Letter to U.S. President Obama
Lawyers for Lawyers, together with 18 organizations, called on the President of the U.S. to use talks about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement to urge Viet Nam to release political prisoners, repeal laws that criminalize the exercise of internationally protected rights and cease harassment of human rights defenders, including lawyers, in accordance with its international human rights obligations. The situation […]
Sedition investigations against four lawyers
Lawyers for Lawyers is concerned about the initiation of sedition investigations against four lawyers of the Malaysian Bar: Karen Cheah, Hector Fernandez, Francis Pereira and Shanmugam Ramasam. On 19 March 2016, a motion was tabled at the Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar calling on Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali, to resign over his […]
Lawyers for Lawyers 30 years!
This year, Lawyers for Lawyers celebrates its 30th anniversary. In the past 30 years we have campaigned for countless lawyers, monitored trials, been on fact-finding missions and written many letters. Unfortunately the situation of lawyers has deteriorated in many countries during these 30 years. This means that the importance and the scope of our work has […]
Lawyer Alldo Fellix Januardy attacked
Lawyers for Lawyers and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) are concerned about the physical attack on lawyer Alldo Fellix Januardy from Indonesia. Alldo Fellix Januardy was attacked following his effort to negotiate a suspension of the plan to forcefully evict his clients. The Administrative District Court was still to issue a ruling on the legality […]
Send lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli a postcard in prison!
After the initial arrest and release of nine lawyers in Istanbul between 16 – 19 March 2016, new arrest warrants were issued against four of them on 22 March. On April 6, lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli were re-arrested. The arrests seem to be connected to their work as lawyers, and therefore we have […]
Looking back on Thailand’s UPR pre-session
By Karin Monster Geneva, Wednesday, March 30th. Getting up early in the morning and heading to Thailand’s “Universal Periodic Review” (UPR) pre-session with L4L’s representative, Milena Latuputty. During this session, Thailand’s current human rights situation will be reviewed in the presence of representatives of the Permanent Missions and (inter)national organizations. Once arrived, we find ourselves […]
Joint UPR report
On 24 March 2016, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and L4L submitted a joint report for the Universal Periodic Review of Zimbabwe. In the report, the organizations highlighted that human rights defenders continue to face harassment, violence, arbitrary arrest and malicious prosecution. Lawyers are amongst those human rights defenders that […]
Lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli detained again
After the initial arrest and release of nine lawyers in Istanbul between 16 – 19 March 2016, new arrest warrants were issued against four of them on 22 March 2016. Two lawyers were re-arrested immediately after and were released a couple of days later. Yesterday, lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli were re-arrested. Arrest nine […]
Lawyer Oleg Khabibrakhmanov on his membership with Joint Mobile Group
In March 2016, Lawyers for Lawyers had an interesting conversation with Russian lawyer Oleg Khabibrakhmanov. Oleg is a member of the Joint Mobile Group, and was in the Netherlands for the Movies that Matter festival. Joint Mobile Group (JMG) was established in November 2009 by a group of Russian human rights organisations, with a leading […]
Lawyers Tigor Gempita Hutapea and Obed Sakti Andre Dominika arrested
Lawyers for Lawyers and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) are concerned about the beating, arrest, criminal investigation and prosecution of lawyers Tigor Gempita Hutapea and Obed Sakti Andre Dominika. These events happened following their monitoring of Police violence committed during a peaceful protest rally to demand a change in the minimum wage formula before the […]
Thailand-blog Pre-session: L4L asks attention for position of Thai lawyers
By Karin Monster On Wednesday, March 30th, Thailand’s human rights situation is being discussed in Geneva, during the pre-sessions in preparation for the upcoming “Universal Periodic Review” (UPR). L4L is participating in the pre-sessions and is drawing attention to Thailand’s compliance with its (inter)national human rights commitments to guarantee the right to independent counsel as […]
Lawyer Intigam Aliyev released
On 28 March 2016, the Supreme Court of Baku has decided to release Azerbaijan’s leading human rights lawyer, Intigam Aliyev. The court converted his seven-and-a-half year prison sentence to a five-year suspended term. Intigam Aliyev was convicted in April 2015 on charges of “tax evasion”, “abuse of authority”, “illegal entrepreneurship”, and “misappropriation”. Aliyev has always […]
Preparations for UPR pre-session
By Karin Monster Next week – from March 30 to April 2, 2016 – the pre-sessions in preparation for the 25th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will take place in Geneva. During these pre-sessions, which will be organized by UPR Info, representatives of the Permanent Missions, Human Rights Institutions and Civil Society Organizations will gather to […]
Decision to release 9 lawyers quashed
Lawyers for Lawyers was concerned to learn that on 22 March 2016, the 2nd Peace Judgeship quashed the decision of the Istanbul 1st Criminal Peace Judgeship to release 9 Turkish lawyers. New arrest warrants were ordered for four of the nine lawyers. The arrest and release of 9 Turkish lawyers In the early morning of […]
Arrested 9 lawyers released
Good news: All the nine lawyers who were arrested in Istanbul earlier this week, were released from pre-trial detention on Saturday 19 March 2016 by the decision of the interrogation judge. The lawyers will however still be prosecuted. Lawyers for Lawyers will continue to monitor the case closely. In the early morning of 16 March, police […]
Call upon the Council and States to ensure that the role of judges, lawyers and prosecutors receives heightened attention in the future UPR cycles.
Today, Lawyers for Lawyers, together with 6 other organizations, delivered an oral statement at the UN Human Rights Council. The organizations called upon the Council, as well as States, to ensure that the role of judges, lawyers and prosecutors receives heightened attention in the future Universal Periodic Review cycles. A recent report of the International […]