Burkina Faso: Incarcération de Me Mamadou Traoré: la Conférence internationale des barreaux dénonce une «atteinte à l’exercice des droits de la défense»

le 28 avril, 2016

L’ancien bâtonnier, Me Mamadou Traoré, a été placé sous mandat de dépôt à l’issue de son audition lundi par la Justice militaire dans le cadre du putsch manqué de l’ex Régiment de sécurité présidentielle (RSP) en septembre dernier. Dans cette lettre ouverte adressée au président du Faso, Roch March Christian Kaboré, la Conférence internationale des barreaux de tradition juridique commune (la CIB) demande à ce que «toutes les dispositions soient prises dans les plus brefs délais afin de faire cesser cette intolérable atteinte à l’état de droit et à l’exercice des droits de la défense.»

«Lettre ouverte au Président de la République du Faso

S.E.M. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré

Monsieur le Président,

Je vous écris en ma qualité de secrétaire général de la Conférence internationale des barreaux de tradition juridique commune (la CIB) qui regroupe les barreaux de 45 pays francophones, pour vous faire part de la stupeur de l’ensemble des barreaux membres de notre conférence à l’annonce de l’arrestation et du placement en détention de Monsieur le Bâtonnier Mamadou Traoré.

Notre indignation est d’autant plus grande que cette arrestation touche avant tout l’avocat, dont l’exercice libre et non entravé de ses missions est une condition sine qua non au respect de l’état de droit.

…

Incarcération de Me Mamadou Traoré: la Conférence internationale des barreaux dénonce une «atteinte à l’exercice des droits de la défense»

http://lefaso.net/spip.php?article70854

http://koaci.com/burkina-faso-indignee-conference-internationale-barreaux-africains-interpelle-president-kabore-apres-larrestation-batonnier-mamadou-traore-98092.html

http://french.china.org.cn/foreign/txt/2016-04/28/content_38339456.htm

Lettre ouverte au Président du Faso, S.E. Monsieur R.M. Christian Kaboré

http://cnb.avocat.fr/LE-CONSEIL-NATIONAL-DES-BARREAUX-S-ELEVE-CONTRE-L-ARRESTATION-DE-MAMADOU-TRAORE-ANCIEN-BATONNIER-DU-BURKINA-FASO_a2610.html

http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20160501-burkina-faso-affaire-maitre-traore-batonnier-visite-uemoa?ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&ns_source=twitter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_linkname=editorial&aef_campaign_ref=partage_user&aef_campaign_date=2016-05-01

http://fr.starafrica.com/actualites/la-conference-internationale-des-barreaux-denonce-larrestation-dun-ex-batonnier-burkinabe.html

 

Kyrgyzstan: UN Calls for Activist’s Release

April 21, 2016

A United Nations Committee has called for Kyrgyzstan to release a human rights defender, Azimjon Askarov, and to quash his conviction, Human Rights Watch said today. In a ruling published on April 21, 2016, the UN Human Rights Committee found that Askarov, who is serving a life sentence, was arbitrarily detained, held in inhumane conditions, tortured, and otherwise mistreated without redress and was not given a fair trial.

“Kyrgyzstan shouldn’t wait another day to release Azimjon Askarov, who has been languishing in prison for six years,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The committee’s decision offers Kyrgyzstan the opportunity to finally right this grave wrong.”

Askarov, 64, is a human rights defender from southern Kyrgyzstan. For years he worked as the director of Air, a local human rights organization, and focused on documenting prison conditions and police treatment of detainees. Askarov also documented violence and looting in the town of Bazar-Korgon during an eruption of violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010.

Police arrested Askarov that month for “organizing mass disturbances” and “inciting interethnic hatred” leading to the killing of a policeman in Bazar-Korgon. In September 2010, the Bazar-Korgon District Court found Askarov guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. His conviction was upheld on appeal, despite his credible allegations of ill-treatment and torture, as well as attacks on his lawyer and hostility and violence in the courtroom that undermined his right to a fair trial.

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https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/21/kyrgyzstan-un-calls-activists-release

Vietnam: US Urges Vietnam to Release Political Prisoners

April 28, 2016

(Nguyen Van Dai, right, testifies in this May 2013 file photo, originally taken from TV footage. The well-known Vietnamese human rights lawyer was arrested on anti-state “propaganda” charges.)

The United States government is urging Vietnam torelease all political prisoners and end its poor treatmentof civil society activists. 

US officials made the appeals before President BarackObama’s first visit to Vietnam. He will travel there inMay.

A State Department official noted “the promotion ofhuman rights remains a crucial part of U.S. foreignpolicy and is a key aspect of our ongoing dialoguewithin the U.S.-Vietnam comprehensive partnership.”

…

The U.S. government told Vietnamese officials that it isconcerned about Nguyen Van Dai, a human rightslawyer who was arrested in December, 2015. He wasdetained as he was preparing to meet withrepresentatives of the European Union. The EUofficials were in Hanoi for talks with Vietnameseofficials about human rights.

…

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/us-urges-vietnam-to-release-all-political-prisoners/3304966.html

Iran: UN experts: Iran regime denying medical treatment to political prisoners

April 27, 2016

A group of United Nations human rights experts on Wednesday warned that over a dozen political prisoners in Iran, including some prominent human rights defenders, lawyers and political activists, are at risk of death in detention due to their worsening health conditions and the continued refusal by the Iranian authorities to provide them with medical treatment.

“The condition of several prisoners of conscience with serious health problems has been exacerbated by their continued detention and by repeated refusals to allow their access to the medical facilities and treatment they so urgently require,” the UN experts said, according to a statement published on the website of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

“The denial of medical care, physical abuse, either in overcrowded prisons or in solitary confinement and other forms of torture and ill-treatment exposes prisoners to risk of serious injuries and death,” they said noting that “unfortunately, Iranian prisons are no strangers to such tragedies, many of which could have been avoided if authorities exercised proper care.”

…

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/20260-un-experts-iran-regime-denying-medical-treatment-to-political-prisoners

Egypt: Lawyers assaulted in Giza, prevented from attending investigations with arrested protesters

April 27, 2016

Two lawyers were assaulted by officers from Dokki police station as tensions escalated between lawyers and police over the arrests of protesters in Monday’s protests.

Officers prevented the lawyers from entering the station to attend investigations with detained protesters on Tuesday. Two lawyers were assaulted in the process. Police officers said they were instructed not to allow lawyers to enter but the lawyers insisted on the defendants’ right to counsel.

Earlier on Tuesday, the prosecution office sent staff to represent 87 protesters who were arrested on Monday during nationwide protests that objected to the maritime demarcation deal that transfers the sovereignty of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia.

The lawyers’ insistence on attending the investigations led to verbal clash with police forces that led to two of the lawyers being assaulted by officers, according to eyewitnesses.

…

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/04/27/lawyers-assaulted-in-giza-prevented-from-attending-investigations-with-arrested-protesters/