Human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev in pre-trial detention
Azerbaijan holds the Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, and should therefore respect and uphold the democratic values of the Council of Europe and the essential human rights guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights. However, a crackdown on NGO’s and human rights defenders is taking place all over Azerbaijan, and many […]
Rommel Durán arrested and detained in poor conditions
On 9 August 2014, Rommel Durán Castellanos, Colombian lawyer, was arrested in the village Curumaní in the Cesar region. Rommel works for the legal team “Pueblos” and Department of Santander Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con los presos politicos (FCSPP). According to our information, Rommel was removed from his car by the police and then handed […]
Arrest and detention of Sukhrat Qudratov
Lawyers for Lawyers and the Law Society of England and Wales are concerned to learn of the arrest and detention of Sukhrat Qudratov, a prominent defence lawyer in Tajikistan who had represented the former Minister of Industry, Zaid Saidov. According the Tajikistan’s Anticorruption Agency, Sukhrat Qudratov was detained on July 21 on bribe-related charges. Lawyers […]
Concerns about prosecution of lawyer Georgy Antonov
The Russian investigative authorities are trying to impede the work of lawyer Georgy Antonov. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) reported about this on their website. Antonov was, against his will, interrogated as a witness in his client’s case. After this, the authorities removed him from the case, initiated criminal proceedings against him. Furthermore, his home […]
Meeting with Alba Cruz
On 19 May 2014 Lawyers for Lawyers met with Alba Cruz Ramos During this meeting Alba elaborated on her current work. One of her current concerns is the constitutionality of reforms proposed by the Mexican government to denationalize certain sectors. Specifically the reforms reforms of education programms in Mexico could violate the right to acces to […]
Killing of human rights lawyer Salwa Bugaighis
On 26 June 2014, human rights lawyer Salwa Bugaighis was shot dead in her home in Benghazi by a group of unidentified men wearing military uniforms. Her husband, who was present at the time of the attack, is currently missing. Salwa Bugaighis played an active role in the 2011 uprising against Colonel Gaddafi. The human rights […]
Mahienour el-Massry to be awarded Ludovic Trarieux prize
On 25 June 2014, the 19th Ludovic Trarieux human rights prize was awarded to Egyptian human rights lawyer Ms. Mahienour el-Massry from Egypt. She was sentenced on 2 January, 2014 (in her absence) to a two year prison sentence, for organising a peaceful protest. She was also accused of “attacking security forces”. In March 2013, El-Massry and other lawyers went to […]
L4L, LRWC, the Law Society and FTW file joint UPR submission
L4L has together with Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, the Law Society of England and Wales and Fair Trial Watch filed a joint submission for the Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council of Turkey, which will take place in January/February 2015. In this submission, the organizations put emphasis on the fact that legal proceedings are being used make […]
Rejection of evidence in case Somchai Neelapaijit
On 21 May 2014, the Supreme Court of Thailand rejected the admission of crucial phone evidence in the case against five police officers accused of causing the involuntary disappearance of the Thai lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit to enforced disappearance in Bangkok on 12 March 2004. Several international organisations stated that this decision essentially shuts down this phase of the 10-year-old […]
L4L actively engaged in consultation at HRC
On 13 June, L4L, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and the Asian Legal Resource Center delivered oral statements at the 26th session of the Human Rights Council, this time with respect to the reports presented by the Special Rapporteur on arbitrary, summary and extrajudicial Killings, and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. Since L4L was granted ECOSOC […]
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 […]