April 2019
INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION’S HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE (IBAHRI)
WRITTEN SUBMISSION
Daily Archives: 29/04/2019
China: ‘We must carry on’: Chinese government critic and liberal icon Xu Zhangrun vows to keep saying ‘what needs to be said’
April 28, 2019
A Chinese law professor who has become an icon of China’s liberal intellectuals remains in high spirits despite facing an internal investigation and being barred from leaving the country, friends close to him have said.
Xu Zhangrun, a normally low-profile academic at Tsinghua University, attracted global attention last year after he published several essays on social media, criticising Chinese authorities’ policies and controversial changes to the constitution to remove a two-term limit for the president.
The university suspended him from duty last month and put him under an internal investigation.
Sources familiar with the situation told the South China Morning Post that Xu was also barred from leaving the country. Earlier this month, border control officers at Beijing Capital International Airport stopped him from taking a flight to Japan and told him he could not leave the country. The officers did not elaborate, but Tsinghua had approved the trip and paid for the flights, sources said.
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https://www.inkstonenews.com/politics/law-professor-xu-zhangrun-barred-leaving-china/article/3008103
The Philippines: Legal luminaries hit ‘oust-Duterte’ matrix tagging NUPL
April 29, 2019
Legal luminaries slammed Monday a government matrix linking the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and some lawyers to an alleged plot to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte.
The track record of NUPL, an organization of pro bono human rights lawyers, “is beyond question,” said several prominent colleagues and the law schools of the University of the Philippines and Ateneo.
“The red tagging of NUPL is contrary to basic rules of evidence, due process and fair play,” read their statement of solidarity.
“Labeling, discrediting, threatening, and attacking lawyers are against the basic principles of lawyering, the State’s duty to protect them and the delivery of justice,” it added.
Among the statement’s signatories were several foreign lawyers, Adamson law dean Ada Abad, former University of the Philippines law dean Pacifico Agabin, De La Salle University College of Law founding dean Chel Diokno and former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay.
Aside from NUPL, those tagged in the matrix released by Malacañang last week were media organizations Vera Files, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and Rappler, which have been critical of the administration.
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Statement of Support and Solidarity with Lawyers of the People
We, lawyers and members of the legal profession, express grave concern over the heightening attacks against our brethren and peers in the Philippines.
In particular, we are disturbed by the labelling, accusations and threats against the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and its members.
The red tagging of NUPL is contrary to basic rules of evidence, due process and fairplay.
Dissent and criticism are an exercise of democratic rights.
Political harassment undermines the rule of law and substitutes it with the law of rulers.
We have known, worked with, or journeyed with the brave and dedicated NUPL pro bono human rights lawyers. Their track record of character, competence, and courage is beyond question.
Their passion and the advocacies they pursue against all odds give their poor, persecuted and powerless clientele hope.
Labelling, discrediting, threatening, and attacking lawyers are against the basic principles of lawyering, the State’s duty to protect them and the delivery of justice.
More importantly, these attacks
beg the fundamental question of whether there are valid reasons to dissent, criticize and advocate change and how to address them for the people’s benefit.
We stand in solidarity with our fellow lawyers irrespective of the clients they professionally represent and the public interest advocacies they pursue.
We support the cases and actions to defend NUPL and all lawyers under attack because of the exercise of their profession and the performance of their duties.
We shall also cooperate and collaborate in all fora to hold accountable those responsible for these attacks.
An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us. #
Signatories as of
29 Apr 2019, 3pm
Ada Abad (Philippines)
Dean, Adamson College of Law
Pacifico Agabin (Philippines)
Professor, UP Law
Jose Luis Agcaoili (Philippines)
Agcaoili and Associates
June Ambrosio (Philippines)
National Director,
National Center for Legal Aid
Integrated Bar of the Philippines
Domingo Anonuevo (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Rafael Aquino (Philippines)
Partner, SPASLAW
Plutarco Bawagan Jr. (Philippines)
UP Law Batch 1987
Purificacion Bartolome-Bernabe
(Philippines)
President, International Pro Bono Alliance
Niloufer Bhagwat (India)
Vice President,
Confederation of Lawyers in Asia Pacific
Gill Boehringer (Australia)
International Association of People’s Lawyers
Max Boqwana (South Africa)
National Association of Democratic Lawyers
Bill Bowring (UK)
President, European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights
Pura Ferrer-Calleja (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Joke Callewart (Belgium)
Progress Lawyers Network
Arnel Paciano Casanova (Philippines)
Lecturer, UP Law
Md. Hasan Tarique Chowdhury (Bangladesh)
Democratic Lawyers Association of Bangladesh
Marjorie Cohn (US)
Professor Emerita,
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Norma Jullien Cravotta (France)
Lawyer at the Paris Bar
Amor Datinguinoo (Philippines)
Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Makati
Gail Davidson (Canada)
Executive Director,
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Jose Manuel Diokno (Philippines)
Evelyn Duermayer (Austria)
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Elena Esposito (Italian)
Giuristi Democratici
Jan Fermon (Belgium)
Secretary General,
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Ricardo Fernandez Jr. (Philippines)
Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism
Russell Fraser (UK)
Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Johannes Karel Gaasbeek (Netherlands)
Day of Endangered Lawyers Foundation
Symone Gaasbeek (Netherlands)
Gaasbeek and Gaasbeek Lawyers
Muhammad Masaud Ghani (Pakistan)
Democratic Lawyers Association of Pakistan
Caridad Gonzales (Philippines)
Ateneo Law Class 1989
Dennis Gorecho (Philippines)
Alumni, UP Law
Krish Govender (South Africa)
National Association of Democratic Lawyers
David Israel Díaz Hernández (Honduras)
Human Rights Defenders Alliance
Florin Hilbay (Philippines)
Former Solicitor General
Lennox Hinds (US)
Professor Emeritus,
Rutgers University
Hajime Inoue (Japan)
Japanese Lawyers for International Solidarity
Charlotte Kates (US)
National Lawyers Guild
Jang Kyunguk (South Korea)
Minbyun Lawyers for a Democratic Society
Antonio Gabriel La Viña (Philippines)
Professor of Law, Governance, and Philosophy
Nelson Loyola (Philippines)
Nelson Loyola Law Office
Beth Lyons (US)
Alternate Delegate to U.N.,
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Ernesto Maceda Jr. (Philippines)
Former Dean,
College of Law, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
Fabio Marcelli (Italy)
Italian Democratic Lawyers
Felix Marinas Jr. (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Jeanne Mirer (US)
President,
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Luis Carlos Moro (Brazil)
American Association of Jurists
Sabah Al-Mukhtar (Iraq)
President,
Arab Lawyers Association
Osamu Niikura (Japan)
Professor Emeritus,
Aoyama Gakuin University
Mvuso Notyesi (South Africa)
National Association of Democratic Lawyers
Virgilio Ocaya (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Carlos Orjuela (UK)
Joint International Secretary,
Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Angel Reñon Orozco (Philippines)
Orozco Law Office
Alexander Padilla (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Ties Prakken (Netherlands)
Professor, Maastricht University
Roberto Rafael Pulido (Philippines)
Convenor, Manananggol Laban sa EJK
Yiannis Rachiotis (Greece)
Hellenic Union of Progressive Lawyers
Vanessa Ramos (Puerto Rico)
Asociación Americana de Juristas
Emiluz E. Pascasio-Reyes (Philippines)
Reyes & Teodoro Law Offices
Stuart Russell (France)
International Association of People’s Lawyers
Rene Saguisag (Philippines)
Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism
Arno Sanidad (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Pablito Sanidad (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Micòl Savia (Italy)
Permanent Representative to the U.N. in Geneva,
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Thomas Schmidt (Germany)
Secretary General,
European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights
Azadeh Shahshahani (US)
Legal & Advocacy Director, Project South
Ghanendra Shrestha (Nepal)
Progressive Peoples Lawyers Association (PPLA)
Filibon Tacardon (Philippines)
Former Vice President,
IBP Quezon City Chapter
Lorenzo Tanada III
Free Legal Assistance Group
Amado Danilo Tayag (Philippines)
Alumni, UP Law
Theodore Te (Philippines)
Free Legal Assistance Group
Evalyn Ursua (Philippines)
Women’s Initiatives for Socio-Cultural and Economic Rights
Serife Ceren Uysal (Turkey)
Progressive Lawyers Association
Pilita Venturanza (Philippines)
IBP Oriental Mindoro
Susan Villanueva (Philippines)
Professor, UP College of Law
Gregorio Tanaka Viterbo Jr. (Philippines)
Chair,
Free Legal Assistance Group-
Metro Manila
(National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers Facebook, 29/04/19)
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/04/05/afp-official-unmasks-cpp-fronts-networks/
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1068160
‘Reds-linked’ orgs dared to seek justice for victims of NPA killings
India: Calcultta HC chief justice asks home secretary to file affidavit on Howrah court incident over parking
April 29, 2019
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https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/police-attack-on-howrah-lawyers-144628
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/national/496703-lawyers-ceasework-extended-till-may-2
Howrah Court Violence: Calcutta HC takes suo motu cognizance
https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2019/04/29/ces6-wb-lawyers-ceasework.html
N.B. The matter was taken up by the Division bench in Court room No. 1 of the High Court, Calcutta today (29/04/19), when the Court directed the respondents to file separate affidavits by tomorrow. The Chief Justice directed to file personal affidavits from all the respondents over the incident. The matter will be taken up on May 1, 2019. The Chief Justice made it clear that if anybody fails to do so he will take stern action. He requested all members to trust him and withdraw the strike. He also stated that he will not do anything to jeopardize the judiciary or the legal profession.
Turkey: Lawyers On Trial In Turkey
April 28, 2019
A report published this week by Human Rights Watch (HRW) details how the Turkish government has been arbitrarily jailing lawyers and putting them on trial ever since the failed military coup d’état in July 2016. The report highlights the extent of the government crackdown on lawyers, and specifically criminal defence lawyers defending people accused of terrorism. Often, the government’s unjust detainment of lawyers is an attempt to silence harmful accusations brought against them by a lawyer’s defence of the accused. Accusations include police abuses and other human right violations perpetrated by the state; there have been reports of lawyers being intimidated by police before court proceedings. Research for the report was carried out from July 2018 to February 2019, and involved interviews conducted with 35 lawyers across Turkey; however, archival research dates to the events of July 2016. It is the role of lawyers to protect the rule of law and defend human rights, so when over 1500 lawyers have been prosecuted since July 2016, the right to a fair trial has become the exception, not the rule.
Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW, says, “Putting hundreds of lawyers in jail or on trial, and restricting their ability to act for people in police custody and in court, shows the dire state of Turkey’s criminal justice system,” and he warns it should not be ignored by an international audience. This report targets one of the many human rights abuses perpetrated by the twelfth President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Before now, international figures have been extremely critical of Erdoğan’s government. A Bloomberg article was written in September 2018 about a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Erdoğan in Berlin. It highlights how Merkel’s hope for reconstructive talks, regarding diplomatic relations between the two countries, fell short because she could not ignore the “profound differences” between Germany and Turkey about what constitutes “a free, democratic, open society”.
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http://theowp.org/lawyers-on-trial-in-turkey/
Zimbabwe: Top rights lawyer, four teachers charged for anti-govt plot
April 28, 2019
PROMINENT human rights lawyer Douglas Coltart and four teachers union leaders were Sunday charged for attending a meeting which police say was meant to strategise on committing acts of civil disobedience throughout the country.
The teachers are Robson Chere, Jess Drury, Precious Ndlovu and Munyaradzi Ndawana and are all from the militant Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) which is famous for embarking on a 275KM march last year to protest poor wages by government.
The concerned meeting which has caught the attention of the law enforcement agents is one in which the teachers were attending a Trainer of Trainers workshop at a Harare hotel Saturday.
Speaking to NewZimbabwe.com Sunday, Tinomuda Shoko, a lawyer with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said Coltart and the four teachers were charged for allegedly violating the Criminal Law Codification Act.
“All the five were charged with strategising on disobedience and planning to participate in criminal acts,” she said.
“The police are saying they participated in a meeting and planning to commit acts of public violence and bigotry and that they there were strategising on civil disobedience.”
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https://www.newzimbabwe.com/top-rights-lawyer-four-teachers-charged-for-anti-govt-plot/
Doug Coltart Charged And Released Together With Rural Teacher Activists
IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers 