India: Enactment of “HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS (RECOGNITION, SUPPORT AND PROTECTION) ACT” – Please sign the petition!

April 24, 2017

Human Rights Defenders often face several kinds of reprisal for their legitimate human rights work both in the hands of State and/or non-state actors whose wrongdoings/illegal activities they challenge to redress a promote human rights and/or to redress an incident of human rights violation. They often work alone with no or limited knowledge, skill, resource and support and often their important human rights work is derecognised and discouraged. So, to recognise their work,  to provide support for their human rights work and to provide protection to them when they are at risk facing reprisal or under attack for their legitimate human rights work, it is pertinent to enact a law by Indian Parliament to expressly acknowledge the Rights and Responsibility of the Human Rights Defenders as per the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, 1998 and as Recommended  to the Government of India by the United Nations Special Rapporteur  on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders after her Country Visit to India in 2011 and as recommendations received by Government of India in United Nations Universal Periodic Review  from  four countries in 2012.  The proposed Act will afford protection to lawyers as well.

https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-of-india-human-rights-defenders-recognition-support-and-protection-act?recruiter=820695&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-no_msg

 

Cameroon: Cameroon -Anglophone crisis :”I will be happy if Dr NKongho and Co rot in jail”‘-Ekame

April 25, 2017

patrick Ekame

Man who instructed shops of North westerners to be burnt at mile 17 Buea three months ago for respecting ghost town say he will be happy if the Anglophone leaders arrested during the current movement and imparticular the Président of the anglophone civil society consortium (CACSC) Barrister  Nkongho Félix Agbor  Balla and the secretary general Dr. fontem Neba rot in jail,a source close to him hinted following his recent release on radio yesterday .

Mayor Patrick Ekame of Buea council who has been on the other side of the cry of anglophones against marginalization. He made no secret about his stands against the restoration of the Southern Cameroons statehood and says he will be pleased if at the least those arrested and transferred to Yaoundé receive life imprisonment.

After failing to ingnit Anglophone divide and thanking Biya for restoring Internet in English speaking Cameroon, mayor Ekema Patrick yesterday during the 6pm news over Equinox blamed that senator Mbella Moki Charles is one of the south west elites fanning the strike in the South west region.

 

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http://www.alafnet.com/cameroon-anglophone-crisis-i-will-be-happy-if-dr-nkongho-and-co-rot-in-jail-ekame/

Cameroon: Affaire Ayah Paul: La famille accuse le gouvernement d’intimidation: Cameroun

le 25 avril, 2017

http://www.camer.be/59708/6:1/cameroun-affaire-ayah-paul-la-famille-accuse-le-gouvernement-dintimidation-cameroon.html

http://www.cameroon-info.net/article/cameroun-crise-anglophone-la-famille-dayah-abine-se-dit-harcelee-287421.html

http://cameroon-concord.com/boko-haram/8212-the-family-of-ayah-paul-under-siege-by-unknown-terrorists-over-the-weekend

http://cajnewsafrica.com/2017/04/21/cameroon-implodes-after-imposition-of-french/ (ENGLISH)

http://reliefweb.int/report/cameroon/afex-petitions-au-special-rapporteur-freedom-expression-intervene-cameroon-crisis (ENGLISH)

Turkey: 7 Lawyers In Kütahya, 6 Purged Civil Servants On Greek Border Detained Over Alleged Gülen Links

April 25, 2017

At least seven lawyers in the Kütahya province were detained as part of the government’s post-coup witch hunt targeting Gülen movement on Monday. The detainees are accused of having used ByLock, a smarthphone application that Turkish prosecutors claim to be the top communication tool among the alleged Gülen movement followers.

Meanwhile, three individuals and six former civil servants who have been dismissed from their posts in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15, were detained in the Turkish border province of Edirne on Monday while trying to flee to Greece.

The former civil servants were purged from their posts due to their alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding the failed coup attempt. They reportedly had travel bans imposed on them.

Thousands of people have fled Turkey due to the massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government against sympathizers of the Gülen movement in the wake of July 15. The movement strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

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http://stockholmcf.org/7-lawyers-in-kutahya-6-purged-civil-servants-on-greek-border-detained-over-alleged-gulen-links/

Crimea/Russia: Crimean Attorneys Don’t Have It Easy

April 24, 2017

After the Russian annexation, few Crimean law professionals are eager to take on sensitive, politically charged cases. From Euroradio.

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Three years after the March 2014 events, the Kremlin insists that Crimea is part of the Russian Federation. Kyiv’s official stance is that the Crimean peninsula is a temporarily occupied territory. Crimean activists, politicians, and citizens who oppose the annexation of Crimea have been tried for violating Russian law. The Russian organization Memorial considers them political prisoners or prisoners of conscience. Given the legal status of the peninsula, attorneys cannot prove they are not guilty or perform their professional duties in general without difficulty.

We meet lawyer Emil Kurbedinov next to his small office in the center of Crimea’s capital, Simferopol. We have to talk in the street, as his clients took all the free seats in his office. People come to him with different issues asking for help, but Kurbedinov prefers to defend those detained on political charges, such as those people who do not think that Crimea is Russian. As a result, the lawyer recently spent 10 days under administrative arrest. Policemen searched his office and seized documents containing classified judicial information. This happened because Kurbedinov dared to use his phone to film a search that took place in the office of one of his fellow citizens. Before that, the lawyer had received hints from “high-ranking people” that he should quit legal practice.

“From the very beginning we tried to shed light on all cases we considered politically motivated,” Kurbedinov explains. “We wanted people, both here and abroad, to see how trials took place, how the evidence was presented, and so on. That bothered very much those who held the trials, the prosecution.”

Among Kurbedinov’s clients are leaders of the Mejlis [the Crimean parliament outlawed by Russia as an “extremist” organization in 2016] who have been accused of calls to “violate the territorial integrity of Russia.”

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http://www.tol.org/client/article/26869-crimean-attorneys-dont-have-it-easy.html

Kashmir/India: Leader Of Ruling PDP Abdul Gani Shot Dead In Jammu And Kashmir’s Pulwama

April 24, 2017

A leader of Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling PDP was killed by suspected terrorists when he was travelling in his car in Srinagar on Monday.

Abdul Gani Dar, the Pulwama unit president of the PDP or People’s Democratic Party, was shot at when he was in the Pinglana area. He was taken to a hospital in Srinagar, 31km away.

Mr Dar, a lawyer, was shot thrice in his chest at close range.

He was travelling with two police cars. This is the third attack on a politician in the past few weeks.

This morning, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi to discuss the security situation in the state. Ms Mufti called for dialogue with separatists but added that talks cannot take place amid stone-throwing and firing.

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http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/leader-of-ruling-pdp-abdul-ghani-shot-dead-in-jammu-and-kashmirs-pulwama-1685258

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/04/24/pdp-leader-abdul-gani-dar-shot-at-in-pulwama-even-as-valley-rema_a_22052867/

http://jksachnews.com/2017/04/25/%E2%80%8Bchief-minister-condemns-killing-of-advocate-abdul-gani-dar/

India: Uttar Pradesh: Lawyer shot dead in Pratapgarh

April 25, 2017

A lawyer was shot dead by unidentified assailants here, police said today. Dhananjay Misra (45), former president of Lalganj Bar Association, was returning home along with his daughter when four motorcycle-borne assailants followed them and opened fire near Motheen village last evening.

As he fell on the road, the assailants, whose faces were covered, pumped bullets into his head and chest before fleeing, police said, adding that he was rushed to Lalganj Community Health Centre where doctors declared him dead. Enraged locals refused to hand over the body to the police and staged a protest demanding security and compensation for the family of the deceased. They were later pacified by officials and the body was sent for post mortem late in the night.

Uttar Pradesh: Lawyer shot dead in Pratapgarh

UK: Leigh Day lawyers accused of misconduct over Iraq claims

April 24, 2017

A law firm has been accused of misconduct over the way it handled claims that British troops tortured civilians during the Iraq War.

Leigh Day failed to disclose evidence its Iraqi clients were members of a “murderous” militia group when it represented them in compensation cases, a tribunal has heard.

The claims caused years of anguish to falsely accused soldiers, it was told.

Leigh Day and solicitors Martyn Day and Sapna Malik deny 19 misconduct charges.

Fellow solicitor Anna Crowther also denies one allegation of misconduct at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in London.

Without the firm’s failures it was unlikely a £31m public inquiry into claims of murder and torture by UK soldiers would have taken place, the tribunal was told.

‘Years of worry’

Representing the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Timothy Dutton QC, said: “Over a period of more than seven years, Martyn Day, Sapna Malik and Leigh Day made and maintained allegations that soldiers in the British Army had murdered, tortured and mutilated Iraqi civilians.”

He said the lawyers had continued to act for their clients despite having a document showing they were members of a militia associated with the Mahdi Army, which had ambushed British troops.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39696160

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/24/lawyers-leigh-day-cases-against-uk-troops-allegedly-knew-clients-belonged-iraq-militia-mahdi-army

https://www.ft.com/content/1b50ca0a-2908-11e7-bc4b-5528796fe35c

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/24/iraq-torture-claims-lawyers-leigh-day-had-evidence-clients-scheming/

Cameroon: Please support our lawyers!

April 25, 2017

 

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR LAWYERS by making a donation to facilitate their April 27th, 2017 trip to Yaounde where they will stand shoulder to shoulder with our detained brothers. Our show of solidarity is extremely important to our struggle.
Please make a donation on our website @ https://ca-csc.org/donations.html, via Paypal (info@cameroonconsortium.org) or through Bank Wire or Transfer. All donations are backed by a receipt and you can access your transaction history online. Thank you in advance for your generosity and commitment to the struggle.

***FOR PAYPAL PLEASE USE INFO@CAMEROONCONSORTIUM.ORG.***

https://ca-csc.org/donations.html

http://www.voanews.com/a/cameroon-journalist-jailed-for-ten-years-under-anti-terrorism-law/3824341.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Cameroon: Climat social: La crise anglophone divise le Barreau des avocats

le 24 avril, 2017

Les hommes de loi ne s’accordent pas sur l’annonce du Bâtonnier de la reprise du travail par les avocats anglophones.

Environ six mois après son début, la crise anglophone ne semble pas complètement refermée. Si les mesures (rétablissement d’internet au Sud-Ouest et au Nord-Ouest, création d’une section de la Common Law à l’Ecole Normale d’administration et de magistrature ; redéploiement des magistrats en tenant compte des critères linguistiques ; l’augmentation des effectifs des magistrats anglophones au sein de la Cour suprême etc.) favorisent un certain apaisement, quelques querelles se font encore entendre.

Notamment chez les avocats. C’est la raison pour laquelle Intégration du 24 avril titre que « La crise anglophone déchire le Barreau ». Au centre de cette affaire, « l’annonce par Maître Jackson Ngnie Kamga (la bâtonnier ndlr) de l’arrêt de la grève des avocats anglophones et la reprise des activités de défense et d’assistance des citoyens dès le 2 mai 2017 dans les tribunaux de la partie anglophone du pays », dit le journal.

Cette annonce faite début avril, a suscité la controverse chez certains avocats anglophones. Si certains n’y trouvent pas d’inconvénients, d’autres estiment qu’il y a des préalables avant toute reprise du travail. Le cas de Ruth Leyuga, avocate au Sud-ouest. «Noussommes prêts à travailler, mais il faut quenos collègues soient libérés», a expliqué récemment expliqué à la BBC, cette membre de la Fako Lawyers Association (Fakla). Elle fait notamment allusion à Me Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla interpellé en octobre 2016 alors qu’il faisait partie des avocats manifestant pour de meilleures conditions de travail.

 

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http://www.cameroon-info.net/article/cameroun-climat-social-la-crise-anglophone-divise-le-barreau-des-avocats-287349.html