Lawyers for Lawyers Award for Jorge Molano!
Jorge Molano, a Colombian Human Rights Lawyer and member of DHColombia, is selected to receive the Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2015. An expert jury selected Molano because of his “immense personal courage and stamina” and to “draw attention to the largely overlooked dire human rights situation in Colombia”. Human rights lawyers from across the world […]
Renewed call for release of ‘Duma Four’ on birthday of Razan Zaitouneh
To mark the 38th birthday of missing human rights defender and lawyer Razan Zaitouneh, 70 organizations, including Lawyers for Lawyers, today reiterate their call for her immediate release, as well as that of her missing colleagues Samira Khalil, Nazem Hamadi and Wa’el Hamada. The four were abducted on 9 December 2013 in Douma. Since then, […]
Authorities try to initiate criminal case against lawyer Mark Feygin
Despite the call from the United Nations Human Rights Committee for Russia to comply with its human rights obligations, lawyers in the Russian Federation increasingly face improper interference. Lawyers for Lawyers was informed that the Ministry of Justice is trying to initiate a criminal case against lawyer Mark Feygin. Lawyers for Lawyers has reason to believe that […]
Intigam Aliyev sentenced to 7,5 years in jail
On April 22, 2015, the Baku Grave Crimes Court sentenced Intigam Aliyev to seven-and-a-half year imprisonment on charges of “tax evasion”, “abuse of authority”, “illegal entrepreneurship”, and “appropriation”. Aliyev denies all the charges and says they are politically motivated. Aliyev was arrested in August 2014 and sent to pre-trial detention. Under the harsh prison conditions, […]
Lawyer Julia Cabello Alonso at risk of suspension after criticizing Supreme Court decision
Human rights lawyer Julia Cabello Alonso faces a possible one-year suspension from practicing law or disqualification from the Paraguay Bar Association for her outspoken activism in defense of indigenous communities in Paraguay. This was reported by Frontline Defenders on their website. Cabello Alonso is a human rights lawyer and Coordinator of Tierraviva, an indigenous rights […]
1 year since arrest Abu al-Khair: petition to WGAD
Today Lawyers for Lawyers, together with six other human rights organizations, issued a joint press release to mark the fact that human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair was arrested one year ago and has since been in prison. Furthermore, on 14 April 2015, a petition was filed to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) […]
Ramazan Demir acquitted!
Today, a Turkish court decided to acquit lawyer Ramazan Demir. Lawyers for Lawyers was in Istanbul to observe the hearing in the trial against Demir, and welcomes the decision of the court. Demir had been charged with “insulting or (…) offending the dignity of a public authority in the performance of his duties”, pursuant to Section […]
Madani and Eisa released
On 9 April, Amin Mekki Medani and Faruq Abu Eisa were released after the Minister of Justice decided to freeze the case against them pursuant to his powers under Article 58 of the 1991 Criminal Procedure Law. Madani is a prominent human rights lawyer, President of the Confederation of Sudanese Civil Society and Vice President […]
Ongoing harassment of lawyer Nguyen Van Dai
Lawyers for Lawyers is very concerned about the ongoing harassment of human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai. Dai was under house arrest in Hanoi since 2011, serving a four-year sentence that was due to end on 5 March 2015. He has been the victim of several acts of intimidation in the months leading up to […]
Concluding observations UN Human Rights Committee
On 2 April 2015, the UN Human Rights Committee issued the concluding observations for the review of the Russian Federation’s compliance with it’s international human rights obligations. Lawyers for Lawyers welcomes recommendation 18, in which the Committee calls on the Russian authorities to “take immediate steps to provide, in practice, effective protection to lawyers, journalists, […]
Judicial harassment against lawyer Arnon Nampa
Lawyers for Lawyers is concerned about the alleged harassment of human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa. Anon Nampa reported to the police on 5 on March 2015. He had been accused of “importing into a computer false information which may damage national security” under Article 14(2) of the Computer Crimes Act, for posting five Facebook messages. […]
Killing of lawyer Samiullah Afridi
On 17 March 2015, lawyer Samiullah Afridi from Pakistan was reportedly shot dead in an attack by unidentified assailants while on his way home in Peshawar, Pakistan. In 2013, Samiullah Afridi stated that he had received several death threats from militant groups and various organisations. For his own safety, and that of his family, he […]
Save the Date! 29 May: L4L-Award seminar
25 YEARS BASIC PRINCIPLES ON THE ROLE OF LAWYERS L4L invites you to “Lawyers are not their clients” Seminar “Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions.” (Article 18 Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers) + Presentation of the L4L-Award 2015 Introduction: […]
Lawyers from CAJAR bugged and followed
Lawyers for Lawyers has received reports indicating that lawyers of the Colombian lawyers collective José Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR) were illegally bugged and followed between 6–18 February 2015. This happened while the lawyers were executing their professional activities. The number of incidents in the past month and the direct connection with the work of CAJAR for […]
Lawyers bill must be tested against Basic Principles
Lawyers for Lawyers today contributed to the UPR process of Iran, indicating its concerns about the draft law providing rules for lawyers and the bar association. This law would seriously affect lawyers’ independence in Iran. Together with Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, L4L recommended this bill to be carefully tested against the provisions of the UN Basic Principles on the […]
Government should practice what it preaches
Kazakhstan should speed up the effective implementation of measures to strengthen the role of lawyers, Lawyers for Lawyers said today. Lawyers for Lawyers, also on behalf of The Law Society of England and Wales and Law and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, delivered an oral statement to the Human Rights Council for its consideration of the […]