The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint programme of two reputed international NGOs: the FIDH andOMCT) has been informed by the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) about the police harassment of Ms. Electra Koutra, GHM legal counsel, in the framework of police profiling operation against transgender persons in Thessaloniki.
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Posts Tagged ‘Independence of Lawyers’
Transgender activist harassed by Greek police
June 14, 2013Russian HRD Magamed Abubakarov to receive Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2013
May 21, 2013
(Magamed Abubakarov)
Magamed Abubakarov, a Russian human rights lawyer specialized in terrorist cases in the North-Caucasus, will receive the Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2013. Magamed Abubakarov will accept the award on 31 May at the end of a seminar called ‘Lawyers controlled, independence at stake?’ in Amsterdam. Read the rest of this entry »
ECWR Condemns the 29 March attack on Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders
April 15, 2013The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) condemns the serious violations that occurred during the demonstrations on the evening of Friday, 29 March 2013. These Friday demonstrations were dubbed “Nobody Threaten Us” by the protesters. Officials cracked down on these protests and both male and female lawyers were assaulted inside the detention rooms, where thirteen lawyers and activists were detained in the El-Raml police station in Alexandria. Some of the female lawyers were sexually abused. It is worth mentioning that – according to statements by the detainees lawyers – the security forces and some Muslim Brotherhood personnel attacked them and beat them severely. They were tortured and dragged to the detention rooms. Two of the female lawyers were sexually abused
[As the 2010 Egyptian Legal practitioners’ law states as follows: Article 51: You cannot interrogate a lawyer or search his office without a permit from the public prosecutor. The public prosecutor should inform the lawyers syndicate and should give them enough notice before starting the interrogation. If a lawyer is accused of something related to his work, the head of the syndicate should attend the interrogation himself, or send a lawyer. The syndicate has the right to request a copy of the interrogation without paying any fees. Article 54: Anyone who has assaulted a lawyer verbally or non-verbally, or threatens him during his work, will receive the same punishment given to anyone who commits the same offense against a judge. ]
ECWR condemns these unprecedented violations, which it considers a continuation of the systematic crimes supported or tolerated by the current regime. Therefore, ECWR demands an immediate investigation and calls for accountability from the officials responsible
Ongoing judicial harassment of human rights defender Bahtyar Mamedov; court hearing today in Azerbaijan
February 14, 2013
reports that a new hearing on the case of human rights defender Bahtyar Mamedov is scheduled to start on 14 February 2013 at the Court of Grave Crimes in Baku. The human rights defender has been detained since 30 December 2011 on charges of “swindle” and “extortion accompanied by violence”. The trial under the charges of swindle has been ongoing since April 2012, despite a reported lack of evidence to support the case.
Bahtyar Mamedov is a defender of property rights and the legal representative of Baku inhabitants whose houses have been demolished. Bahtyar Mamedov subsequently discovered fraud with money due to be paid as compensation, allegedly involving a military unit commander, Shahin Sultanov. Bahtyar Mamedov was then accused himself of an alleged attempt on his part to extort money from Shahin Sultanov, which he strongly denies. During the initial three-month period ordered by the Court of Grave Crimes to investigate the charges of “extortion accompanied by violence”, no evidence was found to support the charges, yet the case was not closed. The prosecution subsequently opened a second case against Bahtyar Mamedov on charges of fraud. Until 5 November 2012, Shahin Sultanov, the alleged victim of the fraud, had not been questioned by the investigative team and did not respond to the summons to appear before the court. On 15 October 2012, he sent a declaration stating that he did not know Bahtyar Mamedov and that he had lodged a complaint against him according to information received from third persons, and that he has nothing against Bahtyar Mamedov.
Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal and an update on the continued judicial harassment faced by Bahtyar Mamedov on 26 October 2012 <http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20381> and 12 November 2012 <https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20745> respectively.
Death threats against Human Rights Defenders Alice Nkom and Michel Togué in Cameroon
February 13, 2013Human Rights Watch issues a video and press release concerning a series of death threats made over the last four months to two lawyers who represent clients accused of homosexual conduct. Human Rights Watch on 13 February 2013 sent an open letter to President Paul Biya. Read the rest of this entry »
NGOs and media report that Turkey rounds up Human Rights Defenders
January 21, 2013The Voice of America echoes reports by HRW and Freedom House amongst others that the security forces in Turkey have detained more than a dozen lawyers as part of a nationwide sweep against illegal leftist groups……With many of the detained lawyers being well-known human rights defenders, several human rights groups around the world have voiced alarm. Emma Sinclair Webb, who is with U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said, “Its very concerning to find lawyers the targets of police operations at four oclock in the morning, having their doors broken down. These lawyers are all known for their activities in defense of human rights, for pursuing police violence cases. ….The Turkish government has accused the lawyers of transferring instructions from the groups imprisoned leaders to militants.
Seven of the detained lawyers belong to the Progressive Lawyers Association, which last year launched a telephone hot line for people to report police abuse. In a statement, the lawyers group condemned the detentions, calling them an attack against people and institutions that oppose the government and struggle for democracy and freedom. The arrests also included five members of a popular left-wing folk music group. ….The government claims none of them are in jail for their pursuits of journalist activities. In a report this week, the watchdog group Freedom House categorized Turkey as only a partially free country in its “Freedom in the World Report,” due to what it described as a serious decline in civil liberties and political rights.
Human rights defender of the month: Sapiyat Magomedova from Dagestan
November 6, 2012The North Caucasian republic of Dagestan is one of the most dangerous places for lawyers today in Russia. In this region Sapiyat Magomedova defends victims of grave human rights violations like enforced disappearances, extra judicial killings and torture. She has taken on cases that many lawyers would reject due to security reasons, and although it is considered almost impossible, she has won several of them. She was chosen by Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders as its HRD of the month. Last week I reported that she had received an important award from Sweden.
When asked about everyday life in Dagestan, local human rights lawyer Sapiyat Magomedova answers straight: ”I would not call it life.” The conflict in Dagestan is bridging on civil war. During the last two years Dagestan is considered to be the most violent region in the North Caucasus, followed by Chechnya. Local human rights defenders constantly face harassment, assaults and threats to their life.
In 2010 Sapiyat Magomedova was severely beaten by police officers when visiting one of her clients. When pressing charges, she was herself charged with using violence against state officials and insulting police officers on duty. Sapiyat Magomedova had already in 2009 been subjected to an unfounded criminal case for allegedly offending an Investigator from the Prosecutor’s Office. She believes that the case was a form of retaliation for her standing up to law enforcement agencies and fighting impunity. “The criminal case against me was opened to put pressure on me, to force me to retract my statement against the police officers”, Sapiyat Magomedova later said in an interview.
Sapiyat Magomedova represents victims in very sensitive cases, such as allegations that the police have tortured individuals suspected of involvement with the insurgency, and cases of sexual- and gender based violence. Normally, cases of sexual- and gender based violence go unreported in Dagestan. Sexual violence is a taboo subject in a region where honour killings, bride kidnapping, and child marriage occur. There is an absence of debate on the political level on these issues. Women’s rights are not high on the political agenda and gender based violence and other kind of abuses against women occur on a regular basis.
In 2011, Sapiyat Magomedova defended a 13-year-old girl who had been kidnapped and raped for three days by five young men. Two of the suspected rapists were sons of police officers. After strong pressure on the girl and her family, she succumbed and changed her statement. The case, however, got rather great resonance in society and might lead to inspiring other victims to dare press charges. Sapiyat Magomedova further highlighted the case on one of the first conferences on women’s rights in the region. At the conference she spoke about the problem with impunity in cases of sexual- and gender based violence.
Being a woman, Sapiyat Magomedova must also exert much effort just to be taken seriously in her legal profession. Caucasian women are commonly housewives and that “leaves its mark”, as Sapiyat Magomedova puts it. Woman lawyers have a lot of misconceptions to fight against.
Human rights defenders constantly face harassment and threats to their life in Dagestan. Since 2010, Dagestan is considered to be the most violent region in the North Caucasus, followed by Chechnya. The conflict nearly approach the level of civil war. Russian law enforcement bodies are reluctant to investigate cases of human rights abuses. Even though Russia has been convicted approximately 210 times for violations linked to North Caucasus, by the European Court of Human Rights, not even one perpetrator has been put to justice.
In many cases, violations are committed by those who are supposed to uphold the rule of law, under the pretext of fighting terrorism. In order to keep up statistics in terror crimes, it frequently occurs that law enforcement bodies fabricate evidence against innocent people and extract a confession by using torture. This in turn nurtures the insurgency that has been on the rise in the past years. A decade of failure to stabilize the region and deal with the rampant impunity has created an environment where ordinary people live in fear and have almost nowhere to turn to seek justice.
The Russian government invests enormous sums of money each year to dampen the conflicts throughout the North Caucasus. The number of dead terrorists is used as evidence that the Russian government’s initiative leads to results. Military and security forces, and the Police are being rewarded for each person that can be added to the toll of terrorists. This has led to civilians being accused of joining the separatists. Kidnappings, torture and extrajudicial executions are common.
Read more in Civil Rights Defenders country report: Human rights in Russia
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- Sapiyat Magomedova, HRD from Dagestan, receives Swedish award (thoolen.wordpress.com)
CSM piece on lawyers as HRDs in China gives a fuller picture
May 22, 2012With all the attention now focussed on Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist, this article of 21 May by Peter Ford, staff writer at the CSM, is most welcome. It describes the extremely difficult circumstances under which lawyers and legal activists have to work, explaining the difference between the two categories. It starts with describing the case of Jiang Tianyong, who went to visit his friend Chen Guangcheng, soon after he had emerged from the US embassy.
Last year, as authorities cracked down on lawyers in the wake of the Arab Spring, Jiang “disappeared” for two months. He was “taken to some secret places, beaten, criticized, and brainwashed” by police officers, he recalls. Landlords have bowed to official pressure and evicted him five times from different homes, Jiang says. He has been subjected to several periods of house arrest; his wife and children have been harassed; guards have sealed his front door shut; and once, in a particularly petty act, they locked his wife’s bicycle, he says. And he lost his license to practice law in 2009.
“Human rights lawyers face a perilous life in China,” says John Kamm, a human rights activist who heads Duihua, which works on behalf of political prisoners in China. “They face many barriers.”
When lawyers are beaten, “disappeared,” or jailed, their plight generally attracts wide attention. Far more often, though, says Wang Songlian, a researcher with the Hong Kong based China Human Rights Defenders, it is “unqualified” legal advocates – such as Chen – who are abused for taking cases the government regards as sensitive. “There are probably dozens of them in jail, most of whom are not well known,” she says.
Qualified lawyer’s status gives them a measure of protection, but they are vulnerable to all kinds of official pressure. Crucially, they are obliged to renew their licenses with their local bar association each year – a hurdle Jiang failed to surmount in 2009. This means most lawyers pay attention when the Justice Ministry or the bar association issues “guidance” or “opinions” that they do not take sensitive cases, or that they handle them in a certain way, says Eva Pils, a legal expert at the Centre for Rights and Justice at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
If they don’t, she says, the authorities often warn the head of a recalcitrant lawyer’s firm that his business risks trouble. “At the point when it is felt that neither the Ministry of Justice nor the bar association nor a lawyer’s firm can control him, the security apparatus gets involved,” Professor Pils says.
Human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang says that “99 percent of lawyers will be affected by this sort of pressure.” He adds, “There is no organization in China supporting lawyers doing pro bono work, so very few will take it on because of all the trouble it gets you in.” The pressure on lawyers has been mounting for several years, says Pils, amid “fears that the [ruling Communist] Party might lose control over lawyers, who are not oriented to upholding party rule, but toward working for clients.”
In 2008, the judicial authorities proclaimed the “Three Supremes” doctrine, according to which judges were told to uphold the cause of the Communist Party, the interests of the people, and the Constitution and the law, in that order. Earlier this year, the Justice Ministry published a regulation requiring newly licensed lawyers to swear an oath of loyalty to the party. Despite the difficulties he and his colleagues face, Pu is optimistic. “Though the authorities would like to control the situation, society is getting more open, and I think it will continue to do so,” he says.
Twenty years ago, Mr. Kamm says, “there was no such thing as a [human] rights defender in China. Now we have a very different situation. Nothing encourages anyone to take on a human rights case, but the fact that there are people doing it is tremendously heartening.”
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Independence of lawyers threatened in Bahrain
December 19, 2011Only a few days ago, 12 December, I reported on a new database on the Independence of Lawyers launched by Lawyers for Lawyers. And here Bahrain comes with a great illustration of the need to strengthen this concept. On December 18, 2011 the Bahrain Center for Human Rights explains how the Ministry of Human Rights [SIC!] and Social development on 7 December overruled the recent election of the Board of the Bahrain Lawyers Society and reappointed the old one. This step appears to have been taken because most the elected members are seen to be from the ‘opposition’. Whatever the truth in this charge, the election seems to have been fully legal and representing the will of the majority of the members.
Fatima Al-Blooshi, minister of human rights and social development, is clearly acting as a government stooge and basing herself on a law written in 1989 for the purpose of controlling the activities of the institutions of civil society, known as the law of Societies. This law has been repeatedly criticized by local and international organizations for violating freedom of assembly. The report of the Bahrain Centre of Human Rights gives many details of how this law was abused in the past including its own dissolution in 2004.
for details see: http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/4910
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 