Vietnam Petition sent to WGAD on behalf of Le Quoc Quan
On 13 March, L4L has submitted, together with a large coalition of NGO’s, requests for urgent action to three United Nations Special Rapporteurs and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, calling for the immediate release of Vietnamese human rights lawyer and blogger Le Quoc Quan. On 27 December 2012, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was arrested by the police in […]
Radhia Nasraoui awarded with the Dutch Geuzenpenning
On 13 March 2013, Radhia Nasraoui has been awarded the Dutch Geuzenpenning, from Stichting Geuzenverzet 1940 – 1945, for her many years of courageous struggle against torture and for an independent judicial system in Tunisia. Nasraoui, now 58 years old, is one of Tunisia’s best-known lawyers. She has worked tirelessly for human rights in her […]
Lawyers disbarred on improper grounds
Several lawyers in Kazakhstan have been disbarred, or are facing disbarment, on improper grounds. Also the case of lawyers Raziya Nurmasheva and Iskander Alimbayev of the Almaty City Lawyers Collegium demonstrates a violation of article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. On 7 December 2012, in the course of a hearing […]
Lawyers call upon authorities to revoke controversial bill
Thirty five lawyers sent an open letter to the Iranian authorities on 25 February 2013, urging them to stop infringements on the independence of the legal profession. In the letter, the lawyers asked in particular for the revocation of a proposed bill which is supposed to reform the supervision on the legal profession. One of […]
L4L and LRWC file UPR submission
On 4 March 2013, L4L and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) filed a joint submission for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of China. China will be discussed in the seventeenth session of the UPR on 22 October 2013. L4L and LRWC recommend the Chinese authorities, among other things, to ensure that lawyers advocating for human […]
Le Cong Dinh released from prison
On 6 February 2013, prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh was released from prison after serving more than three years in prison. However, Dinh still is placed under a three years house arrest as part of his sentence. Dinh who has been detained since June 2009, was one of four democracy activists convicted in […]
Four lawyers sentenced to long prison terms
On 24 January 2013, four Ankara lawyers, Ms Filiz Kalaycı, Mr Hasan Anlar, Mr Halil İbrahim Vargün and Mr Murat Vargün received sentences ranging from 6 years and 3 months to 7 years and 6 months in jail on charges of being a member of “an armed, illegal organization”. L4L and Fair Trial Watch (FTW) have closely followed the case against the […]
New mass arrests of lawyers
Early in the morning of 18 January 2013, police forces launched raids in seven provinces of Turkey. It is understood that during these raids, at least fifty-five people, including 15 lawyers, have been taken into custody on suspicion of links with the left group DHKPC. Nine of these fifteen lawyers are reportedly members of the Progressive Lawyers’ […]
Mazen Darwish recipient of Prize for Press Freedom 2012
On 19 December Mazen Darwish was announced as one of the recipients of the ‘Reporters without Borders’ 2012 Prize for Press Freedom. Mazen Darwish is a human rights defender and journalist from Syria. Even though he finished a law degree, he was, due to his human rights activities, never accepted at the Syrian Bar Association to work […]
Another hearing monitored in ‘Lawyers trial’
On 3 January 2013, the trial against 46 lawyers who are suspected of having ties with the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) continued in Silivri, Turkey. On November 22, 2011, a broad campaign of arrests was launched in 16 cities targeting 46 lawyers, in the context of the case against the Koma Civakên Kurdistan […]
Update of Basic Principles Database
Over the last weeks, the database on the L4L website that contains documents that make reference to the Basic Principles on the role of Lawyers has been updated. Over fifty recent documents have been added to the Database. The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provide a concise description of international norms relating […]
Human Rights Day 2012
On the 10th of December Kennedy Van der Laan organized an event on Human Rights Day 2012, together with the Dutch foundations Lawyers for Lawyers and Judges for Judges. The theme of this day was “the independence of judges, lawyers and prosecutors guaranteed” and sprouted from the idea of the Special Rapporteur, Gabriela Knaul,on the […]
Nasrin Sotoudeh ends hunger strike
L4L is pleased to announce that we have learned from sources that jailed Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has halted her hunger strike on 4 December 2012. She decided to end the hunger strike that lasted for 49 days after the Iranian judiciary agreed to drop a travel ban against her daughter and her […]
Iran Lawyers present petition to Iranian Embassy for Sotoudeh
On Monday 26 November, a group of lawyers on the initiative of Lawyers for Lawyers offered a petition to the Iranian Embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands, in order to draw attention to the deteriorating health situation of Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been on hunger strike since 17 October. Unfortunately the lawyers were not received at the embassy, upon which […]
Human rights lawyer Al-Roken still in prison
On 17 July 2012, Mohamed Al-Roken, a prominent human rights lawyer from the United Arab Emirates, was arrested near his home by security forces. Dr Mohamed Al-Roken provided legal assistance to victims of human rights abuses in the UAE, including to other human rights defenders. Before he was arrested, he defended the “UAE 5” ; […]
Monitoring another hearing in ‘Lawyers trial’
On 6,7 and 8 November 2012, the trial against 46 lawyers who are suspected of having ties with the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) continued in Silivri, Turkey. On November 22, 2011, a broad campaign of arrests was launched in 16 cities targeting 46 lawyers, in the context of the case against the Koma […]