September 1, 2017
Chinese rights lawyers fear they will be subjected to tighter controls after attending a high-profile meeting with the country’s justice minister, who pledged to deliver “harsh discipline with love”.
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Daily Archives: 01/09/2017
Cameroon: Cameroon frees dozens of English-speaking activists; others still held
August 31, 2017
Dozens of activists from Cameroon’s English-speaking community were freed from jail on Friday as the mainly French-speaking nation’s president moved to ease months of tension in its minority regions.
President Paul Biya on Wednesday ordered a military court to drop its prosecution of the detainees, who were arrested following protests launched late last year by anglophones demanding equal treatment.
Around 50 were released from two prisons in the capital Yaounde after midnight. Watched by security forces, a crowd of family members and journalists gathered outside to greet the activists, who then boarded buses that took them home.
“I was in jail for five months. My mother couldn’t visit me,” said one freed detainee, who asked not to be named. “I‘m innocent. I was arrested when I went out to see a gathering of leaders …I was just getting by. Now I have nothing left.”
Among others freed were civil society leaders Felix Agbor Balla and Fontem Aforteka‘a Neba, arrested in January and being held under anti-terrorism laws enacted in response to incursions in the country’s north by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
The pair – who pleaded not guilty in February to charges that included complicity in hostility against the homeland, secession and civil war – had faced a potential death sentence if convicted.
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https://www.bareta.news/open-letter-balla-fontem-ayah-know-want/
https://www.voanews.com/a/cameroon-biya-frees-strike-leaders/4011338.html
https://www.bareta.news/bar-human-rights-committee-england-wales-calls-mancho-release/
https://www.bareta.news/barrister-bobga-dissects-shames-ngoh-ngoh-biyas-press-release/
http://cameroon-report.com/politique/personnes-arret-de-poursuites/ (FRANCAIS)
http://hurinews.com/cameroun-detention-arbitraire-une-plainte-contre-franck-biya-en-france/ (FRANCAIS)
http://plus.lesoir.be/112596/article/2017-09-06/lexception-kenyane-pourrait-faire-ecole-en-afrique (FRANCAIS)
http://www.expansion.com/agencia/europa_press/2017/09/01/20170901144830.html (ESPANOL)
http://www.dw.com/pt-002/dezenas-de-ativistas-angl%C3%B3fonos-libertados-nos-camar%C3%B5es/a-40327580 (PORTUGUES)
India: Noida lawyers protest against police for detaining colleague
August 31, 2017
Over hundred lawyers abstained from work in the district courts of Surajpur on Thursday in protest against the police for allegedly beating up a lawyer inside Dadri police station.
The lawyers assembled on the premises of the office of senior superintendent of police (SSP) and demanded the suspension of the policemen and registration of case against them.
According to them, Suresh Raj, a 30-year-old lawyer, was detained and beaten up Wednesday night at the Dadri police station. They said on Wednesday evening, there was some ruckus outside Raj’s house in Dadri. He came out of his house and spotted some policemen allegedly extorting money from commuters and he objected to it.
Raj said friend Anil, was allegedly asked by the police to pay them Rs 2, 000 to let him go but he refused. “Raj told the policemen not to ask for a bribe. The policemen then allegedly took Raj’s friend to the police station. There, he was booked and detained throughout night,” said Aneet Bhajel, a lawyer.
The lawyers continued their protest till late afternoon and were pacified by circle officers.
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Kenya: Law Society of Kenya denounces threats against Prof. P.L.O. Lumumba
September 1, 2017
Press statement on threats against advocates for representing clients
(Law Society of Kenya Facebook)
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/08/30/corridors-of-power_c1625774
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/PLO-Lumumba-Supreme-Court/1056-4074606-fusl63/index.html
https://softkenya.com/kenya/plo-lumumba/
https://www.newera.com.na/2017/09/01/prof-lumumba-to-deliver-two-lectures-in-windhoek/
Pakistan/The Netherlands: Mirza Shahzad nominated for Tulip Award
August 31, 2017
Human Rights Tulip award has nominated Mirza Shahzad Akbar from Pakistan for his exceptional efforts to fight the extreme human rights abuses that Pakistani citizens are facing.
Mirza Shahzad is founder and director of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights. He is known to be the first lawyer on ground to protect civilian drone strike victims, which started in 2004 during President Pervaiz Musharraf’s era. He aimed to challenge the US covert drone strikes in non-combat zones.
Akbar also fights to end the practice of enforced disappearances, abolition of the death penalty in Pakistan, litigating cases of strategic significance with a view to saving lives and creating systemic change. He further spearheads the ground-breaking work of his foundation to abolish the death penalty for drug offences in Pakistan. Finally, Akbar is involved in other human-rights regarding public interest litigation including issues such as torture, gender and land rights.
The Human Rights Tulip is an award of the Dutch government, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for courageous human rights defenders who promote and support human rights in innovative ways. The prize is intended to help human right defenders to learn from each other.
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http://nation.com.pk/national/31-Aug-2017/tulip-award
https://www.humanrightstulip.nl/candidates-and-voting/mirza-shahzad-akbar
China: Beijing’s bid to silence rights lawyers reaches courts
September 1, 2017
Culminating in the biggest co-ordinated attack on a group of professionals since Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, China’s government is now using its courts to punish some of the country’s most famous lawyers.
Two years after the Chinese authorities arrested more than 300 human rights lawyers and co-workers in a co-ordinated nationwide raid, the key trials of some of the most high-profile advocates are finally getting under way.
This “709 crackdown” — which happened on July 9, 2015, when most of those detained were shipped to detention centres in Tianjin — has succeeded in breaking the backbone of the disparate group of rights activists who had articulated the grievances of many in China’s underclasses.
The strategy has also been deployed, again with considerable success, to independent thinkers and writers epitomised by Nobel peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who died in detention last month.
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Hong Kong/China: Who can ensure a fair trial for Benny Tai?
August 31, 2017
Three years after the Occupy Central campaign, student leaders Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow are in jail for their roles in the democracy protests.
Now the pro-Beijing camp has shifted its focus to Benny Tai, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and a co-founder of the Occupy Central movement.
Recently, pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho said he might seek an injunction to stop Tai from teaching at HKU. He posted on his social media page a letter to HKU to that effect.
In addition, Ho organized an online petition urging the public to support the sacking of Tai. The petition was peppered with questions such as “do you want Hong Kong to face disturbance?”, “do you want students to be misled into breaking the law?”, “do you agree that law professors are inciting the public to break the law?”
According to local newspapers, the online petition has drawn more than 30,000 signatures out of a target of 40,000, putting pressure on HKU to take action before Tai is proven guilty in court.
On Wednesday, outgoing vice chancellor Peter Mathieson, said that he had received a handful of requests to sack Tai. Mathieson did not say who sent the letters but said he had read them and respected their opinions but added he didn’t agree with all of them.
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http://www.ejinsight.com/20170831-who-can-ensure-a-fair-trial-for-benny-tai/
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=95886&sid=4
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=186923&sid=11
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2017083111575918
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Tai
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Tai (FRANCAIS)
IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers 