawyer continues to hold virtual training webinars for lawyers based in Central Asia based upon the Toolkit for Lawyers at Risk to equip the lawyers with the tools to protect themselves. The Toolkit was launched earlier this year and is a unique tool aimed at facilitating the efforts of those seeking to protect lawyers at risk – that is, attacked for performing their professional duties and representing their clients’ interests – as well as to support and assist the targeted legal profession in their struggle.
United Nations Human Rights Council: Belarus and the death penalty
The IBAHRI delivered several oral statements during the 45th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, including: to the debate on the human rights situation in Belarus on 18 September; to the Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on 21 September; and to the UN Secretary-General’s report on the question of the death penalty on 21 September.
Julian Assange extradition: a threat to media freedom
Julian Assange extradition would threaten freedoms of expression and media, says IBAHRI, as the landmark trial of the WikiLeaks founder resumes. Extradition of Mr Assange from the UK to the US would: be in contravention of Article 4 (1) of the Extradition Treaty; set a dangerous precedent in the restriction of press freedom; potentially subject him to an unfair trial in the US; and could see him receive a sentence of up to 175 years imprisonment.
Rwanda: IBAHRI condemns opposition crackdown and arbitrary detentions
IBAHRI condemns the crackdown on opposition in Rwanda, the arbitrary detention of Paul Rusesabagina and threats made against Dr Mukwege. Mr Rusesbagina – a human rights icon who warned about the horrors of genocide – has been detained and accused by the Rwandan government of murder, arson and terrorism. The death threats against Dr Mukwege have drawn condemnation from the UN, and were in response to Dr Mukwege’s outspokenness about the need for accountability for the years of attacks by armed groups in eastern Congo.