Letters to lawyer Thulani Maseko
On 13 June 2014, L4L wrote letters to the Swaziland authorities calling on them to release lawyer Thulani Maseko immediately. Thulani Maseko and journalist Bheki Makhubu were arrested on 17th March 2014 after Chief Justice Ramodibedi had issued a warrant for their arrest on charges of criminal contempt of court. The charges arise from articles written by […]
Ill-treatment of lawyer Mohamed Al-Roken in prison
On 2 June 2014, L4L sent a letter to the United Arab Emirates authorities on behalf of human rights lawyer Mohamed Al-Roken. With this letter L4L wanted to draw attention once more to the situation of Al-Roken, who has been in prison for over 18 months. Moreover, L4L called on the authorities to guarantee the physical safety of Al-Roken, […]
Repression campaign targeting human rights lawyers
The human rights situation in Egypt is quickly deteriorating. L4L was informed about several cases involving human rights lawyers, which illustrate a repression campaign targeting human rights defenders opposing the current regime in the country since the “Protest Law” was passed in November 2013. Human rights lawyer Ms. Mahienour el-Massry is facing trial on charges of “assaulting […]
Tang Jitian recounts police torture experience
In a report dated 14 April 2014, recently translated from Chinese and posted online, Tang Jitian tells in great detail about his recent 16 day detention and torture by the police in Jiansanjiang, in the northeast of China. Together with Jiang Tianyong, he travelled to Heilongjiang province to investigate the ‘legal education centre’, which is actually, […]
Ni Yulan arrested at activist meeting
Former lawyer Ni Yulan, who is in a wheelchair because of earlier maltreatment by the police and was the recipient of the 2011 Human rights tulip, was arrested with such brutality that she needed hospital treatment. Reportedly, she was pulled out of her wheelchair and thrown into the trunk of a car. Together with her […]
Razan Zeitouneh missing for six months
Since human rights lawyer Razan Zeitouneh, her husband and two colleagues were abducted in December 2013 no one has heard of them. Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada, Samira Khalil, and Nazem Hammadi disappeared in Douma, a city that is under the control of an armed opposition group. On 27 May, forty-five organizations, L4L among them, have […]
L4L Submissions on Iran and Vietnam at HRC
L4L has together with Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) filed two submissions for the Human Rights Council on Iran and Vietnam. Submission Iran In the submission on Iran, that was co-signed by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), we ask attention for the wrongful prosecution and imprisonment of lawyers in Iran. Lawyers in Iran are […]
Pu Zhiqiang arrested after attending Tiananmen protests commemoration
Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang was arrested on Sunday morning 4 May after he had attended a meeting where the Tiananmen Square protests were commemorated. These peaceful student protests were beaten down violently by the Chinese authorities, on 4 June of this year 25 years ago, leaving hundreds of demonstrators dead. Dutch news agency NOS […]
Thulani Maseko arrested again
On 9 April, human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko was arrested for the second time, shortly after he was released following a verdict of the high court. Thulani Maseko is suspected of ‘contempt of court’. Thulani Maseko was firstly arrested on 17 March 2014. One day later, journalist Bheki Makhubu was arrested. Both are charged with […]
Kazakhstan submission on the Universal Periodic Review
L4L has brought to the attention of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism key issues regarding Kazakhstan’s compliance with its human rights commitments to guarantee effective access to legal services provided by an independent legal profession as set out in the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. From 27 October to 7 November 2014, the […]
L4L actively engaged in consultation at HRC
On 17 March, L4L and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) delivered oral statements at the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, this time with respect to Iran and Myanmar. Since L4L was granted ECOSOC Consultative Status in July 2013, it has become even more active in participating in the consultation process. Iran With respect to […]
Vrijspraak deken goed nieuws, maar geen trendbreuk
De vrijspraak van de deken en het bestuur van de advocatenorde in Istanbul op 24 februari is goed nieuws voor de advocatuur in Turkije. Judith Lichtenberg, bestuurslid van Lawyers for Lawyers, is er echter helemaal niet gerust op dat deze vrijspraak een nieuwe trend zal inzetten. Dat zei zij vandaag in BNR Juridische Zaken. “De trend is helaas nog […]
Lawyer faces complaint filed by former president Bar Association
Human rights lawyer Ermogenes Jacinto de Souza is facing a complaint filed by the former president of the National Bar Association, Hélio Vieira. According to our information, this charge was made in connection to the lawyer’s professional activities in defending a community of peasants. This community was living in an area that was reclaimed and […]
ECtHR: Turkey guilty of torturing lawyer
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a verdict in the case of Gülizar Tuncer, a human rights advocate who has been subjected to police violence in 2000. Turkey was found guilty of violating the European Convention of Human Rights Article 3 on the ban of “ill-treatment and torture”. The court ordered the Turkish […]
Appeal Court upholds sentence Le Quoc Quan
On 18 February 2014, an appeals courts in Vietnam upheld the verdict against lawyer Le Quoc Quan. He was arrested on 27 December 2013 and sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment on charges of ‘tax evasion’. Members of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, as well as representatives of the US and Canadian embassies, were allowed to attend […]
Lawyer Didier Kalemba subjected to intimidatory acts
Didier Kalemba, a lawyer from the Democractic Republic of the Congo, has been subjected to intimidatory acts. He received a series of threathening calls, ordering him to appear at the headquarters of the Agence Nationale de Renseignements (ANR, National Intelligence Agency) on the morning of 3 February. When he didn’t obey this order, he received […]