China/EU: At Summit, EU Should ‘Throw Full Weight Behind’ Human Rights

June 14, 2018

European Union leaders should publicly and privately demand that China release those deprived of their liberty for exercising human rights, including poet Liu Xia, the widow of the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, and Swedish publisher Gui Minhai, Human Rights Watch said today in a joint letter with 23 other nongovernmental organizations.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker, European Council President Donald Tusk, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini will attend the EU-China Summit in Beijing with senior Chinese officials in mid-July 2018.

“EU leaders, who have pledged their full support for courageous human rights defenders, will visit Beijing around the first anniversary of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo’s July 2017 death under state guard,” said Lotte Leicht, EU director. “Now, those leaders need to deliver on their pledge and make the immediate release of Liu Xia, Gui Minhai, and so many others a top strategic priority.”

The EU has pushed back against China’s ruthless crackdown on human rights, the groups noted, including through statements at the United Nations Human Rights Council, expressions of concern about individual cases, and outreach to human rights defenders. Yet, none of these EU actions have achieved the releases of any rights activists in China and the EU has yet to fulfill its 2012 pledge in its Strategic Framework on Human Rights to “throw its full weight behind advocates of liberty, democracy and human rights” and to do so “in all areas of its external action without exception” in China. Several member states chose to abstain rather than vote against a problematic Chinese resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2018.

The organizations urged EU leaders to take several steps, including publicly pressing for the releases of Liu Xia, Wang Quanzhang, Tashi Wangchuk, Ilham Tohti, Lee Ming-che, and Gui Minhai, among many others, and developing a committed EU strategy to ensure their releases. They also asked the EU to identify specific human rights issues that the Chinese government needs to address as a strategic priority for the EU and its member states.

In the year since the last EU-China Summit, China has not only arbitrarily detained Liu Xia, Gui Minhai, and countless human rights lawyers and other activists, it has also continued to adopt abusive laws and maintain a vast censorship apparatus.

…

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/14/china-summit-eu-should-throw-full-weight-behind-human-rights

https://sofiaglobe.com/2018/06/15/july-6-7-announced-as-date-for-cee-china-161-summit-in-sofia/

UK: Obsessed with revenge: Man with weapons cache jailed for stalking police, judge & lawyers

June 13, 2018

A man “obsessed with revenge” against the legal system has been jailed for 15 years. Police say Ashkan Ebrahimi was intent on “harming a police officer,” and found a cache of dangerous weapons when they raided his home in 2015.

Evidence also showed that Ebrahimi had visited the home addresses of police officers and the judge involved his case. Police say that he became “obsessed with revenge” after a court granted his ex-partner a non-molestation order. The order led to him being separated from his child.

 

He was found guilty of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of a bladed article in a public place, and stalking offences.

“The effects of this action sowed the seeds of a deep hatred of the police that grew exponentially from that moment,” a police spokesman said. “He believed that the police were committed to destroying his life and set about seeking to take extreme violent action against them.”

…

Ebrahimi’s mobile phone was also discovered to contain the vehicle registration numbers of the cars and photographs of the homes of people involved in his lost case. Police then chose to analyze his sat-nav, which showed that he had visited the address of the judge who had issued the non-molestation order. It also showed that he had visited the addresses of police officers and his ex’s lawyer.

…

https://www.rt.com/uk/429626-revenge-police-stalk-jail/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-44465236

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/12/father-stockpiled-weapons-plotted-revenge-police-judge-took/

https://sivtimes.com/in-britain-a-man-tried-to-kill-a-judge-who-took-away-his-child/41638/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5836151/Iranian-immigrant-hatred-police-jailed-20-years-weapons.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6515358/terrifying-arsenal-of-rifles-swords-crossbows-and-bomb-equipment-uncovered-in-home-of-migrant-who-stalked-police-and-judges/

Maldives/AI: Politically-motivated convictions of former president, former Supreme Court judges

June 13, 2018

Responding to the sentencing of former Maldivian President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, former Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, and another Supreme Court judge, Justice Ali Hameed each to 19 months in prison after being found guilty of “obstructing justice”, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director, Biraj Patnaik, said:

“These convictions are politically-motivated, and the product of trials that did not meet international standards – they must be quashed immediately.

“The Maldivian government appears to be using the courts to exact revenge for the 1^st February 2018 judgement that ordered the release and retrial of key opposition politicians.

“Instead of implementing that judgement, the government has doubled down on political repression by throwing the chief justice and another judge behind bars, along with a former president, in a process that travesties justice rather than upholding it.”

…

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/maldives-politicallymotivated-convictions-of/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/15/maldives-slide-toward-one-party-rule

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/former-maldives-president-and-supreme-court-chief-justice-convicted-for-obstruction-of-justice/story-MbcDX2OBBgnuirVpaPwPrN.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-maldives-politics/former-president-maldives-and-chief-justice-sentenced-for-obstruction-of-justice-idUSKBN1J92LX

https://www.firstpost.com/world/former-maldives-president-maumoon-abdul-gayoom-sitting-chief-justice-abdulla-saeed-sentenced-to-19-months-in-prison-4509839.html

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-dismayed-over-long-prison-terms-to-former-maldivian-prez-chief-justice/articleshow/64583603.cms

https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/us-urges-maldives-to-release-all-political-prisoners/1207048/

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201806141065400797-maldives-denied-free-trial/

http://www.uniindia.com/~/all-court-proceedings-as-per-law-maldives/India/news/1261780.html

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/big-brother-indias-small-brother-problems/articleshow/64644557.cms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Justice_of_the_Maldives

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulla_Saeed

Romania: Romanian Superior Magistracy Council rejects disciplinary action against anticorruption head

June 14, 2018

The Superior Magistracy Council’s prosecutor section rejected on Wednesday, June 13, one of the Judicial Inspection’s disciplinary actions against the chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruta Kovesi.

The Judicial Inspection argued that Kovesi violated her duties when she sent one of her councilors to perform a control at two DNA offices in the country. The CSM’s decision can be attacked at the High Court of Cassation and Justice, local News.roreported.

However, the Judicial Inspection has two other disciplinary actions against the DNA head, both started in the past year. Kovesi has been accused of violating her duties and of behavior incompatible with her position, which may have damaged the image and reputation of the local justice system.

Justice minister Tudorel Toader asked for Kovesi’s dismissal from DNA’s helm in February but president Iohannis refused to sign the order. Romania’s Constitutional Court decided at the end of May that the president must accept the minister’s request to dismiss Kovesi, but the president said he would first analyze the court’s motivation.

https://www.romania-insider.com/csm-rejects-disciplinary-action-dna-head/

https://www.actmedia.eu/daily/the-csm-prosecutors-reject-a-disciplinary-action-of-the-judicial-inspection-against-laura-codruta-kovesi/75922

http://business-review.eu/news/iohannis-on-removing-kovesi-i-need-to-act-in-reasonable-time-173014

https://www.romania-insider.com/psd-plans-suspend-president/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Codru%C8%9Ba_K%C3%B6vesi

http://www.mediafax.ro/social/procurorii-csm-resping-o-actiune-disciplinara-a-inspectiei-judiciare-impotriva-laurei-codruta-kovesi-17253048 (ROMANIAN)

http://www.romaniatv.net/laura-codruta-kovesi-intrebata-daca-si-da-demisia-de-la-dna-la-revedere_424868.html (ROMANIAN)

https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Codru%C8%9Ba_K%C3%B6vesi (ROMANIAN)

India/Kashmir: ‘How can we develop as a nation when we are raping infants?’

June 14, 2018

The advocate in the Kathua rape case fears for her safety but says she will continue the good fight

Advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat has not had it easy, ever since she took up the case of an eight-year old girl who was raped and murdered in Kathua in Jammu Kashmir: ostracised by the bar association and called names. But her resolve keeps her going. The young advocate came to Mumbai to receive the Woman of the Year award by the Indian Merchant Chambers Ladies Wing of Commerce and Industry. She enrolled as a lawyer in 2009 with the Jammu and Kashmir High Court and served as member of the Juvenile Welfare Board for Jammu district from 2010 to 2013. She tells The Hindu of her isolation and says she fears for her safety.

Did you always want to take up law?

Oh yes. I have always wanted to fight. Fight a fight through the law; fight inside court. And I am doing just that. I love my work.

How did life change after you took up the Kathua case?

So many things happened. I am being told I am ‘anti nationalist’. If supporting a child is being anti nationalist, then I will wear it as a badge. The J&K Bar is treating me very badly and has ostracised me. I am being isolated. I had a problem looking out for a home, now I have one and have a problem looking for a place to work.

Is it because you are a woman?

Yes, and more than that because I am a Hindu supporting a Muslim.

Do you fear for your safety?

Yes, because right now everyone is watching but if they get a chance they will definitely cause me damage. I am not scared because I am protected by my god and I believe that a supernatural power protects everyone.

…

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-mumbai/how-can-we-develop-as-a-nation-when-we-are-raping-infants/article24158650.ece

https://www.mid-day.com/articles/deepika-rajawat-threats-have-shifted-form/19516179

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-kathua-lawyer-gets-imc-woman-of-the-year-award-2624767

https://www.pagalparrot.com/emma-watson-shared-deepika-singh-rajawat-photo-unnao-rape-case-lawyer.html

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/honouring-the-game-changers-imc-ladies-wing-felicitated-women-who-made-a-difference/articleshow/64628105.cms

https://english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/2018/06/19/kathua-lawyer-kerala-gives-her-strength-in-the-face-of-threats.html

https://ebela.in/national/deepika-singh-rajawat-has-honoured-with-woman-of-the-year-award-dgtl-1.813135 (HINDI)

Poland/EU: Poland has not addressed key concerns over court independence: EU’s Timmermans

June 13, 2018

Poland has not addressed the key concerns of the European Commission over the independence of courts, the First Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said on Wednesday, adding he would travel to Warsaw for talks next week.

Speaking in the European Parliament, Timmermans said amendments introduced by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to its reforms of the judiciary were not enough and the reforms still posed a risk of undermining the democratic division of powers, a core European value.

“I regret to inform you that overall and in spite of all of these legislative changes, key concerns which the Commission identified in the recent proposal, remain unaddressed,” Timmermans told parliament.

Timmermans said Polish authorities needed to urgently address the risk of irreparable damage to its Supreme Court, in which some 40 percent of judges could be forced into retirement on July 3 under the reform, and be replaced by nominees of a body now also dominated by the ruling PiS.

“The risk of creating irreparable damage fully remains. On July 3, 27 out of 72 Supreme Court judges will face the risk of being forced to retire,” Timmermans said.

“The forced retirement of these Supreme Court judges would constitute an irreversible violation of the rule of law. The Commission is at present examining this issue,” he said.

…

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-poland-rule-of-law/poland-has-not-addressed-key-concerns-over-court-independence-eus-timmermans-idUSKBN1J91TJ

http://uk.businessinsider.com/r-political-control-of-courts-in-poland-violates-eu-treaties-eus-timmermans-2018-6

https://www.euractiv.com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/timmermans-on-poland-changes-are-not-sufficient/

https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-rule-of-law-will-face-disciplinary-hearing-on-with-eu/

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/368216,Poland-will-defend-contested-court-reforms-FM

https://sundiatapost.com/2018/06/13/eu-appeals-to-poland-on-rule-of-law-as-time-runs-out-for-judges/

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/973745/eu-news-poland-referendum-european-union-Andrzej-Duda-constitution

https://euobserver.com/political/142077

https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/news/poland-could-be-referred-ecj-over-controversial-judicial-reforms

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-06-14/eu-parliament-urges-commission-to-act-against-poland

https://emerging-europe.com/in-brief/former-polish-presidents-ask-eu-to-help-defend-rule-of-law/

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/06/16/how-jaroslaw-kaczynskis-filial-duty-dark-obsession-and-grief-have-shaped-a-decreasingly-democratic-poland.html

http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2018/06/17/reforme-de-la-justice-l-ue-menace-la-pologne-tenace_1659875 (FRANCAIS)

#RuleofLaw

Iran: Iran’s renowned rights lawyer Sotoudeh arrested

June 13, 2018

HRF condemns the arrest of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh by Iran’s authoritarian regime. 

(France 24) – Iran’s award-winning human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on Wednesday, her husband said in a Facebook post.

 

“A few hours ago Nasrin was arrested at home and transferred to Evin,” Tehran’s notorious prison where many political prisoners are held, her husband Reza Khandan wrote.

 

Sotoudeh, 55, one of the few outspoken advocates for human rights in Iran, recently represented several women arrested for protesting against the mandatory wearing of headscarves.

 

Read the full article here.

 

https://www.themaven.net/humanrightsfoundation/middle-east/iran-s-renowned-rights-lawyer-sotoudeh-arrested-hM4fcUx7vE-wj5lEZVjDKA/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/13/iran-prominent-rights-defender-arrested

https://www.dawn.com/news/1414065/iran-detains-rights-lawyer-who-defended-headscarf-protesters

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180614IPR05802/ep-vice-president-and-droi-chair-call-for-immediate-release-of-nasrin-sotoudeh

https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3346/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/rights-groups-demand-release-iranian-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-180614060718180.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrin_Sotoudeh

https://ir.voanews.com/a/nasrin-sotoudeh-reza-khandan/4437047.html (FARSI)

http://www.dw.com/fa-ir/%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AD%DA%A9%D9%85-%D9%BE%D9%86%D8%AC-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%AA-%D8%B4%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA/a-44202289 (FARSI)

http://www.idhae.org/OBSAV-fr-wewsira181306.htm (FRANCAIS)

https://www.tdg.ch/monde/Celebre-avocate-des-droits-de-l-Homme-arretee/story/30693275 (FRANCAIS)

http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2018/06/13/arrestation-en-iran-d-une-avocate-connue-des-droits-humains_1658952 (FRANCAIS)

https://www.amnesty.org/es/latest/news/2018/06/iran-arrest-of-prominent-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-is-an-outrage/ (ESPANOL)

http://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-detenida-destacada-abogada-irani-nasrin-sotoudeh-20180613184656.html (ESPANOL)

https://www.infobae.com/america/mundo/2018/06/13/el-regimen-de-iran-detuvo-a-una-reconocida-abogada-defensora-de-los-derechos-humanos/ (ESPANOL)

https://www.amnesty.it/arresto-nasrin-sotoudeh-difensora-dei-diritti-umani-iran/ (ITALIANO)

http://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/news/italia/1025637/tajani-l-iran-rilasci-immediatamente-nasrin-sotoudeh.html (ITALIANO)

http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2018/06/13/news/iran_arrestata_nasrin_sotoudeh_avvocato_diritti_umani_e_premio_sakharov-198916064/ (ITALIANO)

https://anfdeutsch.com/frauen/iranische-menschenrechtsaktivistin-nasrin-sotoudeh-verhaftet-5030 (DEUTSCH)

https://www.asemana.publ.cv/?Irao-Detida-de-novo-advogada-Nasrin-Sotoudeh&ak=1 (PORTUGUES)

https://koerdischnieuws.nl/index.php/2018/06/14/iraanse-mensenrechtenactiviste-nasrin-sotoudeh-gearresteerd-iran/ (NEDERLANDS)

http://www.klassekampen.no/article/20180614/NTBU/87364879 (NORWEGIAN)

https://www.radiofarda.com/a/nasrin-sotoudeh-arrested/29288378.html (ARABIC)

http://www.isra.com/news/216321 (RUSSIAN)

https://cn.nytimes.com/morning-brief/20180614/north-korea-zte-deal-yemen/zh-hant/ (CHINESE)

#FreeNasrinSotoudeh

#FreeNasrin

The European Parliament stands by all human rights defenders. I call on Iran to immediately release #SakharovPrize laureate Nasrin Sotoudeh. pic.twitter.com/7zDBShKHiu

— Antonio Tajani (@EP_President) June 14, 2018

June 14
Dr. Mohammad Maleki, the first president of Tehran University after the anti-monarchy revolution in front of noterious #Evin prison
protest against arresting Activist and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh #Iran #FreeIran2018 #Humanrights #نسرین_ستوده #ايران pic.twitter.com/u8fQBLK6zS

— mostafa.m (@MostafaMe4) June 14, 2018

One of my heroes – – Nasrin Sotoudeh. pic.twitter.com/ji7usA5pOv

— Firouz M. Naderi (@Firouz_Naderi) June 13, 2018

Näääe….😫
”Den iranska advokaten och människorättsaktivisten Nasrin Sotoudeh har gripits i hemlandet. Det meddelar hennes man i ett inlägg på Facebook. Han skriver att Sotoudeh blivit förd till det ökända Evinfängelset i Teheran.” https://t.co/CBDebjAqWC

— 5win9 (@5win9) June 13, 2018

ICHR demand immediate release of Nasrin Sotoudeh, and calls on Iranian judiciary to cease their cowardly and unlawfully actions of arresting and harassing human rights lawyers.https://t.co/OG72hFoVlt

— International Center For Human Rights (@ICHRCanada) June 14, 2018

The arrest of renowned Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been widely condemned by Iranian activists, rights organizations and EU officials. #Iran should stop jailing lawyers and #FreeNasrin. pic.twitter.com/sddhmRR8pE

— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) June 14, 2018